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September 13, 2026 \u2014 5:08pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s first female High Court judge, Mary Gaudron, has died aged 83.<\/p>\n After receiving a scholarship to the University of Sydney, she left it with the university medal in hand. Asked to comment on the award going to a female rather than a male, she said: \u201cThe only difference between us is that I sit down to pee!\u201d<\/p>\n Gaudron\u2019s distinguished career included time as a barrister \u2013 after being turned down for legal clerkships by lawyers who would not hire women \u2013 then becoming the youngest federal judge on the former Conciliation and Arbitration Commission as deputy president.<\/p>\n She was also the inaugural NSW legal services commissioner and the NSW solicitor-general \u2013 the first woman to hold that role in any Australian jurisdiction.<\/p>\n In 1987, aged 44, she became the first female judge of Australia\u2019s High Court.<\/p>\n She was a deciding voice on the landmark Mabo case, which recognised the ownership of a group of Torres Strait islanders over Queensland\u2019s Murray Island which also held that native title exists for all Indigenous people.<\/p>\n In a joint judgment, she wrote that Aboriginal dispossession of their land was \u201cthe darkest aspect of the history of this nation\u201d.<\/p>\n Gaudron retired in 2003, aged 60, to work at the United Nations\u2019 International Labour Organisation.<\/p>\n Governor-General Sam Mostyn said in a statement she was \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d by Gaudron\u2019s death. \u201cJustice Gaudron broke barriers at every stage of an extraordinary legal career.\u201d<\/p>\n Gaudron had three children: daughters Danielle and Julienne with her first husband Ben Nurse, and son Patrick with second husband John Fogarty.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Justice](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/6a7d98ed7f519db9e6fbc15c4b6532005f4a750e.jpeg\")
Justice Gaudron at the High Court.Fairfax Media<\/p>\n![\"Justice](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/48a3ba0ed602a0af2051d64b0e9f25c4441e657c.jpeg\")
Justice Mary Gaudron (left) at Admiralty House in 2011 with then-prime minister Julia Gillard, governor-general Quentin Bryce and then-attorney-general Nicola Roxon.Wolter Peeters<\/p>\n
\u201cJustice Gaudron was a trailblazer of remarkable intellect. Her career was defined by a series of firsts. She was the first woman to take silk in NSW, the first woman to serve as state Solicitor-General and, in 1987, the first woman appointed to the High Court of Australia.<\/p>\n