Diana Bryant

Diana Bryant AO QC (born 13 October 1947) is an Australian jurist. She was appointed Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia on 5 July 2004.^[1]

Early life and education

Bryant was born in Perth, Western Australia and attended Firbank Girls' Grammar School in Melbourne.^[2] Bryant holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Melbourne University, and a Master of Laws degree from Monash University.^[3]

Career

She was admitted as a legal practitioner in Victoria in 1970. From 1977 to 1990, Chief Justice Bryant was a partner with the firm of Phillips Fox in Perth where she practised as a solicitor and counsel specialising in family law. She was also a Director of Australian Airlines from 1984 to 1989.^[4]

From May 2000 she was the Chief Federal Magistrate of the Federal Magistrates' Court, having been appointed the inaugural Chief Federal Magistrate of Australia.

Prior to her appointment, Chief Justice Bryant had practised at the Victorian Bar from 1990 where she specialised in family law and de facto property disputes, particularly at the appellate level. She was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1997 and was a founding member of Chancery Chambers, Melbourne.

In February 2009 Chief Justice Bryant was appointed Patron of Australian Women Lawyers, after founding Patron Mary Gaudron QC, in recognition of her support for women lawyers and efforts to promote equality of opportunity for women in the community.

References

1. "Chief Justice". Family Court of Australia. Archived from the original on 2006-08-20. Retrieved 2006-03-08.
2. Shiel, Fergus (26 June 2004). "Cool head leaps into legal hot seat". The Age. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
3. "The Honourable Chief Justice Diana Bryant (LLM 1999)" (HTML). Melbourne: Monash University. 29 June 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
4. Silverii, Jason (2004). "Courting respect - New Family Court Chief Justice Diana Bryant". LIJ 78 (8): 18. Retrieved 26 January 2012.