The Australian Women's Register

Pauline Truong came to Australia with her extended family as a refugee baby. She studied Science/Law at the University of Melbourne and went on to be the first person of Vietnamese background to be awarded the prestigious Justice Lionel Murphy International Postgraduate Award for attendance at UCLA Law School to complete postgraduate studies. Her thesis (with empirical research) on international and comparative law at UCLA Law School received top score from a world-renowned and distinguished Law Professor from Columbia Law School and UCLA Law School.

Described as a socio-legal entrepreneur, Pauline is working on some interesting innovations for global commercialization and impact.

Anne Gallagher AO is a lawyer, practitioner, teacher and scholar, specialising in human rights and the administration of criminal justice. She obtained a BA and LLB from Macquarie University; a Masters of International Law from the Australian National University; and a PhD from the University of Utrecht.

After teaching international law for several years at ANU, Anne sat for the national competitive examinations to enter the United Nations and was recruited in 1992 to the UN’s human rights operations. From 1998 to 2002 she was Special Adviser to Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland. During that time Anne was at the forefront of developing the new international legal framework around transnational organized crime, migrant smuggling and human trafficking.

Since resigning from the UN in 2003, she has been working with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its ten Member States to strengthen legislative and criminal justice responses to human trafficking and related exploitation. This Australian-government funded program – the world’s largest and most ambitious criminal justice initiative against trafficking – has been acclaimed for its impact on laws, policies and practices within and outside the ASEAN region and Anne’s contribution has been widely recognized, including by the ASEAN Secretary-General.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Rayne de Gruchy migrated as a child to Australia in 1962. She was educated at St Hilda’s school in Southport, Queensland and went on to graduate with a BA (UQ) in 1975. After spending some time working and travelling overseas, de Gruchy returned to study law (LLB with honours) at the Australian National University. She was admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales and Queensland in 1981, and in Victoria in 1985.

She then worked in private practice and a variety of large firms throughout the 1980 and 90s:

• Private practice, property and commercial, Morris, Fletcher and Cross, Brisbane (1981-85)
• Partner and lawyer Freehill, Hollingdale and Page, Melbourne (1985-92)
• Director, MLC Building Society (1989-95)
• Councillor, Law Institute of Victoria (1989-95)
• Practised at Melbourne and Brisbane Bars (1992-94)
• Executive Director Crown Law Queensland (1994-95)
• Executive Director Australian Financial Institutions Commission (1996-99)
• CEO Australian Government Solicitor (AGS) (1999-2010)
• Deputy CEO Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) (2010-14)
• Chief Operating Officer ACCC (2014- )

De Gruchy’s leadership as the inaugural CEO Australian Government Solicitor was integral to the successful evolution of the AGS to a fully commercial and competitive national law firm. She was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2001, a PSM in 2003 and an AM in 2008. She left the AGS in later in that year, commencing with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission where she is now Chief Operating Officer.

In 1968, Paulette Bisley (nee Parkinson) became the tenth woman to sign the Victorian Bar Roll. Although she spent most of her career pursuing activities outside the legal profession, she credits the legal training and experience she received for helping to ‘shape and define different parts of my life. It made me stronger and helped find my voice that I could use to help others.’

Go to ‘Details’ below to read a reflective essay written by Paulette Bisley for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

Peg Lusink was the first Victorian woman appointed to the Judiciary and also the second woman appointed to the Family Court, when it began operations in 1976. Prior to her judicial appointment, Peg was a Partner at Corr and Corr, working principally in the areas of matrimonial causes and family law. She briefly practiced at the Melbourne Bar before becoming a Family Court Judge. Upon retirement from the Family Court, in 1990, Peg became one of the foundational Professors in the Law Faculty at Bond University. In 1996, Peg accepted another judicial appointment, becoming the President of the Commonwealth Professional Services Review Tribunal. In that same year she was appointed AM for law for services to the Family Court and the community.

Peg Lusink was interviewed by Kim Rubenstein for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Oral History Project. For details of the interview see the National Library of AustraliaCATALOGUE RECORD.

Professor Rosalind Croucher AM is a leading legal academic and current (2016) president of the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC). In 2014, she was the inaugural winner of the Australian Woman Lawyer (AWL) Award. She was described as:

‘an inspirational leader in the legal community, making a distinct contribution to law reform and legal education across the national stage. She has enthusiastically taken on ‘tough’ roles with great success and is a true institution builder. Prof Croucher restored the reputation of Macquarie Law School and successfully steered the ALRC through two inquiries which threatened the ALRC’s very existence. At the ALRC she has led seven inquiries of great public policy significance, including on family violence, older workers, and disability. She is also an exceptional mentor, with a deep and abiding commitment to fostering the careers of others, particularly women.’

