James Joseph (Jim) Carlton AO (b. 13 May 1935) was an Australian politician.

Carlton was born in Sydney and earned a BSc from the University of Sydney. His political career beginning at the Sydney University Liberal Club, of which he later became president, he succeeded Sir John Carrick as General Secretary of the NSW Liberal Party during the McMahon - Snedden - Fraser periods. He was elected to the Australian House of Representatives at the 1977 election for the seat of Mackellar and was Minister for Health from May 1982 to the defeat of the Fraser Government in March 1983. He served on the Defence Sub-Committee of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, and held a number of Shadow Ministry positions in Opposition, including Shadow Minister for Defence from 1989 to 1990. He resigned from Parliament in January 1994.

From 1994 to 2001 Carlton was Secretary General of the Australian Red Cross. As a founder of the Crossroads Group together with John Hyde and Peter Shack he was influential in establishing the free-market or 'dry' cause in the Parliamentary wing of the Australian Liberal Party. He now serves on the Boards of PNG Sustainable Development Program Limited and the Australia New Zealand School of Government. Additionally he is a Professional Fellow at the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Melbourne, and a Senior Adviser with the Boston Consulting Group, and is a council member of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. He was awarded an Order of Australia in 2001 for "service to the community through Australian Red Cross and to the parliament."