List of Justices of the High Court of Australia

The composition of the High Court in 1952, before the retirement of Chief Justice Latham

The following table contains the details of the 48 men and five women who have ever been appointed as Justices of the High Court of Australia. The High Court of Australia was formed in 1903 under the Judiciary Act 1903, and under Section 71 of the Australian Constitution the judicial power of the Commonwealth of Australia is vested in the Court.^[1] Since the passing of the Australia Act 1986, the court has been the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy.

History

The court is currently composed of seven judges, including six Justices and the Chief Justice of Australia.

Prior to 1977, appointments were for life. However, since 1977, appointments are made until the mandatory retirement age of 70. Due to the steady increase in the judicial workload, several Justices have retired before reaching the mandatory retirement age.

List of Justices

The current judges are listed in bold on the table below.

#	Image	Name	State	Birth/death	Term began	Term ended	Chief term began	Chief term ended	PM at app't	Prior judicial experience	Reason left
1		Griffith, Sir SamuelSir Samuel Griffith	Qld	1845–1920	5 October 1903	17 October 1919	5 October 1903	17 October 1919	Deakin	Chief Justice, Sup Ct of Qld	Retired
2		Barton, Sir EdmundSir Edmund Barton	NSW	1849–1920	5 October 1903	7 January 1920	—	—	Deakin	None	Died
3		O'Connor, RichardRichard O'Connor	NSW	1851–1912	5 October 1903	18 November 1912	—	—	Deakin	None	Died
4		Isaacs, Sir IsaacSir Isaac Isaacs	Vic	1855–1948	12 October 1906	21 January 1931	2 April 1930	21 January 1931	Deakin (Justice) Scullin (Chief)	None	Resigned
5		Higgins, H. B.H. B. Higgins	Vic	1851–1929	13 October 1906	13 January 1929	—	—	Deakin	None	Died
6		Duffy, Sir Frank GavanSir Frank Gavan Duffy	Vic	1852–1936	11 February 1913	1 October 1935	22 January 1931	1 October 1935	Fisher (Justice) Scullin (Chief)	None	Retired
7		Powers, Sir CharlesSir Charles Powers	Qld	1853–1939	5 March 1913	22 July 1929	—	—	Fisher	None	Resigned
8*		Piddington, AlbertAlbert Piddington	NSW	1862–1945	6 March 1913	5 April 1913	—	—	Fisher	None	Resigned
9		Rich, Sir GeorgeSir George Rich	NSW	1863–1956	5 April 1913	5 May 1950	—	—	Fisher	Sup Ct of NSW	Resigned
10		Knox, Sir AdrianSir Adrian Knox	NSW	1863–1932	18 October 1919	31 March 1930	18 October 1919	31 March 1930	Hughes	None	Resigned
11		Starke, Sir HaydenSir Hayden Starke	Vic	1871–1958	5 February 1920	31 January 1950	—	—	Hughes	None	Resigned
12		Dixon, Sir OwenSir Owen Dixon	Vic	1886–1972	4 February 1929	13 April 1964	18 April 1952	13 April 1964	Bruce (Justice) Menzies (Chief)	None	Retired
13		Evatt, H. V.H. V. Evatt	NSW	1894–1965	19 December 1930	2 September 1940	—	—	Scullin	None	Resigned
14		McTiernan, Sir EdwardSir Edward McTiernan	NSW	1892–1990	20 December 1930	12 September 1976	—	—	Scullin	None	Retired
15		Latham, Sir JohnSir John Latham	Vic	1877–1964	11 October 1935	7 April 1952	11 October 1935	7 April 1952	Lyons	None	Retired
16		Williams, Sir DudleySir Dudley Williams	NSW	1889–1963	15 October 1940	31 July 1958	—	—	Menzies	Sup Ct of NSW	Resigned
17		Webb, Sir WilliamSir William Webb	Qld	1887–1972	16 May 1946	16 May 1958	—	—	Chifley	Chief Justice, Sup Ct of Qld	Resigned
18		Fullagar, Sir WilfredSir Wilfred Fullagar	Vic	1892–1961	8 February 1950	9 July 1961	—	—	Menzies	Sup Ct of Vic	Died
19		Kitto, Sir FrankSir Frank Kitto	NSW	1903–1994	10 May 1950	1 August 1970	—	—	Menzies	None	Resigned
20		Taylor, Sir AlanSir Alan Taylor	NSW	1901–1969	3 September 1952	3 August 1969	—	—	Menzies	Sup Ct of NSW	Died
21		Menzies, Sir DouglasSir Douglas Menzies	Vic	1907–1974	12 June 1958	29 November 1974	—	—	Menzies	None	Died
