Mary Gaudron, the first woman judge of Australia’s High Court, dies
Mary Gaudron, the first woman appointed as a judge of the High Court of Australia, has died in Australia at the age of 83. She joined the court in 1987 at the age of 44 and served there until 2003, ABC News Australia reports.
Gaudron’s death was announced in several online posts paying tribute to her memory.
Work at the High Court
During her time at the High Court, Gaudron contributed to decisions that influenced the development of Australian law. These included the landmark Mabo v Queensland case on Indigenous land title.
In their judgment in the case, Gaudron and her colleague, Justice William Deane, described the dispossession of Aboriginal people from their land as “the darkest aspect of this country’s history.”
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Career and recognition
Mary Gaudron was born on 5 January 1943 in Moree, in northwestern New South Wales. She studied law at the University of Sydney on a scholarship and, early in her career, practised mainly in defamation and labour law cases.
After retiring from the High Court in 2003, Gaudron worked at the International Labour Organization in Geneva and chaired its Administrative Tribunal. In 2000, she said that some influential men did not recognize the equality of women and men and feared women’s equal participation in the workforce.
Australia’s Governor-General Sam Mostyn noted that Gaudron was not only the first woman on the High Court, but also the only female judge during the institution’s first century of existence. David Kolovich, president of the Law Society of South Australia, noted her contribution to public life, her defence of equality, and her role as a pioneer for women in law.
