Since 2013, Branson has held multiple academic and governance roles, including adjunct professor at the Adelaide Law School, member of the University of Adelaide Council, and advisory board member of the Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law. She has also served as chair of the university's Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee, patron of the Neurosurgical Research Foundation and Payla Fund, director of the Human Rights Law Centre in Melbourne, and board member of Cancer Council South Australia. She became deputy chancellor in 2017 and was appointed the 17th chancellor in 2020, being reappointed in 2022 and 2024 for successive terms, guiding the university through its 150th anniversary and its planned transition to Adelaide University. Branson is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.
Early life and education
Catherine Margaret Branson[1] was born in Terowie[2] in 1948 and grew up on a wheat and sheep property near Hallett, in the mid-north of South Australia. She is the daughter of Max and Barbara Rayner.[3] Her father, described as practical and uncompromising, encouraged her independence by ensuring she could drive a range of farm vehicles, including tractors, from a young age. With boys as her main playmates, she largely participated in activities traditionally associated with them, later observing that she assumed early in life that whatever boys could do, she could also achieve.[4]
Branson began her education at local government schools before, at the age of ten, enrolling as a boarder at Presbyterian Girls' College in Adelaide, where she later admitted she was not an especially diligent student. She had no clear career ambitions, though she believed her father may have hoped she would marry a wealthy pastoralist. In 1966, she intended to study psychology at university, but was instead allocated to the newly established Flinders University to study geography and Spanish. Psychology was offered only at the University of Adelaide, on the condition that it was combined with law or economics. As her brother was already studying economics, Branson elected to pursue law. By the end of her first year, she was among a small group of students to pass all subjects at the first attempt, which encouraged her to continue in the discipline.[4] In 1970, she graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Laws.[5]
Legal career
Early career (1972–1992)
In 1972, following a period as a tutor in the Adelaide Law School, Branson went abroad. During time in the Middle East, she saw a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut that had existed since 1948, which made her more conscious of the plight of refugees.[3] She subsequently spent an extended period in the United States, where she undertook voluntary work at a legal aid office in Pontiac, Michigan, while her husband was employed locally. The work exposed her to entrenched social and economic disadvantage, particularly among African American clients, and contributed to the development of her enduring commitment to human rights and social justice. Branson later reflected that this period was formative in shaping her understanding of structural inequality and the role of the state in protecting individual rights.[4]
Returning to Australia in 1973, Branson began her articles of clerkship while completing her Bachelor of Arts at the same university.[3] She entered a legal profession dominated by men, where women often faced discrimination and harassment. Although these challenges were not the main reason for leaving private practice, broader gender-based restrictions influenced her decision to pursue a career in the public sector.[4] She completed her arts degree in 1977.[5] That same year, she was appointed research assistant to the Solicitor-General, Brian Cox, in the South Australian Department of Legal Services,[3] where she quickly gained recognition and began assisting in High Court hearings, acquiring early experience with significant legal work. Branson later advocated for reforms aimed at creating safer and more equitable workplaces for women in the legal profession.[4]
Branson began working as a solicitor at the Crown Solicitor's Office in 1978 and joined the National Women's Advisory Council, which advised the Prime Minister on issues concerning women.[6] She subsequently provided legal advice to the state government and accompanied PremierDon Dunstan to a premiers' conference as his legal adviser. In 1984, at age 35, she was appointed Crown Solicitor and head of the Attorney-General's Department, becoming the first woman in Australia to hold the position. Her leadership was credited with revitalising the office and expanding opportunities for younger lawyers. She later transitioned to private practice as a barrister in a previously all-male Bar Chambers, influencing professional culture.[4] Branson joined the South Australian Bar in 1989, specialising in administrative law, including business law and discrimination legislation, and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1992.[6]
Federal Court of Australia (1994–2008)
Branson was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia on 16 May 1994.[1] The appointment was part of a broader effort to introduce gender diversity to the bench, and Branson has acknowledged that her gender influenced the timing of the offer. She stated that the presence of women on the bench affected judicial culture by encouraging discussions that incorporated experiences and perspectives specific to women. Branson served fourteen years on the Federal Court, primarily in Sydney, and was at times considered a potential nominee for the High Court.[4]
