Presidents of the AJOA
Note: Until 2006 the Presidents were called Chairman
Justice Ian Sheppard, AO 1994 – 1996
Justice Sheppard was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia. He died in December 2012.
Justice John Lockhart, AO 1996 – 1998
Justice Lockhart was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia for 20 years, retiring in 1999. He died in 2006.
Justice Bruce McPherson, CBE 1998 – 2000
Justice McPherson was a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland from 1982. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 1991 and retired in 2006. He died in 2013.
Justice CSC (Simon) Sheller, AO 2000 – 2004
Justice Sheller was a judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 1991 to 2005. He died in April 2018.
Justice Ronald Sackville, AO 2004 – 2006
Justice Sackville was a law academic before practising at the New South Wales Bar from 1985 to 1994. He was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1994 to 2008. Since then he has been an acting judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
Justice Bruce Debelle, AO 2006 – 2008
Justice Debelle was a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia from 1990 to 2008. Prior to his appointment to the Court he was President of the Law Society of South Australia.
Justice Ruth McColl, AO 2008 – 2010
Justice McColl was a judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 2003 to 2019. From 1999 to 2001 she was President of the New South Wales Bar Association.
Justice David Harper, AM 2010 – 2012
Justice Harper was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1992, and was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2009. He retired in 2013.
Justice Philip McMurdo 2012 – 2014
Justice McMurdo was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2003, and was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2015, where he still serves as a judge of that Court.
Justice Steven Rares 2014 – 2016
Justice Rares is a judge of the Federal Court of Australia. He was appointed in 2006, and still serves as a judge of that Court.
Justice Robert Beech-Jones 2016 – 2018
Justice Robert Beech-Jones is a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. He was appointed in 2012 and still serves as a judge of that Court.
Justice Judith Kelly 2018 – 2020
Justice Kelly is a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. She was appointed in 2009, and still serves as a judge of that Court.
Justice Glenn Martin AM 2020 – present
Justice Martin is a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland. He was appointed in 2007, and still serves as a judge of that Court.