The Australian Women's Register

Noela L’Estrange was awarded a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English Literature from Monash University, and continued her studies at The University of Queensland obtaining her LLB. She then studied for a Masters of Business Administration focusing on Professional Services and Quality Assurance.

Professionally, L’Estrange decided to take an alternative approach within the legal services industry. Instead of joining a firm and taking the mainstream route, Noela decided to use her Law Degree within the Corporate and Governance sector specializing in managerial roles and dealing with strategic planning, marketing, client development and human resources.

L’Estrange is a highly experienced Director in both public and private sectors, specializing in governance and leadership, corporate, learning and development. She is a member of the AuSAE, ALPMA, ACC, AIM, AICD, ACLA, FCAQ, Queensland Law Society, and was a founding member of the Women’s Lawyers Association of Queensland (WLAQ). She was a foundation Chair of the Women in Management group at the Australian Institute of Management in Brisbane, and one of the first women to be made a Fellow of the AIM.

In 2009, she was appointed as CEO of the Queensland Law Society, the first female to hold the position. She retired from that position in June 2015, but remains an active member of the Society. She also remains active in WLAQ, which honoured her with an Honorary Membership in early 2015.

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

Kim Rooney is an Australian barrister and international arbitrator who has been practicing in Asia, based in Hong Kong, since 1990. She is regularly appointed as an arbitrator in international arbitrations involving banking and finance, commercial, corporate, construction and infrastructure, energy, power and resources, infrastructure, investment, IT and technology licensing and trade disputes, and is on the panel of various arbitral institutions.

Since the 1990s, as counsel, Kim has represented clients in a wide range of international banking and finance, commercial, corporate, construction, energy, infrastructure and investment disputes in Asia, Europe and Latin America under the laws of civil and common law jurisdictions and investment treaties.

Kim is the Chair of the Hong Kong Law Reform Commission’s Sub-Committee on Third Party Funding for Arbitration, a member of the Hong Kong Government’s Committee on Provision of Space in the Legal Hub and of its Advisory Committee on Promotion of Arbitration. She is also a member of the Hong Kong Bar Association’s Council and Chair of its Special Committee on International Practice. She writes and speaks regularly about international dispute resolution.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read a reflective essay written by Kim Rooney 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.

Heidi Yates is Head of General Practice at Legal Aid ACT, a position she has held since 2015. A well-known solicitor and human-rights advocate, Heidi has been appointed to roles including Executive Director of the ACT Women’s Legal Centre, advisor to the ACT Human Rights and Discrimination Commissioner and a Clinical Education Convenor at the ANU College of Law.

Heidi’s professional reputation is well-established at a national level as an advocate for the development and funding of free legal services across Australia (particularly for victims of family violence) and as a trailblazer in gender-related law reform.

Heidi has also been a spokesperson and advocate at a local and federal level for the removal of legislative discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. She has undertaken this work through roles including spokesperson for the community law reform group ‘Good Process’ and as the inaugural chair of the ACT LGBTIQ Ministerial Advisory Council.

After just two years of practice, her work was recognised when she won the ACT Law Society’s Young Lawyer Award in 2008. In 2011, Heidi was also a state finalist in the Young Australian of the Year Awards.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Moira Rayner is a senior lawyer with particular expertise in workplace relations and anti-discrimination law, management and policy advice and investigations with a penchant for working closely with employers who appreciate the benefits of diversity and workforce participation. She chaired the Law Reform Commission in WA; was Commissioner for Equal Opportunity for Victoria; a Hearings Commissioner for the Australian Human Rights Commission; and an Acting Anti-Corruption Commissioner.

In 2016 she is a practising lawyer, conciliator, mediator and educator: some of her research and other appointments have included Melbourne University (Advisory Board Labour Law Centre; Senior Fellow), Deakin (Adjunct Professor, Centre for Human Services), RMIT (Adjunct Professor School of Social Inquiry); Murdoch (Visiting Scholar), UWA (Lecturer, Senior Fellow Law School, Visiting Fellow at the Australian Centre) and Curtin (Lecturer) and Australian Institute of Family Studies (Deputy Director, Research).

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

Jacoba Brasch was admitted to the Bar in 2000 and has developed a practice in family law, mental health law, and customs and excise. She has appeared in matters in most States and Territories of Australia and often appears in the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia. Jacoba has also appeared a number of times in the High Court of Australia with those appearances concerning customs and excise, as well as Family Law matters and the Hague Convention (child abduction).

Prior to coming to the Bar, Jacoba spent the 1990s in law-related government jobs, including Press Secretary to an Attorney-General. In 2000, Jacoba completed an LLM at New York University as a Fulbright Scholar and NYU Graduate Merit Scholar. In 2010, Jacoba graduated with a PhD from the University of New South Wales where her doctoral thesis concerned what constitutes a fair, independent and impartial trial, using Australian courts martial as her subject matter.

Jacoba holds a Bachelor of Arts, Masters in Public Administration (UQ), a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) (QUT), LLM (NYU) and PhD (UNSW).

She has Chambers in Brisbane, Cairns and Melbourne.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read an essay written by Jacoba Brasch for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

Jillian Segal has held executive and non-executive positions in a variety of Australian corporations and across the financial sector. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Company Directors, Member of the Harvard Club of Australia, Member of Chief Executive Women and Founding Co-Chair, WomenCorporateDirectors (Australian Chapter).

Leah Cameron is a Palawa woman from Tasmania and the Principal Solicitor and owner of Marrawah Law, a Supply Nation certified Indigenous legal practice. Her primary areas of practice are native title, cultural heritage, future acts and commercial law.

The Australian Women’s Charter was a program of reforms put forward by women for incorporation into government planning of postwar reconstruction. Described as ‘the feminist agenda for postwar reconstruction’ and ‘a landmark feminist manifesto’, the charter documented a wide range of issues and objectives that were discussed at the Australian Women’s Conference For Victory in War and Victory in Peace, held in Sydney in November 1943. It ranged over a series of issues – women’s right to paid work, the necessity for adequate child care, the particular needs of rural and Aboriginal women amongst them – and reflected the conference participants’ agenda for women in the post war world, an agenda that was influenced heavily by women’s wartime experiences. A series of publications, programs and follow-up Charter conferences were organized to plan and campaign for the implementation of its aims.