# List of Victorian royal commissions

This is a list of royal commissions and commissions of inquiry appointed by the Government of Victoria. Royal Commissions are currently held in Victoria under the terms of the Inquiries Act 2014. This list includes Royal Commissions that were conducted jointly with the Government of Australia. Note that this list excludes Select Committees.

## Timeline

| Year(s) | Royal Commission or Commission | Commissioner |
| 1854 | Commission appointed to enquire into the best mode of providing for the internal communication of the colony | Murphy |
| 1854–1855 | Royal commission appointed to enquire into the tenure of the waste lands of the crown | Stawell |
| 1858–1859 | Royal commission to enquire into the best method of removing the sludge from the gold fields | Sullivan |
| 1858 | Royal commission into the defences of the colony | Macarthur |
| 1859–1860 | Royal commission into the defences of the colony to consider the best mode of carrying out the recommendations of the Defences Commission of 1858 | Macarthur |
| 1860 | Royal commission on harbour improvements and a river and harbour trust | Bright |
| 1861 | Royal commission to enquire into and report upon the circumstances connected with the sufferings and death of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, the Victorian explorers | Pratt |
| 1861 | The royal commission for the Victorian Exhibition, 1861 and the London International Exhibition, 1862 | Barry |
| 1862–1863 | Royal mining commission appointed to enquire into the conditions and prospects of the gold fields of Victoria | Humffray |
| 1862–1863 | The royal commission appointed to enquire into the municipalities and the charitable institutions in Victoria | Sturt |
| 1863 | Royal commission to enquire into the origin and nature of the cattle disease known as pleuro-pneumonia | Griffith |
| 1866–1867 | Royal commission to examine into and report upon the best means of clearing the river Murray | Smith |
| 1866–1867 | Royal commission to enquire into and report upon the operation of the system of public education | Higginbotham |
| 1866–1867 | Royal commission to enquire into and report upon the operation and effect of the wine and spirits sale statute | Smith |
| 1866–1867 | Royal commission to inquire into and report upon the subject of certain duties proposed to be remitted or reduced by the tariff resolutions of the Legislative Assembly on the 15th day of February 1865 and which then remained uncollected | MacGregor |
| 1867 | Royal commission to enquire into and report upon applications made for authority to mine within and under certain reserved lands at Ballarat | Sullivan |
| 1868–1869 | Royal commission to enquire and report generally on the practice of paying or compensating members of the legislature in all countries where the practice prevails, and with a special view of ascertaining in each case the rate of payment or compensation, the conditions or limitations (if any) under which it is made, and the form of legislative enactment by which it has been authorized | Duffy |
| 1870 | Royal commission appointed to consider and report upon the necessity of a Federal Union of the Australian Colonies for legislative purposes and the best means of accomplishing such a Union. | Duffy |
| 1870–1872 | Royal commission on penal and prison discipline | Stawell |
| 1870–1871 | Royal commission on Intercolonial Legislation and a Court of Appeal | Casey |
| 1870–1871 | Royal commission appointed to enquire into and report upon the condition and management of the charitable institutions of the colony, and generally into all matters therewith. | Harker |
| 1870–1871 | Royal commission on noxious trades | McRea |
| 1870–1873 | Royal commission appointed to enquire into the state of the public service and the working of the Civil Service Act | A'Beckett |
| 1871 | Royal commission on foreign industries and forests | Bindon |
| 1871–1872 | Royal commission on industrial and reformatory schools and the sanatory station | Casey |
| 1872 | Royal commission to enquire into and report upon the alleged silting up of Hobson's bay since the dredging operations and also enquire into and report upon the dredging department | Clark |
| 1872 | Royal commission to enquire into the origin of the disease known as diphtheria, the best mode of treatment thereof | McRea |
| 1873 | Royal commission appointed to consider and report on the extent and character of the further accommodation required at the parliamentary buildings | Fraser |
| 1873 | Royal commission appointed to inquire into and report upon the desirability of making amendments in the Boroughs and Shires Statutes and Road Districts Act | Smith |