Professor Croucher was appointed President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, 30 July 2017, for a seven year term.

Debbie Kilroy OAM is a former prisoner, qualified social worker and practising lawyer. Debbie spent much of her teens in youth prisons, and several years in adult women’s prisons, in Queensland. Since its establishment in the 1990s, she has led Sisters Inside Inc, an organisation that advocates for the human rights of criminalised women in Queensland. She was admitted as a Legal Practitioner in Queensland in 2007 – the first former prisoner to achieve this.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read an essay written by Suzi Quixley about Debbie Kilroy for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

Joan Dwyer OAM graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1961, signed the solicitor’s roll in 1963 and came to the bar in 1978. She had a diverse and successful career that included working as a research assistant for Sir Zelman Cowen and, when in London, for solicitors to Queen Elizabeth II.

She was a Senior Member of the AAT (Clth) for 21 years and Chair of the Equal Opportunity Board (Vic).

Joan Dwyer passed away peacefully in September 2019 at the age of 79, after a five-year battle with cancer.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read a reflective essay written by Joan Dwyer for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

Gningala Yarran-Mark has a law degree from the University of Western Australia and has established a successful career working in Western Australian resources companies working in management positions. In 2016 she holds the position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Co-ordinator at UGL Limited, having also worked for Jacobs, Sinclair Knight Merz and BHP in similar roles. She earlier worked as Associate to Justice French at the Federal Court, the first Aboriginal law graduate in Western Australia to attain such a position, and as a Public Prosecutor for the Western Australian Department of Public Prosecutions.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read a reflective essay written by Gningala Yarran-Mark for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

The Hon. Margaret Wilson QC was a barrister and judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland.

She is known for her contribution to mental health law, as the first judge of the Mental Health Court and as the Commissioner who inquired into the closure of the Barrett Adolescent Centre, as well as for the part she played in procedural and substantive law reform in Queensland through her membership of the Rules Committee and the Queensland Law Reform Commission.

Joan Bennett is a trailblazing solicitor who established the first law firm in Brisbane in which one of the founding partners was female. She has established several successful law firms and is prominent in the Council of the Queensland Law Society.

Admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1965, Patricia Conroy (nee Herlihy), established two partnerships with Martin Conroy in 1966 that have remained steadfast – marriage in July and then a business partnership in December. In the intervening period, the couple travelled to the remote north Queensland town of Mt Isa, where they established their firm, Conroy and Conroy Solicitors. Conroy was the first woman to practise in remote north-western Queensland, and she was one half of the first husband and wife partnership to practice state-wide, a partnership that endures still, in 2016.

Patricia Conroy was interviewed by Nikki Henningham for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Oral History Project. For details of the interview see the National Library of AustraliaCATALOGUE RECORD.

Beatrix (Bix) McCay was the second woman to sign the Victorian Bar Roll when she did so in 1925. Unfortunately, her career at the Bar was cut short by a diagnosis of tuberculosis and the requisite sojourn in a sanitorium and subsequent convalescence. She nevertheless went on to contribute to public life through her involvement in numerous community organisations, including the Red Cross and the Girl Guides.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read a tribute to Beatrix McCay written by her daughter in 2009, for which permission to reproduce has been granted for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

Rhondda Nicholas is an experienced employment lawyer at Nicholas Dibb, where she is the principal solicitor. She established OzPropertyLaw; the first legal practice in Australia to offer fixed fee conveyancing services online in every state and territory.

A graduate of the ANU Law School, Rhondda also holds a BA (Hons) in political science from ANU and a Master of Philosophy from Griffith University, Qld in Australia – Asia relations.

Lyndel Prott (AO (1991), Öst. EKWuK(i) (2000), Hon FAHA; LL.D. (honoris causa) B.A. LL.B. (University of Sydney), Licence spéciale en Droit international (ULB Brussels), Dr. Juris (Tübingen) and member of Gray’s Inn, London, is former Director of UNESCO’s Division of Cultural Heritage and former Professor of Cultural Heritage Law at the University of Sydney.

She has had a distinguished career in teaching, research and practice.

At UNESCO 1990-2002 she was responsible for the administration of UNESCO’s Conventions and standard-setting Recommendations on the protection of cultural heritage and also for the negotiations on the 1999 Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict 1954 and for the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001. She contributed as Observer for UNESCO to the negotiations for the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects 1995.

