In Australian parliamentary practice, the Father of the House of Representatives is the member of the Australian House of Representatives who has served longer, continuously, than any other currently serving member. It is an informal, honorific title which carries no parliamentary responsibilities. Where two or more members have had equal lengths of continuous service, more than any other currently serving members, they are known as the joint Fathers of the House of Representatives.
The current Father of the House is Kevin Andrews, who acquired the title on 10 May 2016 after the retirement from Parliament of the then Father, Philip Ruddock.
The only Father of the House of Representatives with broken service but whose latter period of continuous service was sufficiently long to qualify was Eddie Ward.
The first House of Representatives was elected in March 1901. The election was held on Friday 29 March in South Australia and Tasmania, and on Saturday 30 March in the other states. Despite that slight variation in the election date, all the members elected to the first Parliament were considered to have had equal seniority. It follows that there could not be a "longest-serving member" until only one member from the first Parliament was still in the House. That occurred on 8 April 1935 with the death of David Watkins, leaving Billy Hughes as the first Father of the House of Representatives. Hughes was also the first Father of the Parliament from 1938.
Since that date the Fathers and joint Fathers of the House of Representatives have been as follows, with joint Fathers being shown in small type: