Evatt, Elizabeth Andreas (1933 - )

Elizabeth Evatt was the first Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia and the first woman to preside in an Australian Federal Court.

Elizabeth Evatt studied Law at the University of Sydney and at Harvard Law School. A Barrister-at-law at Inner Temple and the New South Wales Bar, her legal career began in England where she was a barrister and editor of the International and Comparative Law Quarterly. In 1968 she was invited to join Lord Scarman at the English Law Commission where she worked for five years.

Evatt was Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission from 1973-76, before becoming the first Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia (1976-1988). From 1988-1993 she was president of the Australian Law Reform Commission, and Chancellor of the University of Newcastle from 1988-1994.

Between 1984-1992, Evatt was a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, serving as Chair of the Committee from 1989-1991. She was a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee from 1993-2000, and was a part time Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission from 1995-1998.

Evatt is currently a judge of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal; a Visiting Professor at the University of New South Wales; and Chair of the Board of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Sydney. She has for many years been a member of the Australian section of the International Commission of Jurists, and was elected as a Commissioner in April 2003. A niece of former Labor leader Dr H. V. Evatt, Elizabeth Evatt is a Life Member of the Evatt Foundation, and served as Vice-President from 1982-1987.

Related Events

• Revolution and Reform - 1975 and Beyond (2006 - )

  Elizabeth Evatt chaired the Open Forum session of the August 6 'Day of Celebration' conference.

Book Sections

• Evatt, Elizabeth, 'Recollections', in Curthoys, A., Martin, A.W., Rowse, Tim (ed.), Australians from 1939, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, Broadway, N.S.W., 1987, p. 474. [ Details... ]

Conference Papers

• Evatt, Elizabeth, 'The status of women in Asia', in LAWASIA Conference, Indian Ocean Centre for Peace Studies, Nedlands, W.A., 18 September 1991, p. 20. [ Details... ]

Conference Proceedings

• Royal Commission on Human Relationships (Australia) (ed.), Royal Commission on Human Relationships: official transcript of proceedings, Elizabeth Evatt, Commonwealth Reporting Service, Sydney, 1976. [ Details... ]

Edited Books

• Evatt, Elizabeth (ed.), A Guide to family law : questions and answers to help you make the right decisions, 2 edn, Bay Books, Sydney, 1991, 176 pp. [ Details... ]

Lectures

• Evatt, Elizabeth (ed.), 'Valuing women's work : women, equality and family law reform', Anne Conlon memorial lecture, NSW Women's Advisory Council, Haymarket, NSW, 19 July 1991. [ Details... ]

Reports

• Evatt, Elizabeth, Review of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984, Office of the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Australia, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Canberra, 1996, 379 pp. [ Details... ]
• Evatt, Elizabeth, National implementation : the cutting edge of international human rights law, Australian National University, Centre for International and Public Law., Federation Press in association with the Centre for International and Public Law, Australian National University, NSW, 1999, 32 pp. [ Details... ]
• Royal Commission on Human Relationships (Australia), Final report. Royal Commission on Human Relationships., Elizabeth Evatt, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1977. [ Details... ]

See also

• Magarey, Kirsty, Genital mutilation : a health and human rights issue, Briefing paper (Australian Development Studies Network) ; no. 18., Elizabeth Evatt, Australian Development Studies Network, Canberra, 1990, 13 pp. [ Details... ]