Debra Mortimer

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The Honourable Chief Justice
Debra Sue Mortimer
Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia
Assumed office
7 April 2023
Appointed byDavid Hurley
Preceded byJames Allsop
Judge of the Federal Court of Australia
Assumed office
12 July 2013
Personal details
BornAuckland, New Zealand
NationalityAustralian and New Zealander
EducationKelston Girls' High School
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
Monash University
OccupationJudge, Lawyer

Debra Sue Mortimer is an Australian judge who has been the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia since 7 April 2023. She was born in New Zealand but has practised law in Australia. She has been a judge of the Federal Court of Australia since 2013, having previously been a Senior Counsel practising at the Victorian Bar in migration law, environmental law and anti-discrimination law.[1]

Early life and education

Debra Mortimer was raised outside of Auckland, New Zealand. One of her parents worked as a bookbinder in Auckland. Mortimer went to school at Kelston Girls' High School in Auckland, and she spent her final year abroad in Sri Lanka.[2] She studied arts and jurisprudence at the University of Auckland before transferring to Monash University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Jurisprudence in 1985 and a Bachelor of Laws with 1st Class Honours in 1987.[1] Debra Mortimer was an Editor of the Monash University Law Review in 1985 and 1986.[3]

Career

Mortimer did her articles at Goldberg and Window Solicitors before becoming an associate to Sir Gerard Brennan, then a justice of the High Court of Australia in 1988 and 1989. Mortimer became a barrister in 1989 and was appointed as a Senior Counsel in 2003.[1] It was unusual for women to have a speaking role as advocates before the High Court;[4] however, Mortimer was an exception,[1] regularly appearing in the High Court from 1998[5] until her elevation as a judge. Her appearances included for the successful applicants in Plaintiff M61/2010E v Commonwealth,[6] and Plaintiff M70/2011 v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.[7] Mortimer also appeared in environmental cases, including representing Bob Brown, an Australian Greens Senator, in a case against Forestry Tasmania, concerning the Wielangta forest.[8][9]

As well as an active practice as a barrister, Mortimer was a lecturer in the Monash University Faculty of Law from 1991 to 1994 and at the University of Melbourne Law School from 2011.[1]

Since her elevation to the Federal Court, Mortimer has been the trial judge in a number of high-profile cases, including Wotton v Queensland (No 5), a case concerning the events following the 2004 death in custody of Palm Island, Queensland resident, Cameron Doomadgee. Mortimer found that members of the Queensland Police Service had contravened the Racial Discrimination Act,[10] including the way they had investigated the death in custody, that an emergency declaration and the deployment of the Special Emergency Response Team was part of an excessive and disproportionate policing response.[11] Mortimer was the trial judge in a case brought by Consumer Affairs Victoria against wellness blogger Belle Gibson and her companies for misleading or deceptive conduct and unconscionable conduct contrary to the Australian Consumer Law.[12] Gibson was required to pay $410,000 in penalties.[13]

Mortimer has also sat as a member of the Full Court of the Federal Court hearing appeals, and was a member of the bench that was critical of the approach of Judge Alexander Street in hearing applications by asylum seekers.[14] [15]

In 2018 Mortimer presided over an historic judgement resulting in an Indigenous land use agreement, after a claim brought by Kaurna elders in Adelaide 18 years earlier. This was the first claim for a first land use agreement to be agreed to in any Australian capital city.[16]

On 25 November 2021, Justice Mortimer presided over a sitting at the Federal Court in Cairns that awarded 2,188 km2 (845 sq mi) of land on the eastern side of Cape York Peninsula to the Kuuku Ya'u and Uutaalnganu peoples, in a native title claim that was lodged seven years prior.[17][18][19][20]

On 31 March 2023 it was announced that she will be elevated to be Chief Justice of the Court from 7 April 2023.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Ceremonial Sitting of the Full Court for the Swearing in and Welcome of the Honourable Justice Mortimer". Federal Court. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2017 – via AustLII.
  2. ^ Gordon, Michael (27 November 2010). "Rebel with a cause". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Past editorial committee".
  4. ^ "Gender equality among barristers before the High Court". Thomson Reuters. 24 February 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  5. ^ Re Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs; Ex Parte SE [1998] HCA 72 (25 November 1998), High Court
  6. ^ Plaintiff M61/2010E v Commonwealth of Australia [2010] HCA 41 (11 November 2010), High Court
  7. ^ Plaintiff M70/2011 v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2011] HCA 32 (31 August 2011), High Court
  8. ^ Brown v Forestry Tasmania [2006] FCA 1729 (19 December 2006), Federal Court
  9. ^ Forestry Tasmania v Brown [2007] FCAFC 186 (30 November 2007), Federal Court (Full Court)
  10. ^ Racial Discrimination Act (Cth)
  11. ^ Wotton v State of Queensland (No 5) [2016] FCA 1457 (5 December 2016), Federal Court
  12. ^ Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria v Gibson [2017] FCA 240 (15 March 2017), Federal Court
  13. ^ Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria v Gibson (No 3) [2017] FCA 1148 (28 September 2017), Federal Court
  14. ^ Shrestha v Migration Review Tribunal [2015] FCAFC 87 (19 June 2015), Federal Court (Full Court)
  15. ^ SZWBH v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2015] FCAFC 88 (19 June 2015), Federal Court (Full Court)
  16. ^ Richards, Stephanie (21 March 2018). ""Our ancestors will be smiling": Kaurna people gain native title rights". InDaily. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  17. ^ Richardson, Holly (25 November 2021). "Historic ruling hands massive tract of Cape York land back to traditional owners". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  18. ^ "National Native Title Register Details: QCD2021/007 - Uutaalnganu (Night Island) determination". National Native Title Tribunal. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  19. ^ "National Native Title Register Details:QCD2021/006 - Kuuku Ya'u". National Native Title Tribunal. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  20. ^ Ross on behalf of the Cape York United #1 Claim Group v State of Queensland (No 3) (Uutaalnganu (Night Island) determination) [2021] FCA 1465
  21. ^ "Federal Court to get its first female chief justice". ABC News. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
Legal offices
Preceded by Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia
2023–present 		Incumbent
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