Three New Judges and Two WA Family Court Judges appointed to the Family Court of Australia

On Friday (7 December 2012) the federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon announced that three new judges have been appointed to the Family Court of Australia and that two WA Family Court Judges had also been appointed to the court.

In her press release the Attorney General said:

“The Family Court considers some of our most complex and heart-wrenching cases,” and added that “all three appointees bring rich and diverse backgrounds in the law to the Court, and their experience will be a great asset to the bench.”

The three new appointees are:

• Mr Murray Aldridge SC, appointed to the Sydney Registry effective 13 December 2012.

• Mr Peter Tree SC appointed to the Townsville Registry effective 14 January 2013.

• Ms Jenny Hogan SC appointed to the Brisbane Registry effective 14 January 2013.

In addition to these three appointments the two new judges of the Family Court of Western Australia have been made judges of the Family Court of Australia effective from 6 December 2012 in accordance with the practice establishedsince 1987, that judges of the Family Court of Western Australia are also appointed to the Family Court of Australia.

These two new judges are:

• Federal Magistrate John Walters, who replaces the Hon Carolyn Martin who sadly passed away on 1 October 2012.

• Magistrate Susan Duncanson, who replaces the Hon Stephen Crooks who retired on 30 November 2012.

The federal Attorney-General further said in her press release:

“These appointments will be welcome news for people with matters before the Family Court of Western Australia. They will help ease the significant pressure the Court has experienced in recent times due to the extended sick leave of several judges,” 

“Close co-operation with the Western Australian Government, along with additional funding from the Gillard Government to help to appoint temporary judicial officers, has allowed us to resolve these unexpected and difficult circumstances within the Court.”

Read the Attorney-General's Press Release here.

More from the press here.

Make it easy to track Australian legislation relevant to your area of legal expertise by becoming a subscriber to LawTracker. Contact us for full pricing information or to trial the service for free.