22		Windeyer, Sir VictorSir Victor Windeyer	NSW	1900–1987	8 September 1958	29 February 1972	—	—	Menzies	None	Retired
23		Owen, Sir WilliamSir William Owen	NSW	1899–1972	22 September 1961	31 March 1972	—	—	Menzies	Sup Ct of NSW	Died
24		Barwick, Sir GarfieldSir Garfield Barwick	NSW	1903–1997	27 April 1964	11 February 1981	27 April 1964	11 February 1981	Menzies	None	Retired
25		Walsh, Sir CyrilSir Cyril Walsh	NSW	1909–1973	20 September 1969	29 November 1973	—	—	Gorton	Sup Ct of NSW NSW Ct of App	Died
26		Gibbs, Sir HarrySir Harry Gibbs	Qld	1917–2005	4 August 1970	5 February 1987	12 February 1981	5 February 1987	Gorton (Justice) Fraser (Chief)	Fed Ct of BK Sup Ct of Qld	Retired
27		Stephen, Sir NinianSir Ninian Stephen	Vic	1923–	1 March 1972	11 May 1982	—	—	McMahon	Sup Ct of Vic	Resigned
28		Mason, Sir AnthonySir Anthony Mason	NSW	1925–	7 August 1972	20 April 1995	6 February 1987	20 April 1995	McMahon (Justice) Hawke (Chief)	Sup Ct of NSW NSW Ct of App	Retired
29		Jacobs, Sir KennethSir Kenneth Jacobs	NSW	1917–2015	8 February 1974	6 April 1979	—	—	Whitlam	Sup Ct of NSW NSW Ct of App	Resigned
30		Murphy, LionelLionel Murphy	NSW	1922–1986	10 February 1975	21 October 1986	—	—	Whitlam	None	Died
31		Aickin, Sir KeithSir Keith Aickin	Vic	1916–1982	20 September 1976	18 June 1982	—	—	Fraser	None	Died
32		Wilson, Sir RonaldSir Ronald Wilson	WA	1922–2005	21 May 1979	13 February 1989	—	—	Fraser	None	Resigned
33		Brennan, Sir GerardSir Gerard Brennan	Qld	1928–	12 February 1981	21 May 1998	21 April 1995	21 May 1998	Fraser (Justice) Keating (Chief)	Fed Ct	Retired
34		Deane, Sir WilliamSir William Deane	NSW	1931–	25 June 1982	11 November 1995	—	—	Fraser	Fed Ct	Resigned
35		Dawson, Sir DarylSir Daryl Dawson	Vic	1933–	30 July 1982	15 August 1997	—	—	Fraser	None	Resigned
36		Toohey, JohnJohn Toohey	WA	1930–2015	6 February 1987	2 February 1998	—	—	Hawke	Fed Ct	Resigned
37		Gaudron, MaryMary Gaudron	NSW	1943–	6 February 1987	31 January 2003	—	—	Hawke	None	Resigned
38		McHugh, MichaelMichael McHugh	NSW	1935–	14 February 1989	1 November 2005	—	—	Hawke	Sup Ct of NSW NSW Ct of App	Retired
39		Gummow, WilliamWilliam Gummow	NSW	1942–	21 April 1995	8 October 2012	—	—	Keating	Fed Ct	Retired
40		Kirby, MichaelMichael Kirby	NSW	1939–	6 February 1996	2 February 2009	—	—	Keating	Sup Ct of NSW Pres, NSW Ct of App	Resigned
41		Hayne, KennethKenneth Hayne	Vic	1945–	22 September 1997	5 June 2015	—	—	Howard	Sup Ct of Vic Vic Ct of App	Retired
42		Callinan, IanIan Callinan	Qld	1937–	3 February 1998	31 August 2007[2]	—	—	Howard	None	Retired
43		Gleeson, MurrayMurray Gleeson	NSW	1938–	22 May 1998	29 August 2008[3]	22 May 1998	29 August 2008[3]	Howard	Chief Justice, Sup Ct of NSW	Retired
44		Heydon, DysonDyson Heydon	NSW	1943–	1 February 2003	28 February 2013	—	—	Howard	Sup Ct of NSW NSW Ct of App	Retired
45		Crennan, SusanSusan Crennan	Vic	1945–	1 November 2005	2 February 2015	—	—	Howard	Fed Ct	Resigned
46		Kiefel, SusanSusan Kiefel	Qld	1954–	4 September 2007	Incumbent	30 January 2017	Incoming	Howard	Sup Ct of Qld Fed Ct
47		French, RobertRobert French	WA	1947–	8 September 2008	Incumbent	8 September 2008[3]	Incumbent	Rudd	Fed Ct
48		Bell, VirginiaVirginia Bell	NSW	1951–	3 February 2009[4]	Incumbent	—	—	Rudd	Sup Ct of NSW NSW Ct of App
49		Gageler, StephenStephen Gageler	NSW	1958–	9 October 2012[5]	Incumbent	—	—	Gillard	None
50		Keane, PatrickPatrick Keane	Qld	1952–	1 March 2013	Incumbent	—	—	Gillard	Sup Ct of Qld Fed Ct
51		Nettle, GeoffreyGeoffrey Nettle	Vic	1950–	3 February 2015	Incumbent	—	—	Abbott	Sup Ct of Vic
52		Gordon, MichelleMichelle Gordon	Vic	1964–	9 June 2015	Incumbent	—	—	Abbott	Fed Ct
53		James Edelman	WA	1974–	30 January 2017	Incoming	—	—	Turnbull	Fed Ct

