Presidents of the AJOA

Justice Michael Walton        2022 – present

Justice Walton is a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.  He was appointed in 2016, and still serves as a judge of that Court. He is a former President of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.

Justice Glenn Martin AM        2020 – 2022

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. In 2022, his Honour was appointed Senior Judge Administrator of the Supreme Court of Queensland.

Justice Judith Kelly AO       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 Robert Beech-Jones        2016 – 2018

Justice Robert Beech-Jones was appointed to the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2012. In 2021, His Honour became the Chief Judge at Common Law and a Judge of Appeal in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. In 2023, His Honour was appointed to the High Court of Australia.

Justice Steven Rares        2014 – 2016

Justice Rares was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia.  He was appointed in 2006, and retired in 2023.

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. In 2019, His Honour became the chair of the Supreme Court of Queensland Library Committee. He retired in 2023.

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 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. Her Honour is now the Chair of the Australian Dispute Resolution Advisory Council.

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 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.  From 2008 to 2019 he was an acting judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. His Honour is currently a Commissioner for the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.

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 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 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 Ian Sheppard, AO        1994 – 1996

Justice Sheppard was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia.  He died in December 2012.