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1897
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First female law student,
Grata Flos Matilda Greig commenced at
the University of Melbourne
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1903
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Women’s Disabilities Removal Act No. 1837 of 1903, 6 April 2003 “An act
to remove some anomalies in the law relating to women” to enable women to be admitted
to practise as legal practitioners
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1905
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Flos Greig first woman
admitted to practice
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1923
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Joan Rosanove first
woman to sign the Victorian Bar Roll (retired, 1926; re-signed Bar Roll in 1949)
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1965
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Joan Rosanove first woman appointed
Queen’s Counsel (Victoria)
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1968
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Paulette Parkinson tenth woman to sign Bar Roll
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1976
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Justice Margaret (Peg) Lusink first Victorian woman appointed to
Family Court of Australia after signing Bar Roll in 1975.
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1983
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Lynnette Schiftan (nee Opas) second Victorian woman to take silk
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1984
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Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 1984 establishes Equal Opportunity Commission
Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984
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1985
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Lynnette Schiftan QC appointed to County Court bench
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1987
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Mary Gaudron first woman appointed to
High Court of Australia, retired 2003
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1992
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Jan Wade appointed first (Victorian) woman Attorney General
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1993
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Women Barristers Association (Victoria) formed
Rachelle Lewitan QC first Women Barristers
Association (WBA) convenor
Rosemary Balmford appointed to County
Court bench
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1994
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Susan Crennan QC first woman chairman
of the Victorian Bar Council
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1995
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Equal Opportunity Act 1995
Launch of Women Barristers' Association Constitution
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1996
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Rosemary Balmford appointed first woman judge to Supreme Court Victoria
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1997
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Launch of
Australian Women Lawyers by Justice Mary Gaudron.
Read Justice Gaudron's speech here.
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1998
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Victorian Bar Council commissions
Rosemary Hunter and Helen McKelvie’s
Equality of Opportunity for Women at the Victorian Bar, a landmark report
on systemic discrimination at the Bar. Victorian Bar Council establishes a working
party to develop response to Report and Model briefing policy
Download the report
HERE. Warning! This is
a very large file (50MBytes). Please right click on the link and choose "Save
target as.." (Windows Explorer) or "Save link as.." (Firefox) and
save the document to your computer.
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2000
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Victorian Attorney General Rob Hulls endorses model briefing policy as government
policy
Opening of Joan Rosanove chambers
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2003
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Pamela Tate SC made first woman Solicitor General (Victoria)
Marilyn Warren
first woman Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Victoria
Tenth year anniversary of Women Barristers Association
Victorian Bar endorses National Equality of Opportunity briefing policy
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2005
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Sue Crennan QC second female High Court judge
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2006
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10th anniversary of the appointment of the first woman to the Supreme Court, Justice Rosemary Balmford
Inaugural national Australian Women Lawyers (AWL) conference in Sydney
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2007
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Tenth year anniversary of AWL
Third woman, Justice Susan Kiefel (Federal Court), appointed to the High Court of
Australia.
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2008
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Fourth woman, Justice Virginia Bell (NSW Supreme Court), appointed to the High Court
of Australia (sworn in on 3 February 2009, replacing retiring Justice Michael Kirby).
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* Source: Women Barristers Association
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