She has authored, co-authored or edited over 300 books, reports or articles, written in English, French or German and translated into 9 other languages. Currently Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland, she has taught at many universities including long distance learning courses on International Heritage Law.

Judge Kathryn Kings is a judge of the County Court of Victoria, a position she has occupied since 2009. As of January 2015 Kathy became the judge in charge of the Court’s Family Property List which includes cases relating to deceased estates. She takes an active role in managing the litigation in that List, including mediating settlement conferences. She also undertakes work in the Court’s Personal Injury List, which includes cases involving workplace injuries, transport accidents and medical negligence, trial being by judge alone or by jury.

Before coming to the County Court, Kathy was an Associate Judge, formerly known as a Master and Listing Master of the Supreme Court of Victoria from 1993 to 2008. She was the first female judicial officer appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria. In that Court she was actively involved in the management of civil proceedings, including acting as a mediator and sat on numerous committees in relation to civil procedure.

Prior to being appointed as a judicial officer, Kathy practised as a litigation lawyer both in city and country law firms. Immediately prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court she was an Associate at Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King & Wood Mallesons) from 1987 to 1992. She graduated from the University of Melbourne (LLB in 1974 and later LLM in 1984).

Outside of the law, Kathy is a passionate advocate for educational institutions that provide opportunities for young women. She is currently a member of the school board of Korowa Anglican Girls’ School in Glen Iris. Kathy was also a board member of Wesley College and MLC. Kathy was also the Chair of the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Royal Women’s Hospital from 2004 to 2006, and a director of the Nurses Memorial Centre from 2005 to 2009.

The Honourable Justice McLure’s career began at the University of Western Australia where she obtained a Bachelor of Jurisprudence with Honours in 1976 and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours in 1979. Amid her studies, she took on the role of assistant private secretary to Senator Durack, the former Commonwealth Attorney General, from 1977-78. She later became the private secretary to Senator Durack before departing for Oxford University where she obtained her Bachelor of Civil Law in 1983.

Upon return to Western Australia in 1984, Justice McLure joined a corporate law firm and became a partner there in 1987. Her Honour gained wide experience in civil litigation, particularly in the areas of administrative law, corporations and trade practices law and professional negligence. She became head of the firm’s litigation division in 1993.

Justice McLure went on to practise as a barrister and in 1997 was appointed Queen’s Counsel. On 23 April 2001, the Supreme Court welcomed Her Honour to the Bench. She became a member of the Court of Appeal upon its inception in 2005 and was appointed as President of the Court of Appeal in November 2009.

Associate Professor Jane Power completed her Law Degree at The University of Western Australia in 1983. She immediately commenced practice as an Articled Clerk with the Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia, specialising mainly in the area of Family Law. Jane continued to work in a part time capacity after the birth of the first of her three children, again concentrating in Family Law but also Juvenile Justice and minor Criminal Law. In addition to working for the Commission in Perth, she spent a number of years assisting as Duty Counsel and in the Advice Bureau in the Fremantle jurisdiction. She has also worked for a medium sized local firm and a sole practitioner.

Jane currently holds the position of Director, Professional Legal Education at the Law School of The University of Notre Dame Australia (Fremantle Campus) having commenced the position in January 2012. She was previously the Associate Dean (Students) from 2004 – 2007, and Dean from 2008 – 2011. She was the second female Law Dean in Western Australia. She is responsible for the School’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme, for practitioners and serves on numerous practitioner related bodies. She continues to hold her Practice Certificate.

Catherine McKimm graduated from the Australian National University (ANU) College of Law in 1975; one of the 10% of her class who were women. After spending a short period of time developing her litigation skills as an insurance lawyer, she decided to strike out on her own. She moved to Northern New South Wales where she and a friend established their own legal practice. While not always lucrative, running her own practice meant she could work in areas that truly interested her and fulfil her sense of social justice through the law. Some examples of the work she did include a Land and Environmental Court action acting on behalf of a local community organisation who were endeavouring to stop the development of a hard rock quarry in a river which formed the headwaters of the local town water supply and a Federal Court action involving a single mother who sued one of the big four banks after her husband lost their life savings gambling on the foreign currency market.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read a reflective essay written by Catherine McKimm for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

During a long career in the Australian Public Service in the Attorney-General’s Department and in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Joan Sheedy held a number of senior positions responsible for the provision of legal policy advice on, and the development of legislation in the fields of human rights, privacy, copyright and freedom of information. She was involved in the development of many major legislative reforms including the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986, the Privacy Act 1988 (and subsequent reforms in the privacy area), the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000, the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 and the significant Commonwealth FOI reforms of 2009 and 2010. She also represented Australia in negotiations at the United Nations in Geneva and Vienna on human rights, at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva on copyright and at the EU in Brussels on privacy.

