2012 BrainLink Women of Achievement
The date for the 2012 BrainLink Women of Achievement Award & Luncheon is:
Friday the 26th of October
Ballroom, Park Hyatt Melbourne
11:30am for a 12:00pm start
Keynote Speaker:
The Hon. Michael Kirby, AC CMG
For more infromatiom, contact Vanessa on 9845-2955 or email
When he retired from the High Court of Australia on 2 February 2009, Michael Kirby was Australia’s longest serving judge. He was first appointed in 1975 as a Deputy President of the Australian Conciliation & Arbitration Commission. Soon after, he was seconded as inaugural Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission (1975-84). Later, he was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, then President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal and, concurrently, President of the Court of Appeal of Solomon Islands.
His appointment to the High Court of Australia came in 1996 and he served thirteen years. In later years, he was Acting Chief Justice of Australia In addition to his judicial duties, Michael Kirby has served on three university governing bodies being elected Chancellor of Macquarie University in Sydney (1984-93). He also served on many national and international bodies.
Amongst the latter have been service as a member of the World Health Organisation’s Global Commission on AIDS (1988-92); President of the International Commission of Jurists, Geneva (1995-8); as UN Special Representative Human Rights in Cambodia (1993-6); a member of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee (1995-2005); a member of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Judicial Reference Group (2007-) and a member of the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights (2004-).
Following his judicial retirement, Michael Kirby was elected President of the Institute of Arbitrators & Mediators Australia from 2009-2010. He serves as a Board Member of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration. He has been appointed Honorary Visiting Professor by twelve universities and he participates regularly in many local and international conferences and meetings. He has been awarded twenty honorary doctorates at home and abroad.
In 2010, he was awarded the Gruber Justice Prize. He is also presently a member of the Eminent Persons Group which is investigating the future of the Commonwealth of Nations; and has been appointed to the UNDP Global Commission of HIV and the Law. In 2010, he was appointed to the Australian Panel of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (World Bank). In 2010, he was appointed to the Gruber Foundation Advisory Board of the Justice Prize. In March 2011, he was appointed to the Advisory Council of Transparency International, based in Berlin.
Last updated 27th April 2012