On this day in 1999 Justices Carolyn Simpson, Margaret Beazley and Virginia Bell made legal history when they sat as the first all-women appellate Bench in the common law world. In 1987 Jane Mathews became the first woman to be appointed to the Bench of the Supreme Court, 66 years after the admission of Ada Evans. Carolyn Simpson followed in 1994. They were joined two years later by Margaret Beazley, who was the first woman appointed as a Judge of Appeal in New South Wales and would become its President (and subsequently Governor). Together, Mathews, Simpson, Beazley, Bell and Paddy Bergin, who would later become Chief Judge in Equity, laid the foundations for the increasing number of women whose expertise, experience, and merit were recognised by their elevation to the judiciary.
On this day in 1999 Justices Simpson, Beazley and Bell made legal history when they sat as the first all-female Bench in the common law world.
On this day in 1999 Justices Simpson, Beazley and Bell made legal history when they sat as the first all-female Bench in the common law world.
Justice Yehia spoke to Sally Sara from ABC Radio National Breakfast about systemic change in the courts and underlying issues faced by victims and offenders
On 21 May the Chief Justice delivered the 2026 Harold Ford Memorial Lecture at the University of Melbourne Law Schoolon on ‘Corporate responsibility and directors’ duties in the era of Artificial Intelligence’ . Read the lecture here (PDF, 426.8 KB).
Recent statements by the Chief Justice of New South Wales
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