Susan Kiefel has been named Australia’s first female High Court chief justice, ending 113 years of men leading the nation’s highest court.
After months of speculation about who would replace retiring chief Robert French, the Turnbull government appointed serving High Court Justice Kiefel to the role on Tuesday, reports Sydney Morning Herald.
Chief Justice French said in March he would stand down in January, ahead of his 70th birthday and in order to allow his successor to be in place for the start of the new year sittings on January 30.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday “Susan Kiefel’s story is one that is an inspiration”.
The Queenslander left school at 15 and began her working life as a legal secretary before studying law part-time through the barristers admission board.
“She went on after practising at the bar to win a Master of Laws at the University of Cambridge,” Turnbull added.
In a statement, Justice Kiefel said it was “a privilege to walk in the footsteps of the eminent jurists who have been appointed Chief Justices since the Court was established in 1903”.
When she was sworn in as a High Court judge in 2007, Justice Kiefel was greeted by school children waving placards saying “2/7 = a good start”.
A former judge of the Federal Court and Queensland Supreme Court, the 62-year-old was the first woman in Queensland to be appointed Queen's Counsel, or silk, in 1987.
The High Court now boasts three women on the seven-judge bench, following the appointment of Justice Michelle Gordon last year.
Chief Justice French, who was appointed to the top job in September 2008, had previously served as a judge of the Federal Court.
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