From 1998 to 2000, Branson presided over the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration and engaged in international collaboration with judges in countries including Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Palestinian Territories.[6] During this period, on 19 August 1999, she participated in the Federal Court hearing of the Yorta Yorta native title appeal, which contested a previous ruling that denied the Yorta Yorta people native title over lands in southern New South Wales and northern Victoria.[7][8] From 2000 to 2006, she was a board member of the International Development Law Organization.[9] On 22 November 2007, Branson was part of the Federal Court panel, alongside JusticesPaul Finn and John Tamberlin, that dismissed an appeal by the Wilderness Society challenging the Commonwealth government's approval of a Gunnspulp mill in northern Tasmania.[10][11] She retired from the Federal Court on 13 October 2008.[1]
On 7 August 2008, following fourteen years as a judge of the Federal Court, Branson was appointed president of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). She commenced her five-year term on 14 October,[12] succeeding John von Doussa.[13] The role expanded her responsibilities beyond the judiciary to include issues affecting the homeless, unemployed, families of children with disabilities, and individuals in immigration detention centres. She implemented a three-year strategic plan to identify Australia's most pressing human rights challenges and to prioritise areas where the AHRC could have the greatest impact.[4] On 12 July 2009, Branson was also appointed Human Rights Commissioner.[12] During her tenure, she advocated for a federal charter of rights, supported civil marriage for same-sex couples, and emphasised respect, decency, and leadership by example, while promoting academic freedom, free speech, and independent open debate.[4]
Branson's work involved visits to detention facilities on Christmas Island and mainland Australia, including Inverbrackie in South Australia, which she described as the most distressing aspect of her role. She urged policymakers to witness firsthand the effects of their policies and called for an end to mandatory detention and offshore processing on Christmas Island to ensure compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Branson also participated in international human rights dialogue, including the Australia–Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue and delivering the keynote address at the Australia–Philippines Policy Forum on Human Rights.[4]
Among her final acts as commissioner, Branson conducted an inquiry into the treatment of individuals suspected of people smuggling offences who claimed to be children. The inquiry culminated in the report An Age of Uncertainty, tabled in the Parliament of Australia on 27 July 2012, calling attention to human rights breaches from disputed age assessments and prolonged detention of minors in adult facilities.[14] In February 2012, she announced she would step down as president of the AHRC at the end of July,[15] citing the need to spend more time with her husband and elderly parents while living in Adelaide and commuting to Sydney.[16] Her term concluded on 29 July,[12] and she was succeeded by Gillian Triggs.[17]
Later career
Branson has been an adjunct professor at the Adelaide Law School since 2013.[18] In the same year, she joined the University of Adelaide Council[5] and served as an advisory board member of the Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law until 2017. Since 2014, she has held several roles, including chair of the University of Adelaide's Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee, patron of the Neurosurgical Research Foundation, patron of the Payla Fund, director of the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) in Melbourne, and board member of Cancer Council South Australia.[9] She became deputy chancellor of the University of Adelaide in 2017.[5] and was appointed chair of the HRLC board the same year, serving as its chair in 2017[9] before concluding her tenure in March 2021, when she was succeeded by Robynne Quiggin.[19]
On 14 July 2020, Branson was appointed the 17th chancellor of the University of Adelaide,[20] assuming the role during a governance crisis following the resignation of her predecessor, Kevin Scarce, and amid investigations into the university's leadership.[21] She was reappointed unanimously in February 2022 for a second two-year term,[22] and again in February 2024 for a third term, set to conclude on 12 July 2026. Her tenure has coincided with the university's 150th anniversary and the planned transition to Adelaide University.[23] Branson is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and chairs the South Australian Selection Panel for the General Sir John Monash Scholarship.[9]
In her early twenties, Branson married her first husband, John Branson, a lawyer,[4] and she lives in Adelaide.[16] During her formative years, she was inspired by prominent role models, including Mary Gaudron, who served as Solicitor General of New South Wales and later became the first woman appointed to the High Court of Australia, and Roma Mitchell, the first woman in Australia to be appointed as a judge.[3]
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