Does Australia have a parliamentary line of succession to the Prime Minister and if so, what is the order?

Thanks for your question. If the prime minister is unavailable someone else steps in to do the job.

If the prime minister is away for a short time – for example if the prime minister is overseas on official business, on holiday or unwell – the deputy prime minister usually becomes the acting prime minister. When the prime minister returns, they resume their role and the deputy prime minister returns to their usual position. If the deputy prime minister is also unavailable, another senior member of the government can act in the position.

Sometimes, a prime minister might not be able to return to the job. Three prime ministers have died in office – Joseph Lyons, John Curtin and Harold Holt. Each time, the Governor-General  appointed the deputy prime minister as acting prime minister until the party in government chose a new leader. When Curtin died, his deputy Francis Forde acted as prime minister for only 7 days before his party selected Ben Chiefly as their new leader. Chiefly was then sworn in as prime minister.

In a coalition government, which is made up of two or more parties working together, the prime minister usually leads the largest party, while the deputy prime minister leads the second largest party in the coalition. Although they are from a different party, the deputy prime minister still acts as prime minister.

This happened when prime minister Harold Holt, who led the Liberal Party of Australia, disappeared while swimming in the sea and was later declared dead. The deputy prime minister, John McEwen, who was leader of the Country Party, was appointed acting prime minister until the Liberal Party chose John Gorton as their new leader. McEwen then advised the Governor-General to commission Gorton as prime minister and resigned as prime minister himself.