Governance

The Council

The Council is the governing body of the NJCA. It comprises four judicial members who are nominated and appointed by the relevant appointing authority – a nominee of the Federal Courts, a nominee of the State or Territory Supreme Courts, a nominee of the District or County Courts, and a nominee of the Magistrates or Local Courts – along with a member nominated by the Commonwealth Attorney-General, a member nominated by participating State and Territory Attorneys-General, and member nominated by the Commonwealth, State and Territory tribunals. Each appointing authority may also appoint an alternate member as a Council Member.

The Council Chair is appointed by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia.

Council Members

CHIEF JUSTICE LUCY MCCALLUM (CHAIR), SUPREME COURT OF AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Nominee of the Chief Justices of the State and Territory Supreme Courts
JUSTICE MURRAY ALDRIDGE, FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Chief Justices of the Federal and Family Courts
JUSTICE KATRINA BANKS-SMITH, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Chief Justices of the Federal and Family Courts
MR CHRIS COLLETT, ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT
Nominee of the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth
MR RICHARD GLENN, ACT JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY SAFETY DIRECTORATE
Nominee of the Attorneys-General of the States and Territories
CHIEF MAGISTRATE MARY-LOUISE HRIBAL, MAGISTRATES COURT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Nominee of the Chief Magistrates of the States and Territories
CHIEF JUDGE PETER KIDD, COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA
Nominee of the Chief Judges of the States and Territories
JUDGE LAURENCE LEVY, DISTRICT COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Chief Judges of the States and Territories
MS ALICE LINACRE, ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT
Nominee of the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth
CHIEF JUDGE ELIZABETH MORRIS, NORTHERN TERRITORY LOCAL COURT
Chief Magistrates of the States and Territories

Program Development

NJCA judicial education and training programs are judge-led, reflect contemporary adult learning principles, are judicial officer centric in design and carry an experiential learning philosophy.  Our programs provide participants with an appropriate balance of knowledge and understanding, alongside practical judge-craft skills, achieved through structured, small group discussion and hands-on practical exercises relevant to the program rationale and judicial learning outcomes. 

The NJCA, as part of its overarching program development, published Attaining Judicial Excellence: A Guide for the NJCA in 2019 as a resource to support its strategic planning and to assist in designing professional development programs for Australian judicial officers. In developing the elements, the NJCA consulted with 80 judicial officers from around Australia and from different jurisdictions. These elements describe the knowledge, skills and qualities of judicial officers, which those consulted, consider to be facilitative of judicial excellence. A copy of the guide is available under our resources.

The Programs Advisory Committee (PAC) provides the NJCA Council with support in considering and developing new and existing programs, enabling the NJCA to draw on the expertise of a diverse range of stakeholders in developing its programs. PAC makes recommendations to Council on significant strategic program issues and oversees the work of the various Program Planning Committees.

The College develops new programs from proposals made by judicial officers, program planning committees, government agencies and feedback received from program participants.

Program Advisory Committee

JUSTICE GLENN MARTIN AM (CHAIR)
Supreme Court of Queensland
DEPUTY CHIEF MAGISTRATE ANTHONY GETT
Magistrates Court of Queensland
JUSTICE BRIGITTE MARKOVIC
Federal Court of Australia
JUSTICE RICHARD O’BRIEN
Family Court of Western Australia
CHIEF MAGISTRATE CATHERINE GEASON
Magistrates Court of Tasmania
JUSTICE SAM DOYLE
Supreme Court of South Australia
MAGISTRATE JAY PANDYA
Magistrates Court of South Australia
JUDGE KARA SHEAD
District Court of New South Wales
ACTING JUSTICE MONIKA SCHMIDT AM
Supreme Court of New South Wales
THE HON. ACTING JUDGE ANN AINSLIE WALLACE
District Court of New South Wales
JUDGE FIONA TODD
County Court of Victoria
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR HEATHER ROBERTS
ANU College of Law