Sir Charles Powers KCMG (3 March 1853 – 24 April 1939) was an Australian politician and judge who served as Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1913 to 1929.

He was a talented sportsman, and at one point captained a state cricket team against a touring English side.

[1] On 19 November 1889, Powers became Postmaster-General and Minister for Education in the ministry of Premier Boyd Dunlop Morehead, and he held these positions until resigning with his colleagues in August 1890.

[4] During this time, he conducted several appeals on behalf of the recently formed Federal Government to the Privy Council, where he argued many significant constitutional issues.

[6] There was also controversy arising from Hughes' desire to appoint judges who would be sympathetic to interpreting the power of the Parliament of Australia broadly.

Piddington caused the most public outrage for stating his sympathies in a telegram,[6] although Powers had actually prepared many of the arguments Hughes would wish him to uphold on the bench.

As President, Powers introduced the first system of automatic adjustments to the basic wage to account for changes in the cost of living, applied quarterly.