The Honourable Helen Bowskill was sworn in as Chief Justice of Queensland on 22 March 2022, having served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland from 10 July 2017, and as the Senior Judge Administrator of the Supreme Court of Queensland from 24 August 2021.  Her Honour previously served as a Judge of the District Court of Queensland from 10 November 2014, in that capacity also sitting as a Judge of the Children’s Court of Queensland and the Planning and Environment Court.  Her Honour holds the degree of Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) from the Queensland University of Technology, and was awarded the University Medal in 1995.  Her Honour served as the Associate to the Honourable Justice Drummond of the Federal Court of Australia in 1996, and completed articles of clerkship with Minter Ellison in 1997. Her Honour was admitted as a solicitor in January 1998, and as a barrister in July 1998. She commenced practice at the private Bar in Brisbane in July 1998. Her Honour took silk in November 2013. As a barrister, she practised widely in public, administrative and commercial law areas, with a particular focus on native title law.   Her Honour has been a member of the Judicial Council on Diversity & Inclusion since 2016.

Munya Andrews is the most senior Indigenous barrister at the Victorian Bar who practices in criminal and civil law. A former legal academic, she has taught law at the University of Melbourne and the Southern Cross University in Lismore on legal issues impacting Indigenous peoples. A Bardi woman from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, she is well versed in traditional laws, customs and practices. Munya has run many cross-cultural workshops for the legal profession, including for the judiciary, on Indigenous legal issues, racism and gender bias in the law. She is passionate about equal rights for everyone and the fair administration of justice.

Justice Berman was appointed to the Family Court of Australia on 18 July 2013. Prior to this, His Honour practised as a barrister in the area of family law and de facto relationships. Justice Berman was appointed Senior Counsel in 2010.

Judge Blake was appointed to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia on 30 January 2019. Prior to his appointment, Judge Blake was a Partner in large law firms where he practised in the areas of Employment, Discrimination, Workplace Safety and Industrial Law. His Honour was consistently recognised as a leading practitioner in these areas. He was considered to be a pre-eminent practitioner in Australia by Asia-Pacific Legal 500 in the area of Employment Law.  He was year after year recognised as a leading practitioner by Best Lawyers and Doyle’s Guide.

Since his appointment, Judge Blake hears cases across the jurisdictions of the Federal Circuit Court including employment disputes, migration, family law, bankruptcy and administrative law.

A Principal Member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Anne is a member of NCAT’s Appeal Panel and Guardianship, Occupational, Administrative and Equal Opportunity divisions. For two decades Anne has held senior roles in State and Commonwealth Tribunals, including as a Senior Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Deputy President of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal and Chairperson of the Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal. Anne taught in the Masters’ program at UNSW Law School and has significant experience in governance roles, including as a former director of the NSW Legal Aid Commission and the Communications Law Centre. Anne is the Chair of the Council of Australasian Tribunals (National).

Samantha Burchell has been Chief Executive Officer at the Judicial College of Victoria since March 2015. She was acting Chief Executive Officer since June 2014. The College is a learning institution dedicated to providing education to Victoria’s judiciary. Samantha has extensive experience in the Victorian justice sector, including almost eight years as Director of Education at the College. She is an experienced lawyer, having worked in private practice (including as a barrister at the Victorian Bar), in the courts (as a judge’s associate), in policy and law reform, and as an executive of a legal NGO and of a statutory authority. Samantha has a post-graduate management qualification (in organisation dynamics) and a record of leading and managing organisations. She is a current Professional Doctorate candidate.

Justice Hament Dhanji was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of NSW on 20 September 2021.

Justice Dhanji graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts degrees before beginning his career as a solicitor for Legal Aid NSW.

He was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1990 and practiced as a solicitor at the Legal Aid Commission of NSW before being called to the Bar in 1997. He took silk in 2010.

He was a barrister in private practice at Forbes Chambers engaged predominantly in criminal defence work. In addition to first instance work across the range of criminal matters including complex corporate crime matters he had a substantial appellate practice. He appeared as lead counsel in a number of important cases in the High Court and appeared in approximately 350 cases in the Court of Criminal Appeal.

In addition to his defence work Justice Dhanji also conducted prosecutions on behalf of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, appeared as counsel assisting the coroner and represented clients before the Police Integrity Commission and the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Justice Judith Kelly completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1973 and a Diploma of Education in 1976, working as a teacher in Batchelor, in the Northern Territory, from 1977 to 1982.  She graduated in Law with honours from the University of Queensland in 1985 and was first admitted as a barrister in Queensland in 1986, then worked as a solicitor in the Northern Territory, becoming a partner of Morris Fletcher and Cross (later Philip & Mitaros, then Clayton Utz).  She went to the independent bar, joining William Forster Chambers in Darwin, in 1996.  Her practice had a focus on commercial litigation, banking and insolvency with some insurance, construction, admiralty and native title law.  She was appointed Senior Counsel in 2008 and a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in 2009.

