Robert Reginald Downing, AC, QC (6 November 1904 – 9 September 1994) was an Australian lawyer, textile worker, union organiser and politician.

[2] Although Downing was sympathetic towards Heffron, he remained firmly behind the party and was a close friend to William McKell,[3] who would successfully depose Lang in 1939.

[3] However, serving during a period of moral conservatism and malevolent homophobia, Downing presided over an increase on official action against homosexuality in government and the NSW Police Force Vice Squad.

[7][8] He served as Attorney General until the Labor government of Jack Renshaw lost to the Liberal/Country party Coalition of Robert Askin in 1965.

Downing retired from the legislative council after thirty-one years in February 1972 and returned to legal practice, being appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1973.

[9] On 11 June 1979, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) "In recognition of service to politics and government"[10] In 1991, the newly refurbished courts building in Elizabeth Street, Sydney was named the "Downing Centre" in his honour.