provide their opinion on legal questions referred to them by the Attorney-General under s 12(b). S 12 of the Law Officers Act has given rise to some uncertainty as to whether s 12(b) is restrictive of the conditions of s 12(a) whereby the Attorney-General is able to restrict access to the Solicitor-General for those seeking advice concerning a legal question. In 2016 Solicitor-General Gleeson suggested that s 12(b) should not restrict s 12(a). Although, Gleeson during his term as Solicitor-General introduced Guidance Note 11, this codified a system for those in government seeking advice. This included notifying the Attorney-General of any requests for advice and the Attorney-General receiving a copy of any advice received. Gleeson did later clarify that these stipulations applied with the exception of the Prime Minister and the Governor-General seeking confidential advice. Anthony Mason Solicitor-General between 1964-1969 had previously proposed that s 12(b) should not limit the Solicitor-General to only providing advice with the express approval of the Attorney-General. In 2016 he clarified this position by explaining that s 12(b) allows the Attorney-General to seek the legal opinion of the Solicitor-General even where this question falls out of the scope provided in s 12(a). This view was supported by Gavan Griffith, Solicitor-General between 1984-1997, who remarked that the Solicitor-General would often receive requests for advice from emanations of the Commonwealth separate from the Attorney. Attorney-General George Brandis remarked that s 12(b) does not facilitate any capacity for anyone outside of the Attorney-General to seek advice concerning a question of law from the Solicitor-General. Considering the inconsistency in views according to some legal opinions there is need of reform of s 12 of the Law Officers Act to clarify if the Attorney-General is able to restrict access to the Solicitor-General. Relationship with Attorney-General The Solicitor-General together with the Attorney-General make up the Australian Law Officers. Legal opinion is that as Law Officers, the public would expect the government when making important decisions to have sought the opinion of and adopted the advice of the Law Officers. As the Solicitor-General is an independent and legally profound body it is expected that when legal and constitutional questions arise concerning government legislation, the Attorney General with the support of the legal opinion and advice of the Solicitor-General is to offer parliament and the public guidance. Considering the wholly political Attorney-General at times has limited or no legal qualifications, the Solicitor-General’s role