In recent years, controversy has surrounded the role of top government lawyers both in the US and the UK where allegations of bad lawyering and bad ethics in public office have thrust this group into the public debate. By contrast Australia's chief legal adviser, the Solicitor-General, has remained largely out of the public eye. This collection provides an historical, theoretical, practical and comparative perspective and a rare insight into a fundamental public institution in all Australian jurisdictions, and at a time when the transparency and accountability of government has taken on an increased significance.

The editors, Gabrielle Appleby, Patrick Keyzer and John Williams, have a large culmination of editorial experience and have published extensively in constitutional law, legal history and the judicial system. Dr Gabrielle Appleby is Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales Law School, Australia. She researches in public and constitutional law, focussing on the accountability of the exercise of public power. She has published widely in these fields, including Australian Public Law (Oxford University Press, 2011) and The Future of Australian Federalism: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 2012). Patrick Keyzer is Professor of Law and Director of the Centre for Law, Governance and Public Policy at Bond University. He writes a text, casebook and Halsbury's title on the topic of Australian constitutional law and appears regularly in Australian superior courts in constitutional cases. Professor John M. Williams is Dean of the Adelaide Law School at the University of Adelaide. His main research interest is public law and in particular Australian constitutional law, the High Court of Australia, comparative constitutional law, federalism and legal history.