Catherine Holmes

The Honorable Chief Justice

Born
1956
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Occupation
Barrister, Chief Justice, Judge, Lawyer, Senior Counsel and Solicitor
Jurisdiction

Catherine Ena "Cate" Holmes assumed the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland on 11 September 2015.She holds the degrees of B.Econ (ANU), B.A. (Hons), LLB, LLM (Advanced) (UQ).

Holmes was admitted as a solicitor in 1982 and as a barrister in 1984, taking silk in 1999. While in practice, Justice Holmes was at various times a part time member of the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal, Deputy President of the Queensland Community Corrections Board and, during 1998 and 1999, Counsel assisting the Forde Commission of Inquiry into Child Abuse. Her Honour was appointed to the Supreme Court of Queensland in March 2000. She was the judge overseeing the Court's criminal list for some years, and was the judge constituting the Mental Health Court from February 2005 until May 2006, when she was appointed to the Court of Appeal. From 16 January 2011 until 16 March 2012, Justice Holmes was the Commissioner of the Commission of Inquiry into the Queensland Floods 2010-2011.

Sources used to compile this entry: Agius, Kim, 'Who is Catherine Holmes, Queensland's first female chief justice?', ABC News Online, 7 September 2015, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-07/who-is-catherine-holmes/6756168?WT.ac=statenews_qld; Purdon, Susan and Rahemtula, Aladin (eds), A Woman's Place: 100 Years of Queensland Women Lawyers, Supreme Court of Queensland Library, Brisbane, 2005; Information supplied by Chief Justice Holmes; http://www.sclqld.org.au/judicial-papers/judicial-profiles/profiles/ceholmes.

Prepared by Nikki Henningham