* Albert Piddington resigned from the High Court before being sworn in. He never sat on the High Court bench.

Current Justices

Name[6]	State	Date appointed	Mandatory retirement	Appointing Governor-General	Prime Minister	Previous judicial posting(s)	Education
French, RobertRobert French AC (Chief Justice)	Western Australia	1 September 2008	19 March 2017	Jeffery, MichaelMichael Jeffery	Rudd, KevinKevin Rudd (Labor)	Federal Court of Australia	University of Western Australia
Kiefel, SusanSusan Kiefel AC	Queensland	3 September 2007	17 January 2024	Jeffery, MichaelMichael Jeffery	Howard, JohnJohn Howard (Liberal)	Supreme Court of Queensland Federal Court of Australia	Queensland Barristers' Admission Board University of Cambridge
Bell, VirginiaVirginia Bell AC	New South Wales	3 February 2009	7 March 2021	Bryce, Dame QuentinDame Quentin Bryce	Rudd, KevinKevin Rudd (Labor)	Supreme Court of New South Wales	University of Sydney
Gageler, StephenStephen Gageler	New South Wales	9 October 2012	5 July 2028	Bryce, Dame QuentinDame Quentin Bryce	Gillard, JuliaJulia Gillard (Labor)	None; former Solicitor-General of Australia	Australian National University Harvard University
Keane, PatrickPatrick Keane AC	Queensland	1 March 2013	26 October 2022	Bryce, Dame QuentinDame Quentin Bryce	Gillard, JuliaJulia Gillard (Labor)	Supreme Court of Queensland Federal Court of Australia	University of Queensland University of Oxford
Nettle, GeoffreyGeoffrey Nettle	Victoria	3 February 2015	2 December 2020	Cosgrove, Sir PeterSir Peter Cosgrove	Abbott, TonyTony Abbott (Liberal)	Supreme Court of Victoria	Australian National University University of Melbourne University of Oxford
Gordon, MichelleMichelle Gordon	Victoria	9 June 2015	19 November 2034	Cosgrove, Sir PeterSir Peter Cosgrove	Abbott, TonyTony Abbott (Liberal)	Federal Court of Australia	University of Western Australia

Composition of the High Court

13 politicians, serving or former, have been appointed to the High Court of Australia. Nine justices have served in the Parliament of Australia: Edmund Barton, Richard O'Connor, Isaac Isaacs, H. B. Higgins, Edward McTiernan, H. V. Evatt, John Latham, Garfield Barwick, and Lionel Murphy. All but Evatt were appointed after their parliamentary service; Evatt resigned from the bench in order to pursue his federal political career, although he had previously served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. In addition to the above, four justices served in colonial parliaments: Samuel Griffith, Charles Powers, Albert Piddington and Adrian Knox, although all concluded their political careers more than 10 years prior to their appointments. No justice since Lionel Murphy has served in state or federal parliament.

This following chart illustrates the composition of the High Court. It indicates the seven seats of the court and who has occupied each seat at different points in the court's existence. The red portions represent the future part of a judge's term and show the date at which they are bound to retire from the court (although they may choose to retire before that date). The blue portions of a judge's term show a period in which that judge was Chief Justice.

See also

• High Court of Australia
• List of Justices of the High Court of Australia by time in office
• List of law schools attended by Australian High Court Justices
• List of Chief Justices of Australia by time in office
• List of jurists

References

1. Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, s 71 ("Judicial power & courts"). From Australian Legal Information Institute (AUSTLII), "Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act: Chapter III: The Judicature: Section 71". Accessed 26 January 2007.
2. "Callinan retires from High Court", Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 31 August 2007. Accessed 31 August 2007.
3. "Chief Justice honoured at retirement ceremony". ABC News. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
4. "Michael Kirby leaves High Court bench with 'faith' in law intact". The Australian. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
5. "Solicitor-General Gagelar appointed to High Court". ABC News. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
6. "About the Justices". High Court of Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2013.

External links

• High Court of Australia - Official Website