I was born in England in 1946, but I spent my youth in South Africa and
Australia (Tasmania). I completed my studies towards a law degree at the
University of Tasmania in 1969.
Between 1968 and 1978 I was employed primarily by the Australian Department
of Immigration in Australia, England and the United States. In 1978 I
returned to Tasmania to be an articled clerk in Launceston. I was admitted
as a legal practitioner in 1980 and, during the next 20 years, practiced as
a barrister and solicitor, mainly in the field of Family Law.
In December 2000 I was appointed as a federal magistrate to the Federal
Magistrates Court of Australia, also known as the Federal Magistrates
Service (FMS). My base is in Launceston, but I also sit frequently in
Hobart and Devonport and at times in other States of Australia.
I do not have any particular expertise in the field of IT. However, like
most judicial officers, I am interested in the use of technology to improve
the job that we do. While I was in private practice, I was the partner in
my firm who tried for a long time to convince the other partners in the
firm that we should provide access to the internet through the computers on
all fee earner's desks. I am pleased to say that that objective was
achieved just after I left the firm to take up my current appointment.
For my sins, I chair the Business Information Management Committee (BIMC)
of the FMS.
The BIMC is a committee of federal magistrates established for the purpose
of examining and developing processes to better manage the work of the
court. The committee has been involved in attempting to identify the FMS
priorities in this area given budgetary and operational constraints. Areas
examined by the BIMC have included:
the allocation of information technology resources throughout the court;
training in relation to IT facilities for federal magistrates and staff;
the benefits of voice recognition software;
development of, and access to research facilities;
provision of IT facilities in the courtroom;
development of the FMS case management system; and
office automation products.