The first woman judge on the High Court shaped Australian legal history and was an inspiration to many.
- Associate Professor, University of Newcastle
Since the High Court’s establishment, women have come a long way – and a majority female bench will have significant implications.
The Morrison government has announced Jacqueline Gleeson and Simon Steward will sit on the High Court bench.
From her early career as an academic to a Supreme Court justice, ‘RBG’ was a trailblazer in all aspects of her work. Though not without controversy, she leaves behind a huge legacy.
In the wake of the allegations about Dyson Heydon, a key outstanding question is reforming Australia’s opaque judicial appointments system.
Sexual harassment is endemic within the law. This inquiry’s finding must be the catalyst for genuine and long overdue change in the profession.
The change in law is part of broader reforms that came out of the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse in both NSW and Victoria.
Denying Manning the opportunity to enter Australia to undertake her speaking tour seems at odds with the Australian government’s purported commitment to freedom of expression.
Women’s exclusion from legal and political power for much of last century makes Susan Kiefel’s appointment all the more significant.
Now that women will make up 40% of High Court judges come June 2015, is gender now irrelevant? Hardly. Women have made up slightly less than 10% of all High Court judges in the court’s history.
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