The first female judges appointed to the Supreme Court of NSW
Rocco Fazzari
Digital photo collage on canvas
2023
The Hon. Jane Mathews
Rocco Fazzari (born 1959) is a Sydney-based multimedia artist. His practice includes digital illustration, painting and contemporary animated short form films. For the past 30 years he has published illustrations and political cartoons for Fairfax Media. Fazzari has twice won the Bald Archy Prize, including the inaugural prize in 1994.
The portrait The Hon. Jane Mathews is photo collage created from headshots of women in the legal profession. A symbolic depiction of Jane Mathews (1940 – 2019), who was the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court in 1987 and laid the pathway for women in the legal profession.
Kate Callas
Digital print on aluminium
1994
Carolyn Simpson
The photograph Carolyn Simpson was taken by Fairfax Media photographer Kate Callas for an article about the newly appointed Supreme Court judge, Carolyn Simpson (born 1946).
“Miss Carolyn Simpson QC, to be appointed the second Australian female supreme court judge on February 13, 1994. Carolyn was admitted to the bar in 1976. Miss Simpson: "Good to see women better represented in all levels of this profession..."
The NSW Supreme Court's second female judge, Miss Carolyn Simpson, QC, said she thought long and hard before accepting the appointment but recognised it as a plus for the administration of justice. Miss Simpson, whose appointment was announced yesterday, said she was honoured. "It's a major change in lifestyle. It is a very big decision to make and an awesome responsibility. December 22, 1993.”
Tsering Hannaford
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC
Oil on board
2021
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC is the Governor of New South Wales. ‘It was only a relatively short time ago, in 1918, that the Women’s Legal Status Act was passed, allowing women to practice law in NSW,’ says Adelaide artist Tsering Hannaford.
In a distinguished law career spanning 43 years, Margaret Beazley has been a fierce advocate for women in the legal profession. Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1989, in 1993 she became the first woman exclusively appointed as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia. She was the first woman to sit on the NSW Court of Appeal bench in 1996 and made legal history again in 2013 as its first female president.
‘This painting was a commissioned court portrait. The sittings took place over eight meetings in my studio. At the time, the dynamics of power between women and men in Australia’s parliamentary system were being interrogated in the media. There remains a mission for women in institutions where power is shifting. This portrait represents Her Excellency as a strong example for women in the field of law – a true trailblazer.’
Born in 1987, Hannaford is predominantly self-taught but has studied classical painting methods in New York, France and Adelaide. This is her seventh time as an Archibald Prize finalist.
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Murray Harris
Digital print on aluminium
2023
The Hon. Virginia Bell AC SC
Murray Harris is a Sydney based photographer and has been capturing the legal profession for over two decades. The portrait The Hon. Virginia Bell AC SC was taken as a part of the Court’s bicentenary celebrations to mark the significance of Bell’s formidable career.
Virginia Bell was sworn-in as a Supreme Court judge in 1999, becoming the fourth woman to be appointed to the Court.
After graduating in law in 1976, Bell practised as a solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre. Called to the Bar in 1984, her practice included that as a Public Defender (1986–1989) and as counsel assisting the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service (1994–1997). She took silk in 1997.
Bell left the Court in 2008 to take up an appointment of Justice of the High Court, which she served until 2021.
Various Artists
Digital print on aluminium
2024
The Hon. Patricia Bergin AO SC
Patricia Bergin (born 1949) was appointed as Supreme Court Judge in 1999 and became the first woman as Chief Judge in Equity in 2009. She was called to the New South Wales Bar in 1984, where she practised for 15 years with Tom Bathurst as her tutor before her appointment to the Supreme Court in 1999, where she served until her retirement from the Court in 2017. During her time, Bergin served as Commercial List Judge for six years, served as an additional Judge of Appeal from 2009 to 2016, and Chief Judge in Equity.
Since her retirement from the Court, Bergin has conducted two New South Wales Government Inquiries into the Returned and Services League of Australia, and into the operation of Crown Resorts Limited respectively, making recommendations that were subsequently adopted by the New South Wales Government. In 2021, she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the law. She has also served as an International Judge on the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) from January 2015 to January 2024.