Alison is the Executive Director of the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration (AIJA). The principal objectives of the AIJA include research into judicial administration and the development and conduct of educational programmes for judicial officers, court administrators and members of the legal profession in relation to court administration and judicial systems. With an Arts/Law degree from The University of Sydney, Alison began her career as a solicitor and then for over 25 years has held executive roles with a variety of professional associations including The Law Society of NSW; The Law Society of England & Wales; and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, where most recently she held the position of NSW Regional Manager. She has also worked in senior marketing positions in law and accounting firms. Since 2014, Alison has been a member of the New South Wales Professional Services Panel for the Winston Churchill Memorial trust.

Associate JusticeVerity McWilliam was sworn in as the Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory on 26 June 2017. Her Honour was admitted as a solicitor to the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2002, and interspersed with her employment as a solicitor, she served as the Associate to Justice Finn in the Appeal Division of the Family Court of Australia, and Justice Beaumont and Justice Madgwick in the Federal Court of Australia. Her Honour was called to the NSW bar in 2006, where she developed a diverse practice across the areas of commercial/equity, criminal, employment, environmental/planning, public law and torts. Her Honour also lectured variously in public law, federal constitutional law and litigation at the University of NSW from 2010 until 2017, and in public law at the University of Sydney from 2010 to 2012.

Magistrate Gett was appointed a Magistrate in January 2013 and thereafter spent three years in Far North Queensland, which included presiding in regional indigenous communities in Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands. Prior to becoming a Magistrate, he was admitted as a barrister and spent almost thirteen years at the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions as a federal prosecutor.

For some eight of those years as a Federal Prosecutor he worked mainly in the prosecution of child exploitation offences.  He appeared as counsel in the prosecution of such offences in all courts from the High Court of Australia to the Magistrates Court of Queensland.  He has presented papers at numerous international and domestic conferences on child exploitation offences, including as a keynote speaker to the Council of the European Union in 2012 in Copenhagen.

More recently in 2015 and in 2016, Magistrate Gett travelled to various parts of Indonesia on nine occasions as part of an Australian Government assistance program for judicial co-operation and capacity building with that country’s judicial officers.  Magistrate Gett has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian-based International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law since 2004 and in 2019 he won that society’s President’s Medal.

Judge Nell Skinner was appointed as the President of the Children’s Court of New South Wales and a Judge of the District Court in November 2021.

Her Honour served as a Magistrate of the Local Court of New South Wales from 2009 and was appointed as a specialist Children’s Magistrate in 2017. Prior to her appointment to the bench Judge Skinner worked as a criminal lawyer at the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Legal Aid NSW and the Aboriginal Legal Service.

Judge Skinner graduated in Arts and Laws from the Australian National University and was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1999. Judge Skinner is committed to working with government and service providers to improve outcomes for children and young persons who come before the Children’s Court.

Justice Raper was appointed to the Federal Court in 2022. Prior to her Honour’s appointment, she was a barrister for 17 years practising primarily in employment and industrial disputes, and discrimination and administrative law matters. Her Honour was made Senior Counsel in 2019. Her Honour has been a lecturer at the University of Sydney – Law School for many years, lecturing in the undergraduate and post-graduate programmes primarily in employment and discrimination law. Her Honour together with Chris Ronalds AO SC, has co-authored two editions of the legal text Discrimination Law and Practice (Federation Press).

Mark joined National Accreditation Authority for Translators (NAATI) as Chief Executive Officer in July 2015 and has overseen the organisational transformation of NAATI including the implementation of the national system of Certification.

Prior to this appointment, he held a number of corporate and operational roles at senior executive levels in the Australian Public Service. In addition to his public sector career, Mark also has experience as a Director on a commercial board and a number of governance and audit committees. He has also been a lecturer/tutor at TAFE and university levels.

Mark holds a Master of Public Administration, a Graduate Certificate in Management and a Bachelor of Business Degree. Mark is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Institute of Management and Leadership and an Executive Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG).

Judge Soulio was appointed to the District Court of South Australia in 2006. His Honour has been the Chair of the Migrant Resource Centre of South Australia since 2003. He was Chair of the Australian Multicultural Council between 2011 and 2014 and in that capacity was a member of the national Access and Equity Inquiry Panel which conducted an inquiry into the availability and accessibility of government services to people from culturally diverse backgrounds. Between 2011 and 2014 he also served as a member of the National Anti-Racism Partnership Strategy. Judge Soulio was previously Deputy Chair of the Australian Multicultural Advisory Council, which provided advice to government on multicultural policy, until the completion of the Advisory Council’s term in 2011.