| 1873 | Royal commission to enquire into the system adopted by the Public Works Department in reference to contracts and the execution of public works, and generally to report upon the Department itself | MacBain |
| 1875 | Royal commission to consider and report upon the lighting and ventilation of the Legislative Assembly chamber, and the accommodation required for honourable Members | MacMahon |
| 1875–1876 | Royal commission on volunteer forces | O'Shanassy |
| 1875–1876 | Royal commission appointed to inquire into the working of the Friendly Societies Statute | Langridge |
| 1877 | Royal commission appointed to superintend the carrying out of the recommendations of the joint select committee appointed to inquire into the extent and character of the accommodation required in the parliament buildings etc. | Patterson |
| 1877 | Royal Commission on the Aborigines | William Foster Stawell |
| 1909 | Royal Commission on the Acquisition of Certain Estates by Sir Thomas Bent, as a Minister of the Crown | Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael |
| 1915 | Royal Commission on Closer Settlement | John Glass Johnstone |
| 1924–1925 | Royal Commission on the Victorian Police ForceRoyal Commission on the Victorian Police Force (PDF) (Report). 28 January 1925. Retrieved 6 May 2022. | John MonashCharles McPherson John Martin |
| 1925 | Royal Commission on Soldier Settlement | James Turnbull |
| 1928 | Royal Commission Of Inquiry Into The Victorian Railways Department |
| 1931–1933 | Royal Commission on Migrant Land Settlement | George Dethridge |
| 1944 | Royal Commission On Yallourn Bushfires |
| 1946–1947 | Royal Commission On Forest Grazing |
| 1947 | Royal Commission On Electricity Supply |
| 1949 | Royal Commission On Bread Industry |
| 1949–1950 | Royal Commission Inquiring into the Origins, Aims, Objects and Funds of the Communist Party in Victoria and Other Related Matters | Sir Charles Lowe |
| 1952 | Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into Certain Allegations of Improper Conduct | Sir Edmund Herring |
| 1956 | Royal Commission to Inquire into the Operation of the Housing Acts of Victoria and the Administration of the Housing Commission | Alan John Moir |
| 1958–1959 | Royal Commission into Off-The-Course Betting | Russell Martin |
| 1959–1960 | Royal Commission on Motor Car Third-Party Compulsory Insurance | Elias Coppel |
| 1960 | Victoria Market Royal Commission | R. A. Smithers |
| 1962–1963 | Royal Commission into the Failure of Kings Bridge | Edward Barber |
| 1963–1965 | Royal Commission into the Sale, Supply, Disposal or Consumption of Liquor | Philip Phillips |
| 1970–1971 | Royal Commission into the Failure of the West Gate Bridge | Edward Barber |
| 1977–1979 | Australian Royal Commission of Inquiry into Drugs (joint) | Edward Williams KCMG KBE KC |
| 1979–1982 | Royal Commission into Certain Housing Commission Land Purchases and Other Matters | Sydney Frost |
| 1980–1984 | Royal Commission on the Activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union (joint) | Frank Costigan KC |
| 1981–1982 | Royal Commission into the Australian Meat Industry (joint) | Edward Woodward AC OBE KC |
| 1981–1983 | Royal Commission of Inquiry into Drug Trafficking (joint) | Donald Stewart |
| 1981–1982 | Royal Commission into the Activities of the Australian Building Construction Employees and Builders Labourers' Federation (joint) | John Winneke AC RFD KC |
| 1985–1986 | Royal Commission of Inquiry into Alleged Telephone Interceptions (joint) | Donald Stewart |
| 1986–1998 | Royal Commission into Grain Storage, Handling and Transport (joint) | Jim McColl |
| 1990–1992 | Royal Commission into the Tricontinental Group of Companies | Edward Woodward AC OBE KC |
| 1998–1999 | Longford Royal Commission | Daryl Dawson |
| 1999–2001 | Metropolitan Ambulance Service Royal Commission | Lex Lasry |
| 2009–2010 | 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission | Bernard Teague |
| 2015–2016 | Royal Commission into Family Violence | Marcia Neave AO |
| 2018–2021 | Mental Health Royal Commission | Penny Armytage AM |
| 2018–2020 | Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants - An inquiry into Victoria Police’s use of Nicola Gobbo as a human source | Hon Margaret McMurdo AC |
| 2021 | Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence - An inquiry into the suitability of Crown Melbourne Limited to hold a casino licence | Raymond Finkelstein KC |
| 2021–2024 (expected) | Yoorrook Justice Commission | Prof Eleanor Bourke (chair) Dr Wayne Atkinson Prof Hon Kevin Bell AM KC Sue-Anne Hunter Prof Maggie Walter |