- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: AWE5744
Wolfe, Patricia (Patsy)
- Her Honour, AO
- Preferred name Wolfe, Patsy
- Occupation Barrister, Chief Judge, Commissioner, Judge, Lawyer, Solicitor
Summary
Her Honour Patricia (Patsy) Wolfe served as Chief Judge of the District Court of Queensland between 1999 and 2014. She was the first woman to be appointed to the role. In 2014 she received the Order of Australia for her ‘distinguished service to the judiciary, to the law through legal education reform and as a mentor and role model for women’.
Patsy Wolfe came to law as a mature age student and mother, after first pursuing careers in medicine and journalism. She graduated LLB with honours from the University of Queensland in 1978 and was admitted to the Bar the same year. In 1979, she joined the Faculty of Law as a senior tutor and then went on to complete a Masters Degree in 1983. While senior tutor, she met Margaret White and Quentin Bryce and formed supportive and enduring friendships with them both.
Before being appointed to the District Court in 1995, Wolfe served as Deputy Commissioner of the Fitzgerald Inquiry Into Official Corruption (1988-89) and as a part-time Commissioner on the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1993-95).
She is well remembered for her forthright comments made when she was chair of the Queensland Women’s Consultative Committee in 1992. When challenged as to why Queensland women needed such a committee, when there was no equivalent body for men, her response was direct and uncompromising. Men already had a powerful organisation, she said. ‘It’s called Cabinet, where men outnumber women sixteen to two…That’s why we need council as a direct line to the Premier.’
Events
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1974
Bachelor of Arts, University of Queensland
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1978
Admitted as a Barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland
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1978
Bachelor of Laws (Honours), University of Queensland
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1978 - 1980
Senior Tutor, University of Queensland Law School
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1981 - 1982
In-house, Feez Ruthning Solicitors
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1983
Master of Laws, University of ueensland
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1983 - 1995
Practised at the Bar in Queensland
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1986 - 1999
Member, Council of Stuartholme School
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1988 - 1989
Deputy Commissioner, Commission of Inquiry into Official Corruption
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1989 - 2003
Member, Council of Griffith University
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1990
Chair, Review into Land Policy and Administration
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1991 - 1997
Member, Visiting Committee Griffith University Law School
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1992 - 1994
Chair, Queensland Women’s Consultative Council
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1992 - 1997
Members, National Institute Law Ethics and Public Affairs
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1993 - 1995
Part-time Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
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1995 - 2014
Judge, District Court of Queensland
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1999 - 2002
Member, Key Centre Ethics Law Justice and Governance
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1999 - 2014
Chief Judge, District Court of Queensland
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1999 - 2014
Judge, Planning and Environment Court
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2003
Centenary Medal
-
2003
Hon DUniv (Griffith)
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2014
Officer of the Order of Australia
Published resources
- Book Section
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Site Exhibition
- Australian Women Lawyers as Active Citizens, http://www.womenaustralia.info/lawyers/biogs/AWE5744b.htm
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Resource Section
- Law, Kerwin, Hollie and Rubenstein, Kim, 2014, http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0624b.htm