The Hon Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC

The Hon. Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC (b. 1954) became Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia in 2017 and is the first woman to have held the role. Born in Cairns, Kiefel left school at fifteen and after a stint in secretarial work began studying to complete her secondary education and work towards the Barristers Admission Board course. Passing with honours, she joined the Queensland Bar when she was 21. After a decade building a successful practice, Kiefel travelled to England to complete a Master of Laws at the University of Cambridge. There, she rowed in the stroke seat for her college team and proved an outstanding and prize-winning legal scholar. She resumed her practice at the Bar in 1985 and, two years later, became the first woman in Queensland to be appointed King's Counsel (at the time named Queen's Counsel). Kiefel was appointed to the Bench of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1993, and became a Justice of the Federal Court in 1994. She has served on the Australian Law Reform Commission and was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island from 2004. Kiefel was appointed as Justice of the High Court in 2007. She is an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge, and recipient of honorary doctorates from the University of Queensland, Griffith University and the University of Adelaide. She also led the process of redesigning the robes for both the Federal and High Courts. In 2017, Law Council of Australia President Fiona McLeod SC spoke at the ceremonial sitting of the High Court on the occasion of Kiefel's swearing-in as the first woman to serve as Chief Justice. McLeod noted that in her speeches to schools and universities, Kiefel often quotes Renaissance artist Michelangelo: 'The greatest danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low and reaching our mark.'