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1st Indigenous Supreme Court judge appointed
Two new Supreme Court judges have been appointed by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman, one of whom is to be Australia’s first Indigenous Supreme Court judge.
Adrian Suljanovic
Descendant of the Warramunga peoples from the Northern Territory, Lincoln Crowley QC is set to be the first Aboriginal Supreme Court judge in the state’s and nation’s history. He is joined by Melanie Hindman QC, who has also been appointed to the role of Supreme Court judge.
“Mr Crowley has regularly appeared throughout Australia but particularly in Queensland, New South Wales and Victorian courts across a diverse range of matters, especially criminal trials and appeals, since joining the bar in Sydney in 2003.”
Prior to his appointment as Queen’s counsel in 2018, Mr Crowley served as a Crown prosecutor for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in Sydney and principal Crown prosecutor at the Maroochy Chambers for the Queensland Office of the Director of Public Prosecutors. Mr Crowley specialised in both prosecution and defence since 2009 at the private bar.
The appointment of Mr Crowley was commended by the president of the NSW Bar Association, Gabrielle Bashir SC.
“The appointment of Crowley QC as Australia’s first Indigenous superior court judge is a matter of great significance for the legal profession and for all Australians,” Ms Bashir SC said.
“Lincoln is a highly respected member of the profession and, while we are sad to lose his talented advocacy skills at the bar, he will be an invaluable asset to the Supreme Court of Queensland.”
Ms Bashir SC continued, “The Bar Council, with its Indigenous Barristers Strategy and the Mum Shirl Indigenous Barristers Trust, has strived to break down the barriers preventing First Nations lawyers from coming to the bar.”
This sentiment was echoed by the acting chair and deputy chair of the Bar Association’s First Nations committee, Andrew Smith.
“Lincoln’s appointment is another critical step in the development of a shared narrative in Australia. That the announcement is occurring the day after National Sorry Day, on the anniversary of the 1967 referendum to amend the constitution to count First Nations people as part of the population and to enable the Commonwealth to make laws for them and the commencement of Reconciliation Week is poetically apt,” said Mr Smith.
Attorney-General Fentiman praised the accolades of Ms Hindman QC.
“Ms Hindman is recognised as an outstanding practitioner in commercial law, with particular expertise in building and construction litigation,” said Minister Fentiman.
Along with Mr Crowley, Ms Hindman also brings an impressive list of achievements and experiences to the new role, including a distinction in Doyle’s Australia Construction & Infrastructure Senior Counsel list in 2022, as well as her listing in the 14th edition of The Best Lawyers in Australia in Construction/Infrastructure Law. She was appointed Queen’s counsel in 2017.
Minister Fentiman added, “Ms Hindman has been a much sought-after speaker in the areas of building and construction law and contract law, presenting to (amongst others) Queensland Law Society, Engineers Queensland, Queensland Environmental Law Association, Bar Association of Queensland, Society of Construction Lawyers Australia and Commercial Law Association.”
Mr Crowley will begin his role on 13 June 2022, and Ms Hindman on 30 May 2022.
