The Australian Women's Register

Lindy Powell QC graduated with an LLB from the University of Adelaide and went on to work with Johnston Withers & Co as a Barrister and Solicitor later becoming a Partner. Between 1987-1991 she was the Director of the South Australian Legal Services Commission. She served as the first female President of the Law Society of South Australia between 1998-99 and in 1994 became a QC.

Phillipa Power was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1975.

Margaret Renaud was a Judge of the Family Court of Australia. She was granted Life Membership of the Women Lawyers’ Association of New South Wales. Margaret retired as a Family Court Judge in 1998. After an Arts degree, she was a university tutor. Margaret completed the Barristers Admission Board Course as a single mother and was admitted to the NSW Bar in 1974. She became a Crown Prosecutor before being appointed to the Bench of the Family Court in 1983. Following retirement she lectured in Practical Legal Training at Newcastle University and was a mediator with the Community Justice Centres.

Mary Risdale was admitted to practice as a legal practitioner in Melbourne on the 1st April, 1947. After many years as an employed solicitor and raising six children, Mary moved to Papua New Guinea in 1975.

There she spent six years with the Public Solicitor’s Office appearing for defendants in the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea. For four years she managed the Public Solicitor’s Office in Rabaul and travelled all over New Guinea on the Supreme Court Circuit.

In 1975, Mary was appointed as the first solicitor to the newly established Katherine Regional Aboriginal Legal Aid Service. In this capacity she appeared regularly in the Magistrates Court in Katherine and the Supreme Court in Darwin. Through her dedication and industry the service provided very comprehensive and competent legal representation for Aboriginal people living in Katherine and surrounding communities.

Mary moved to Alice Springs in 1989 to take up employment as a solicitor with Stone and Buckley, now known as Morgan Buckley. She continued in full time practice as a solicitor with this firm for 10 years.

In 1997 Mary was appointed as a member of the Liquor Commission, now the Racing, Gaming and Licensing Commission. She remained as a member of the Commission until 2002.

Ann Robinson was Chief Judge of the Youth Court of South Australia and was appointed a judge of the Family Court of Australia in 1998.

Jennifer Robinson is Director of Legal Advocacy for the Bertha Foundation, an organisation which supports emerging public interest lawyers around the world. She is also an Adjunct Professor in Law at the University of Sydney Law School. She is an expert in media and free speech law, having worked with clients such as Julian Assange, Richard Dawkins and the New York Times. She is also active in the West Papuan independence movement: she represents the leader in exile and is the co-founder of International Lawyers for West Papua. She graduated from the Australian National University with a double degree in Law and Asian Studies, where she was University Medallist in Law and Distinguished Scholar in Asian Studies. As a Rhodes Scholar, she completed a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) and an MPhil in Public International Law.

Appointed Crown Prosecutor, DPP Victoria in January 2013. Dr Nanette Rogers S.C. has had extensive criminal experience in Sydney as a defence barrister and in the Northern Territory as a Crown Prosecutor.

Ms Aliki Rooney was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in the 1970s.

Excerpt from speaker biography published by the University of Technology Sydney:

Alexandra Rose is the Company Secretary of Insurance Australia Group (IAG) Limited. Prior to this position, she was General Counsel and Company Secretary for the Benevolent Society, for which she won the Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award for 2013. She has served as director on a number of organisations including of The Law Society of NSW for six years, and chaired the Corporate Lawyers and Business Law Committees. She is a current director of Justice Connect and Women Lawyers Association of NSW. Alexandra is a Fellow of Chartered Secretaries Australia and a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors… She holds a Bachelor of Laws from UTS.

Margot Rosenbaum was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1965.

Julia Rowlands was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1962.

Victoria Rubensohn is the current Convenor of the Classification Review Board and since 1991 has been Principal of international communications consultancy Omni Media, which specialises in communications regulatory policy. She is a consumer representative member of the Mobile Premium Services Code Review Panel and is a member of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network Standing Advisory Committee. Victoria has been a Member of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal and a Member of the Immigration Review Tribunal. She is a former President of the Communications and Media Law Association and has also been a member of the Copyright Law Review Committee. Victoria holds a Bachelor of Arts (Sydney), Master of Arts [in Government] (Sydney), Bachelor of Laws (UNSW) and Master of Human Rights (Sydney).

Miss Francine Ruggero was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1970.

Enid Russell was the first female graduate of the University of Western Australia Law School in 1930. She was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1931 – becoming the first Western Australian woman admitted to legal practice in Western Australia. During World War 2 Russell joined the South African Women’s Army Service. She was also a part-time lecturer, University of Western Australia Law School between 1946-1951 and the author of
A History of the Law in Western Australia and Its Development From 1829 to 1979
(Perth: UWA Press, 1980).

In 1976 Jay Sanders became the first woman appointed as a Magistrate in South Australia. When she retired in 2002 she was the longest serving female magistrate in Australia.

In 1934 Olga J. Sangwell passed the final examinations in the Faculty of Law, Sydney University, with second-class honours, becoming the first woman student to secure honours from the Sydney University Law School. She had a brilliant career at school, having passed the Leaving Certificate from Fort-street Girls’ High School with honours in Latin and French, and was awarded a University exhibition and the Ada Partridge prize for the best pass in the Leaving Certificate examination secured by a student of the school. She entered the Faculty of Arts in 1928, and in 1930 she entered the Faculty of Law and secured the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In addition to securing second class honours in Law, Miss Sangwell won the Rose Scott prize for women students in private International law.

Laureate Professor Emeritus Cheryl Saunders AO is an eminent law teacher and legal scholar with specialist interests in constitutional law and comparative public law.

Excerpt from the National Competition Council website:

Ms Julie-Anne Schafer is the President of the National Competition Council. Ms Schafer was appointed for a period of three years from 18 December 2015.

Ms Schafer has 25 years of experience as a partner in the legal services sector. She has served on advisory committees for the law faculties of several universities in Queensland. She was also the Deputy Chancellor of the Queensland University of Technology. She has over 15 years of directorship experience in diverse and highly regulated sectors, including road and rail transport.

Ms Schafer has a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In 1995-96 Julie-Anne Schafer became the second woman President of the Queensland Law Society.

Eva Selig was one of the early women admitted to the Victorian Bar.

Margaret Siddis was a Judge of the New South Wales District Court. Upon her retirement in 2012 she was appointed an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory.

Margaret Sleeman was Australia’s first female magistrate, appointed in NSW in 1970.

Freda Slutzkin was the first woman admitted to the Bar in Palestine in 1930. Freda was born in Australia and studied law in Palestine.

Ms M Sowden was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1965.

Ms Sandra Spargo was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1974.

Ms Jeanette Sparks was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1975.

Jane Stapleton was appointed Distinguished Professor of Law at the Australian National University, Canberra, in 2016.

Eileen Stuart was admitted to the Victorian Bar (Bar roll no. 1403) in 1977.