Annabelle Claire Bennett (born 8 January 1950) is the Chancellor of Bond University and a former Judge of the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

Early life and education

Annabelle Claire Bennett (born Darin) was born in Sydney, Australia, to Emanuel Darin (born Finkelstein) and Raissa Darin (born Atlas). Bennett's father was a lawyer, and at an early age she had hopes of following him into the legal profession. Her father, however, thought that law was a bad career choice for women, because "you had to be better than the best to break even" and discouraged his daughter from pursuing this ambition. Instead, Bennett studied science at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and completed a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in Biochemistry at the same institution. In 1980, still interested in the legal profession, Bennett went on to study law at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

Career

After graduating from the

, Bennett began practising as a barrister, specialising in

intellectual property law Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

. Bennett was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia on 5 May 2003. Bennett was also an additional Judge of the

Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory The Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory is the highest court of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in Civil law (common law), civil matters and hears the most serious Criminal ...

and a presidential member of the

Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) is an Australian tribunal that conducts independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws of the Australian Government. The AAT review decisions made by Australian Gover ...

. Bennett is arbitrator of the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

and was named for the special arbitration panel to operate during the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. Bennett retired from the Federal Court on 23 March 2016, and now practises as a consultant

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

mediator Mediator may refer to: *A person who engages in mediation *Business mediator, a mediator in business * Vanishing mediator, a philosophical concept * Mediator variable, in statistics Chemistry and biology *Mediator (coactivator), a multiprotein ...

and arbitrator at 5 Wentworth. In April 2016, Bennett became the eighth Chancellor of Bond University in Queensland. On 20 February 2020, Bennett was appointed as a commissioner to the

Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, also referred to as the Bushfires Royal Commission, was a royal commission established in 2020 by the Australian government to inquire into and report upon natural disaster manag ...

. In 2022, the Albanese government commissioned an Independent Review of Australian Carbon Credit Units, that reported in December 2022. The independent panel was comprised of Professor

Ian Chubb Ian William Chubb (born 17 October 1943) is an Australian neuroscientist and academic, who was the Chief Scientist of Australia from 23 May 2011 to 22 January 2016. Career Chubb has a Masters in Science, a DPhil from the University of Oxford, ...

AC (Chair), the Hon Dr Annabelle Bennett AC SC, Ms Ariadne Gorring and Dr Stephen Hatfield Dodds.Independent Review of Australian Carbon Credit Units

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) is a department of the Australian Government. The department was established on 1 July 2022, superseding the water and environment functions from the Department of Agri ...

, accessed 2023-01-11

Awards and honours

Bennett was made an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 2005, for "service to the law, particularly in the areas of intellectual property, administrative law and professional conduct; and to the community through a range of educational, medical, women's and business organisations". In 2011, she received the honorary degree of Doctor of the university from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

. She was upgraded to a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours. In 2016 she received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of New South Wales. In May 2020 Bennett was elected Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

Personal life

Annabelle Bennett is married to David Bennett, the former Commonwealth Solicitor-General and has had three children with him. Outside of the courtroom, Bennett's interest in biological sciences has continued, and she has been involved in a number of committees, including the Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee, the Biotechnology Task Force and the Gene Patenting Advisory Committee of the

Australian Law Reform Commission The Australian Law Reform Commission (often abbreviated to ALRC) is an Australian independent statutory body established to conduct reviews into the law of Australia. The reviews, also called inquiries or references, are referred to the ALRC by ...

. She has also served as a Director of the Sydney Children's Hospital and

Neuroscience Research Australia Neuroscience Research Australia (or NeuRA) is an independent medical research institute based in Sydney, Australia. Previously called the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, the institute relaunched as Neuroscience Research Australia ...

and is a former president of the

Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences The Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences is a multi-disciplinary learned society founded in 1967 modelled on the British Academy of Forensic Sciences. The Academy conducts regular conferences, undertakes liaison with other Australian professi ...

. In 2012, she was appointed Chair of the

National Health and Medical Research Council The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded rese ...

. Bennett is also a past President of Chief Executive Women, a former Trustee of the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust, and was a member of the Reference Group for the APEC Women Leaders' Network Meeting 2007 and the Head of the Australian Delegation to the APEC Women Leaders' Network Meeting 2008 in Peru.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Annabelle Claire 1950 births Living people Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Australian women judges University of Sydney alumni University of New South Wales Law School alumni Judges of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory Officers of the Order of Australia Companions of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Australian biochemists Australian women chemists Australian Jews Bond University chancellors Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science