Elizabeth Evatt
LLM (Master of Laws) Harvard University
Honorary LLD (Doctor of Laws) University of Sydney
Honorary LLD (Doctor of Laws) Flinders University
Biography
Elizabeth Andreas Evatt was born in 1933 and grew up in the Upper North Shore of Sydney in a family that emphasised leadership and public service. Her father, Clive Evatt QC, was a barrister and member of the NSW Legislative Assembly. Her uncle, Dr H. V. Evatt, was Leader of the Australian Labor Party and President of the UN General Assembly. She studied law at the University of Sydney and graduated with first class honours. Evatt was the first woman to win the University Medal for law and became a barrister at just 21 years of age.
Evatt won a scholarship to Harvard and was awarded a LLM (Master of Laws) in 1956. After this she moved to London and worked as a barrister. From 1968 to 1973 she worked at the England and Wales Law Commission where she realised the power of legal reform to achieve social enhancement. In 1973 she returned to Australia to become Deputy President of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. From 1974 to 1977 Evatt chaired the Royal Commission on Human Relationships. The final report contained recommendations relating to contraception, sex education, domestic violence, rape and the justice system’s treatment of rape victims, attitudes to sexuality, discrimination of gays and lesbians, the changing role of women and child care. Most of the recommendations were not implemented immediately however the Royal Commission brought previously taboo topics into public discussion.
In 1976 Evatt became the first Chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia. Evatt took on this role to attempt to bring social idealism and principles of fairness and justice to family breakdown. The early years of the Family Court were controversial and violent - one judge was murdered and the wife of a judge was killed by a bomb. Two more judges were injured by bombs.
After leaving the Family Court in 1988 Evatt became President of the Australian Law Reform Commission. In 1984 she had been elected to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and chaired the committee from 1989 to 1991. In the 1990s she also began serving as a member of the UN Human Rights Committee and a judge of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal. Evatt’s legacy to Australian and International civil society is a record of empowering women and overcoming gender inequality in all its forms.
From 1988 to 1994 Evatt was Chancellor of the University of Newcastle. She brought a deep sense of justice as well a high level of commitment and sympathy to the University. A building on the University of Newcastle campus is named after Evatt as well as the Elizabeth Evatt Community Legal Centre in the Blue Mountains. Evatt has received Australia’s highest civic honour, a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for her service to law, social justice and the promotion of international human rights.
Date of Birth1933Other OccupationJudgeLawyer BarristerRoyal CommissionerChief JusticeThemeUniversity of Newcastle History
Chancellor Elizabeth EvattChancellorOrganisationsUniversity of Newcastle HistoryFamily Court of AustraliaAustralian Law Reform CommissionAustralian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity CommissionWorld BankCommittee on the Elimination of Discrimination against WomenUnited Nations Human Rights CommitteeInternational Committee of JuristsCommonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration CommissionEngland and Wales Law CommissionHarvard UniversityUniversity of Sydney