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Steve Marton

Chief Legal Advisor

Steve left private practice in 1993 to join Crown Law. As Chief Legal Advisor, he provides high-level advice on complex and sensitive matters affecting the State of Queensland.

Steve has significant experience in advising clients in the area of constitutional law and addressing complex questions involving statutory interpretation. He assists the Solicitor-General and the Crown Solicitor in the preparation of advices and High Court litigation as well as providing legal advice and representation to senior government clients including the Attorney-General as First Law Officer of the State, the Premier, ministers and chief executive officers on a variety on complex legal matters.

In addition to his Chief Legal Advisor role, Steve is also the A/Deputy Crown Solicitor of the Constitutional and Advocacy Branch.

Steve’s experience includes advice on:

  • Constitution of Queensland 2001
  • Commonwealth Constitution
  • Acts Interpretation Act 1954
  • Statutory Instruments Act 1992
  • Parliament of Queensland Act 2001
  • appointments to statutory offices
  • delegations
  • constitutional conventions
  • Crown prerogative powers
  • electoral matters
  • implied freedom of political communication
  • constitutional validity of proposed State laws
  • effect of repeal of legislation/accrued rights
  • interrelationship between State laws/implied repeal
  • Chapter III of the Commonwealth Constitution and the Kable principle
  • taxes and duties of excise
  • jurisdictional error
  • parliamentary procedure
  • Auditor-General Act 2009
  • the reviewability of statutory administrative decisions
  • public interest immunity
  • parliamentary privilege
  • statutory civil liability provisions
  • Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010
  • Public Service Act 2008
  • the validity of retrospective statutory decisions
  • scope of regulation-making power under legislation
  • inconsistency between Commonwealth and State laws
  • Crime and Corruption Commission
  • Commonwealth parliamentary inquiries
  • proposed constitutional changes recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
  • Commonwealth/State cooperative schemes
  • ombudsman
  • legal professional privilege
  • appointments and entitlements relevant to the Queensland judiciary and office of the Governor
  • natural justice
  • G20 (Safety and Security) Act 2013
  • application of State laws in Commonwealth places
  • Right to Information Act 2009
  • statutory confidentiality provisions
  • referral to the Commonwealth of matters under s. 51(xxxvii) of the Constitution.

Since 1996, Steve has assisted the current and former Solicitors-General in advising on and/or conducting constitutional matters on behalf of the State of Queensland, including numerous matters in the High Court –Queensland’s challenge to the Commonwealth’s WorkChoices legislation (New South Wales v Commonwealth (2006) 229 CLR 1) and Ha v New South Wales (1997) 189 CLR 465 which dealt with s. 90 of the Constitution.