Catherine Branson | |
---|---|
Chancellor of the University of Adelaide | |
Assumed office 14 July 2020 | |
Preceded by | Kevin Scarce |
President of the Australian Human Rights Commission | |
In office 2008–2012 | |
Nominated by | Kevin Rudd |
Preceded by | John von Doussa |
Succeeded by | Gillian Triggs |
Judge of the Federal Court of Australia | |
In office 16 May 1994 –13 October 2008 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Catherine Margaret Rayner 2 May 1948 Terowie,South Australia |
Spouse | John Branson (m. 1969) |
Alma mater | University of Adelaide |
Occupation | Judge, lawyer |
Catherine Margaret Branson AC KC (born 2 May 1948) is a former Australian judge and public servant. She was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1994 to 2008, [2] and then President of the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2008 to 2012. [3]
Branson is the daughter of Max and Barbara Rayner and grew up on a wheat and sheep property near Hallett, South Australia and learned to drive every vehicle including tractors. [1] She went to school at Presbyterian Girls' College before studying at the University of Adelaide. She initially sought to study psychology, but the pathway to that at the time was law or economics. [1] She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and then a Bachelor of Arts. [4]
In her early twenties, Branson volunteered at a legal aid office near Michigan during an extended trip to the United States. [1] On return to South Australia, Branson initially worked in private practice, then at the South Australian Department of Legal Services in 1977 before moving to the Crown Solicitor's Office in 1978. She was Crown Solicitor of South Australia from 1984-1989, [5] the first woman to be appointed in Australia. [1] Branson had a dual appointment as the Chief Executive officer of the South Australian Attorney-General’s Department, the first woman to be the permanent head of a South Australian government department. [4] [6]
Branson practised as a barrister at the South Australian Bar from 1989, practising principally in the areas of administrative and commercial law. Branson was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1992. [4]
In 1994 Branson was appointed a judge of the Federal Court in 1994. Branson was a member of the full court considering an appeal by the Yorta Yorta people concerning their native title claim. Branson was a member of the majority that upheld Justice Olney's finding that the 'tide of history' had 'washed away' any real acknowledgement of traditional laws and any real observance of traditional customs by the Yorta Yorta community. [7] Another high profile case in which Branson was a judge on the full court that unanimously dismissed an appeal by The Wilderness Society concerning approval of the Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania. [8]
Branson was the President of the Australian Institute for Judicial Administration from 1998 to 2000. [4] [6]
Branson retired from the Federal Court in 2008. [4]
Branson was the president of the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2008 until 2012. During her time as president Branson supported a federal charter of human rights, same-sex marriage and opposed mandatory detention for asylum seekers. [4] Branson continued to live in Adelaide, however she had to commute regularly to Sydney and decided to resign 15 months early to spend more time with her husband and elderly parents. [9]
In 2012 Branson was given an honorary Doctor of Laws by Flinders University, for her 'long and esteemed career in the law' and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Macquarie University for her support and advocacy for human rights. [4]
In 2018, she was invested as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the Queen's Birthday Honours. [10]
In July 2020, Branson was appointed Chancellor of The University of Adelaide. [11]
Mary Genevieve Gaudron, is an Australian lawyer and judge, who was the first female Justice of the High Court of Australia. She was the Solicitor-General of New South Wales from 1981 until 1987 before her appointment to the High Court. After her retirement in 2002, she joined the International Labour Organization, serving as the President of its Administrative Tribunal from 2011 until 2014.
Michael Donald Kirby is an Australian jurist and academic who is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, serving from 1996 to 2009. He has remained active in retirement; in May 2013 he was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to lead an inquiry into human rights abuses in North Korea, which reported in February 2014.
Monash University Faculty of Law, or Monash Law School, is the law school of Monash University. Founded in 1963, it is based in Melbourne, Victoria and has campuses in Malaysia and Italy. It is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in Australia and globally, and entry to its Bachelor of Laws (LLB) programme is highly competitive.
Elizabeth Andreas Evatt, an eminent Australian reformist lawyer and jurist who sat on numerous national and international tribunals and commissions, was the first Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, the first female judge of an Australian federal court, and the first Australian to be elected to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
Corrs Chambers Westgarth is an Australian commercial law firm founded in 1841. Corrs has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Port Moresby.
Susan Mary Kiefel is an Australian lawyer and barrister who is the 13th and current Chief Justice of Australia since 2017. She has concurrently served on the bench of the High Court of Australia since 2007, previously being a judge of both the Supreme Court of Queensland and the Federal Court of Australia. Kiefel is the first woman to serve in the position of Chief Justice.
Sir Richard Arthur Blackburn, was an Australian judge, prominent legal academic and military officer. He became a judge of three courts in Australia, and eventually became chief justice of the Australian Capital Territory. In the 1970s he decided one of Australia's earliest Aboriginal Land rights cases. The annual Sir Richard Blackburn Memorial lectures in Canberra commemorate his service to the Australian legal community.
Bradley Maxwell Selway was a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 2002 until his death.
Annabelle Claire Bennett is the Chancellor of Bond University and a former Judge of the Federal Court of Australia.
Bruce Thomas Lander was the first Independent Commissioner Against Corruption in South Australia. He was replaced by Ann Vanstone on 2 September 2020. He was formerly a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia.
Susan Coralie Kenny AM is a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia, and formerly a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, where she was the first woman to serve on the Court of Appeal.
John William von Doussa is a former Australian judge and public servant. He was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1988 to 2003, president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission from 2003 to 2008, and chancellor of the University of Adelaide from 2004 to 2010.
Julie Anne Dodds-Streeton is a Reserve Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. She was formerly a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, having served for four years from February 2010. Prior to that, she was a Justice of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Victoria, having previously been a Judge of the Trial Division of that Court from 2002.
Jane Hamilton Mathews was a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, a judge of the Federal Court of Australia and President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Natalie Charlesworth is an Australian judge, sitting on the Federal Court of Australia.
Margaret Jean Nyland (1942–) is an Australian lawyer, who was a judge of the District Court of South Australia from 1987 until 1993 when she was appointed to the Supreme Court of South Australia. Nyland retired in 2012.
Robyn Ann Layton is an Australian lawyer, who worked in a diverse range of legal roles, including as a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia and judge of the South Australian Industrial Court. She was author of the South Australian Child Protection review known as "the Layton report" in 2003, and a member and then chair of the International Labour Organization's Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations from 1993 to 2008.
John Leonard Clifton Wickham was a judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
Sarah Catherine Derrington is an Australian jurist and academic. She has served as President of the Australian Law Reform Commission and as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia since 10 January 2018. She was previously Dean of Law at the University of Queensland from 2013 to 2018.