The Hon Justice Susan Kiefel AC to be the next Chief Justice of the High Court

29/11/2016

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Attorney General George Brandis QC have announced the appointment of the Hon Justice Susan Kiefel AC as the next Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. Her Honour will be the first female Chief Justice of the High Court.

In 1987 Justice Kiefel became the first woman to be appointed QC in the State of Queensland. She served as president of the Queensland Bar Association and was appointed to the Supreme Court of Queensland (1993) and the Federal Court (1994) before she was made a justice of the High Court of Australia in 2007.

Justice Kiefel steps into the position upon the retirement of the Hon Robert French AC, who has led the nation’s highest court since September 2008.

Also announced today was the appointment to the High Court of the Hon Justice James Edelman, who has had a distinguished career at the bar, in academia and on the bench of the Supreme Court of WA and of the Federal Court.