public service head of the Attorney-General's department. Two solicitors-general have been appointed to the High Court of Australia: Anthony Mason in 1972 and Stephen Gageler in 2012. Gageler is the only person to be directly elevated from the solicitor-generalship to the High Court. Bob Ellicott subsequently served on the bench of the Federal Court of Australia. Although the Solicitor-General is essentially the deputy Attorney-General, it is a statutory role whereas the Attorney-General is a political one, filled by a member of parliament, and it is rare for a Solicitor-General to then become the Attorney-General. Bob Ellicott is the only Solicitor-General who went on to become Attorney-General. Role The Commonwealth Solicitor-General role is required to be filled by a barrister or solicitor of a State Supreme Court or the High Court with at least five years experience. The general consensus is that their role is primarily to advocate and independently advise the Commonwealth. The role is distinctly separate from any political role by statute in the Law Officers Act 1964 (Cth). So in performing their role they must be in accordance with the rule of law and maintain independence from the executive branch of government. The Solicitor-General specialises in matters of constitutional and public law and generally represents the Commonwealth in constitutional disputes as well as occasionally representing the Commonwealth in international litigation. Although, preceding 1979 the Solicitor-General had Criminal law prosecutorial powers, these are now held by the Director of Public Prosecutions, a subset of the Attorney-General’s Department. Tenure The Solicitor-General is appointed on a fixed term basis with S 6(1) of the Law Officers Act 1964 (Cth) dictating they are appointed for a term with a maximum of seven years. Although the act does not express a fixed term, recently Solicitor-Generals have ordinarily been appointed to five year terms. In s10 the act also dictates that the Solicitor-General can only be dismissed from the role by the Governor-General as a result of illness, misbehaviour or bankruptcy. This is widely viewed as an important aspect of the Solicitor-General’s role as it ensures they remain independent due to the security of their tenure. Functions Within s 12 of the Law Officers Act 1964 (Cth) the functions of the Solicitor-General are prescribed. It separates the Solicitor-General’s functions into acting as counsel for the Commonwealth, ministers, government bodies and any person for which the Attorney-General seeks counsel under s 12(a) and also to