When Karen Fryar was appointed as a magistrate of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Magistrates Court on 6 September 1993, she became the first woman to be appointed to the judiciary in the ACT. In 2008 she was awarded the ACT International Women’s Day Women’s Award. On 26 January 2010 she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia ‘for service to the community of the ACT as a magistrate and through contributions to the prevention of family violence’.

Please click ‘Details” below to read an essay written by Karen Fryar for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

Judith Peirce has been an important figure in community legal centres and law reform in Victoria for over forty years. With Lynne Opas she lobbied government in the 1970s to adopt the proposed new Family Law Act; once enacted, she was active on the Family Law Committee of the Law Institute.

Peirce also served as the Community Legal Services representative on the Law Institute Council, eventually becoming an Executive Member as Treasurer and then Vice – President of the Law Institute (1999- 2003.)

Just as she was about to take on the presidency of the Law Institute her career took another path. Her work in family violence, experience with the Courts in seeking protection for women, and the inadequate nature of a response to violence against women by police, courts and our community led to her appointment as a Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission to conduct the review into family violence law and systems.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read a reflective essay written by Judith Peirce for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

In June 1976, Josephine Maxwell was one of four women appointed to the Bench of the then brand new Family Court of Australia, which was headed by its first Chief Judge Justice Elizabeth Evatt.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read a reflective essay written by Josephine Maxwell for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

Moya Dodd is a lawyer and former international footballer with the Matildas, now making a contribution to sports governance in Australia and internationally. She was named one of World Soccer magazine’s People of the Year in 2013, and listed in the top 100 Women of Influence by the Australian Financial Review in 2012 and 2014.

Ann Shelton graduated in 1964, winning the Anna Brennan Memorial Prize for the woman placed highest in the final year law class at the University of Melbourne. She went on to be Victorian Parliamentary Counsel, where she worked with the legendary John Finemore.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read a reflective essay written by Ann Shelton for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

Rachael Wallbank is an Accredited Specialist (Family Law – LSNSW) and principal of the legal practice Wallbanks Legal.

Wallbank represented and appeared on behalf of ‘Kevin’ and ‘Jennifer’ at trial in Re Kevin: Validity of Marriage of Transsexual (2001) 28 Fam LR 158 and on appeal in The Attorney-General for the Commonwealth & “Kevin and Jennifer” & Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission [2003] FamCA 94 whereby Australians who experience diversity or difference in sexual formation, including Transsexualism, gained the right to legally marry in their affirmed sex.

Wallbank also acted and appeared for the Applicant Parents in Re Bernadette [2010] FamCA 94; the first case in Australia to authorise Phase 1 Treatment to suspend puberty for an adolescent living with the condition of Transsexualism (as an interim order in 2005) and the first case to challenge the Australian legal regime initiated by Re Alex (2004) FLC 93-175 which requires court authorisation of Phase 1 and 2 Treatments as a precondition to treatment.

Wallbank is a member of the Legal Issues Committee of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and a founding member of the Australian and New Zealand Professional Association for Transgender Health (ANZPATH).

Wallbank has written academically, undertakes lectures and presentations on the subject of the legal and human rights of people who experience diversity or difference in sexual formation and gender expression, especially with regard to Australia, and appears in the media as a public advocate and legal expert on the subject.

Anthea McIntyre is a lawyer, sole practitioner, business woman, writer, and strong supporter of mothers as lawyers.

Anthea was formerly a Senior Associate at Australia’s top tier law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills, where she specialised in Commercial Litigation and Corporate Governance law. She then worked as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Australian Institute of Company Directors where she established Australia’s first ASX200 chairmen’s mentoring program designed to increase the number of women on Australian listed company boards. The program was a huge success and assisted in significantly increasing the number of women appointed to boards as well as raising the profile of the importance of gender balance in boardrooms as well as in business generally. Anthea was also the author of the book “Tomorrow’s Boards: Creating balanced and effective boards”.

Following the birth of her two daughters, Anthea established a support group for lawyers who are mothers called “Lawyer Mums Australia” comprising almost 700 of Australia’s top lawyers. In 2014, Anthea also established her own law firm, McIntyre Legal Pty Ltd, which specialises in Wills, Estates & Succession Planning.