Judge Stavrianou was appointed to the District Court of Western Australia on 10 April 2006. He graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Jurisprudence in 1975, a Bachelor of Laws in 1976 and a Master of Laws at the University of Western Australia in 1994. He was admitted to practice in Western Australia in December 1977. He was a partner of a Perth law firm between 1982 and 1992. He joined the Independent Bar at Francis Burt Chambers in 1992.

Judge Pillay was appointed to the County Court of Victoria in August 2019. Judge Pillay sits in the Common Law Division and hears trials involving work accidents, transport accidents and medical negligence.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Pillay worked as a solicitor before then signing the Victorian Bar roll in 2003 where he worked mainly in the occupational health and safety, administrative law and personal injury fields.

Whilst at the Victorian Bar, Judge Pillay appeared in a number of complex matters including appearing in the first case of damages brought by an asylum seeker for injuries sustained while detained on Manus Island in February 2014. He also represented numerous statutory bodies including the Medical Panels Victoria, the Nurses Board of Victoria, the Victims of Crimes Assistance Tribunal and the Legal Aid Commission.

Ms Wilshire is the CEO of the Migration Council Australia (MCA). The MCA was set up to provide independent research and policy advice on migration, settlement and social cohesion. Ms Wilshire has a background in public policy and has worked as public servant and advisor to Government on multicultural affairs. She has a background in tertiary research and policy development.

Justice Wood was appointed to the Supreme Court of Tasmania on 9 November 2009. Prior to this appointment Her Honour served as a Magistrate, and was the first woman appointed to that role in Tasmania. Previously, Justice Wood practised in criminal law as Crown Counsel with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and later in civil litigation as a barrister and solicitor with a Hobart law firm. Her Honour has a longstanding interest in human rights and equal opportunity matters, having served as Chairperson of the Sex Discrimination Tribunal (1996-1999) and the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal (1999-2009).

Ms Una Doyle is the Chief Executive of the Judicial Commission of NSW, and was previously the Director, Education at the Commission since December 2015. She has worked for over 22 years in law, legal education and executive management. Previously Ms Doyle was the Head of Professional Development, Membership and Communications, at the Law Society of NSW and the Director of Continuing Professional Education at the College of Law. She is a past President of ACLEA, the International Association for Continuing Legal Education (2016–2017) and co-chaired ACLEA’s International Committee from 2007-2009. She was President of the Continuing Legal Education Association of Australasia from 2005-2007, and has served as a member of its Executive for five terms, including as Treasurer from 2019 to 2021.

Justice Marcus Solomon was appointed to the Supreme Court of Western Australia as a Judge of the Court on 4 August 2021.

Justice Solomon graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Western Australia, and commenced his legal career in 1991, where he completed his articles of clerkship at Dwyer Durack. From 1992-2000, Justice Solomon continued at Dwyer Durack, attaining partnership in 1995. From 2000-2006, he worked at Gadens Lawyers, where he was the managing partner and senior property and litigation partner. In September 2006, Justice Solomon joined the Independent Bar. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2013, undertaking a wide commercial practice until his appointment to the Bench.

Alongside his judicial career, Justice Solomon remains a teacher of Jewish studies and the senior rabbi of the Beit Midrash of WA Inc., an institution dedicated to advanced Jewish studies and Talmudic law for both children and adults.   He is the first rabbi to be appointed as a Supreme Court justice in Australia or elsewhere.  Justice Solomon is also the Governor of the Carmel School Board, the community school of the Perth Jewish community where he taught Jewish studies prior to completing his legal studies.

Ms Karen Gregory is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Judicial College of Australia. Prior to this role, she was the Education Director and Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the NJCA. Karen is an exceptionally experienced educator, having worked in senior roles at the College level, where she created centres of excellence, devised curriculum, designed and developed innovative education programs. Prior to becoming an educator, Karen spent almost ten years as a lawyer in private practice at Kings & Wood Mallesons in Canberra, Allens Linklaters and KPMG Legal in Sydney. Prior to this, she worked and played as a tennis professional in Australia and overseas.

Karen has a Bachelor of Business Administration (Marketing) from Texas Christian University, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney, a Diploma of Legal Practice from the NSW College of Law and a Diploma of Teaching (Secondary) from the University of Canberra.

Dr Graeme Innes AM is a lawyer, author, and company director. He is the Chancellor of Central Queensland University, a member of the board of the National Disability Insurance Agency, and a member of the board of the State Insurance Regulatory Authority of NSW. Graeme’s autobiography Finding a Way achieved popular acclaim in 2016.

He has been a human rights practitioner for more than forty years, and is a conference presenter and facilitator. Graeme was a Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission for nine years, responsible for issues relating to disability, race and human rights. On the international stage, he was a member of the Australian delegation that participated in negotiating the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

Since 2014, Graeme has received four Honorary Doctorates in recognition of his human rights advocacy. Graeme is married with two children, loves cricket as a spectator and sailing as a participant, and relaxes by enjoying fine Australian white wine.