List of the first women appointed to Australian judicial positions

This is a list of the first women judge(s) in Australia. The first court was established in 1788,[1] the first woman to be awarded a Bachelor of Laws degree graduated in 1903,[2] and the first woman barrister was admitted in 1905.[3] It was not until 1965 that the first woman (Roma Mitchell) was appointed to an Australian judicial position.[4] These pioneering Australians have been described as members of the FW2 club or First Woman to club.[5] The list includes positions to which no woman has been appointed as of March 2022^[update]. It does not include abolished courts to which no woman was appointed, such as the Commonwealth Industrial Court.

For a list of the first women lawyers see list of first women lawyers (Australia)

Jurisdiction	first woman to be appointed	Name	Date	Comments	Notes
Commonwealth	Chief Justice of Australia	Susan Kiefel	31 January 2017		[6]
	Justice of the High Court	Mary Gaudron	6 February 1987		[7]
	Chief Justice of the Federal Court	Debra Mortimer	7 April 2023		[8]
	Judge of the Federal Court	Deirdre O'Connor	1 July 1990		[9]
	President of the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal	Deirdre O'Connor	1 July 1990		[10]
	Presidents of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission	Deirdre O'Connor	1 March 1994		[10]
	Chief Justice of the Family Court[a]	Elizabeth Evatt	11 November 1976		[11]
	Judge of the Family Court	Elizabeth Evatt	11 November 1976		[11]
	Chief Federal Magistrate [a]	Diana Bryant	11 May 2000		[12]
	Federal Magistrate	Norah Hartnett Christine Mead Judy Ryan	28 June 2000		[13]
NSW	Chief Justice
	President of the Court of Appeal	Margaret Beazley	1 March 2013		[14]
	Judge of Appeal	Margaret Beazley	29 April 1996		[14]
	Judge of the Supreme Court	Jane Mathews	7 July 1987		[15]
	Chief Judge of the Land & Environment Court	Mahla Pearlman	6 April 1992		[16]
	Judge of the Land & Environment Court	Mahla Pearlman	6 April 1992		[16]
	Judge of the Industrial Court	Leonie Glynn	14 April 1980		[17]
	Chief Judge of the District Court	Sarah Huggett	29 April 2024		[18]
	Judge of the District Court	Jane Mathews	1980		[15]
Victoria	Chief Justice	Marilyn Warren	25 November 2003		[19]
	President of the Court of Appeal	Karin Emerton	21 June 2022		[20]
	Judge of the Court of Appeal	Susan Kenny	25 July 1997		[21]
	Supreme Court	Rosemary Balmford	6 March 1996		[22]
	Chief Judge of the County Court
	Judge of the County Court	Lynette Schiftan	1985		[23]
Queensland	Chief Justice	Catherine Holmes	11 September 2015		[24]
	President of the Court of Appeal	Margaret McMurdo	30 July 1998		[25]
	Judge of the Supreme Court	Margaret White	2 April 1992		[26]
	Chief Judge of the District Court	Patsy Wolfe	1999		[27]
	Judge of the District Court	Margaret McMurdo	29 January 1991		[25]
South Australia	Chief Justice
	Judge of the Supreme Court	Roma Mitchell	23 September 1965		[4]
	Chief Judge of the District Court
	Judge of the District Court	Kemeri Murray	1973		[28]
	Chief Magistrate	Elizabeth Bolton	February 2007		[29]
Tasmania	Chief Justice
	Supreme Court	Shan Tennent	15 March 2005		[30]
Western Australia	Chief Justice
	President Court of Appeal	Carmel McLure	November 2009		[31]
	Judge of the Supreme Court	Christine Wheeler	30 October 1996		[32]
	Chief Judge of the Family Court	Gail Sutherland	7 January 2019		[33]
	Family Court	Elizabeth Evatt	5 January 1976		[34]
	Chief Judge of the District Court	Antoinette Kennedy	1 January 2004		[35]
	Judge of the District Court	Antoinette Kennedy	15 March 1985		[36]
ACT	Chief Justice	Helen Murrell	28 October 2013		[37]
	Additional judge of the Supreme Court	Margaret Beazley	22 June 1994		[14]
	Resident judge of the Supreme Court	Hilary Penfold	1 February 2008		[38]
	Chief Magistrate	Lorraine Walker	13 October 2011		[39]
	Magistrate	Karen Fryar	6 September 1993		[40]
NT	Chief Justice
	Supreme Court	Sally Thomas	30 July 1992		[41]
Norfolk Island	Chief Justice
	Supreme Court	Susan Kiefel	16 December 2004

Notes

1. Now the Chief Justice of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia

References

1. David Collins (1798), An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales
2. O'Brien, Joan M. (1981). "Evans, Ada Emily (1872 - 1947)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 8. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 443–444. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
3. Campbell, R; Barton (1983). "Greig, Grata Flos Matilda (1880–1958)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 9. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
4. "Roma Flinders Mitchell", Australian Women Lawyers
5. McColl, R (2014). "Celebrating Women in the Judiciary". New South Wales Judicial Scholarship. [2014] New South Wales Judicial Scholarship 2. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
6. "Susan Kiefel". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
7. "Mary Genevieve Gaudron". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
8. Worthington, Brett (31 March 2023). "Debra Mortimer becomes Australia's first female Federal Court chief justice". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
9. "Deirdre O'Connor". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
10. "Groundbreaking lawyer was first female Federal Court judge". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
11. "Elizabeth Andreas Evatt". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
12. "Diana Bryant". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
13. "2000-01 Annual Report". Federal Magistrates Court of Australia. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
14. "Margaret Beazley". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
15. "Jane Mathews". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
16. "Mahla Pearlman". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
17. "Leone Carmel Glynn". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
18. Doraisamy, Jerome (15 April 2024). "First woman appointed as Chief Judge of District Court of NSW". Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
19. Shiel, Fergus (26 November 2003). "Trailblazing lawyer named chief justice". The Age. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
20. "New Vic appeal court president appointed". The Canberra Times. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
21. "Susan Kenny". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
22. "Inspiring trailblazer for women in law". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
23. "Lynnette Rochelle Schiftan". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
24. "Catherine Holmes named as Queensland chief justice". ABC News. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
25. "McMurdo, Margaret". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
26. "The Honourable Justice Margaret J White AO". Retrieved 4 January 2018.
27. "Patricia (Patsy) Wolfe". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
28. "Highly respected Judge farewelled". Family Court of Australia. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
29. "Ill health forces first female South Australia chief magistrate Elizabeth Bolton to resign after eight years". The Advertiser. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
30. "Shan Eve Tennent". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
31. "Carmel McLure". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
32. Offer, Kate. "The Judges of Western Australia: Part II" (PDF). (1998) 27 University of Western Australia Law Review 248.
33. Quigley, John (14 December 2018). "Three new appointments to the Family Court announced". mediastatements.wa.gov.au. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
34. "Former judges of the Family Court". familycourt.gov.au. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
35. "Past District Court Judges". District Court of WA. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
36. "Antoinette Kennedy". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
37. Inman, Michael. "Introducing the ACT's first female Supreme Court Chief Justice". Canberra Times. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
38. Gorrey, M (6 October 2017). "Justice Hilary Penfold to retire from ACT Supreme Court". Canberra Times. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
39. Cummins, Jamie (1 February 2012). "Canberra Conversations: Lorraine Walker". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
40. Back, Alexandra (8 March 2019). "Karen Fryar, first woman to the bench in Canberra, retires". Canberra Times. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
41. "Sally Gordon Thomas". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 4 January 2018.