William Kenneth Fisher AO QC (12 April 1926 – 10 March 2010) was an Australian judge. Fisher was born to William Charles Fisher and Phyllis Enid at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He initially attended

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

High School before transferring to

Sydney Boys' High School , motto_translation = With Truth and Courage , established = , location = Cleveland Street, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pu ...

in 1941, from which he graduated in 1943. He then enlisted in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

on 2 November 1944, rising to

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

in April 1946. He enrolled 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 ...

in 1947, where he joined the University Labor Club and was its president from 1949 to 1950; at the 1949 federal election he ran as an independent Labor candidate against Sir Percy Spender in

Warringah Warringah is a name taken from the local Aboriginal word for Middle Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It may refer to: *Division of Warringah, an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives created in 1922 *Electoral ...

. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1951 and a

Bachelor of Law Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1953. On 31 July 1953 he was admitted a solicitor, and he was called to the bar on 4 December. After establishing a practice on

Phillip Street Phillip Street is a street in the central business district of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. While the street runs from King Street in the south to Circular Quay in the north, the present street is effectively in two sections, sepa ...

(he would later move to

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

) and developing a specialisation in industrial law, he was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1971, ran as the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate for Lowe against Prime Minister

William McMahon Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1971 to 1972 as leader of the Liberal Party. He was a government minister for over 21 years, t ...

at the 1972 federal election, and was senior counsel in the Commonwealth Royal Commission on Petroleum, which issued its reports from 1974 to 1976. Fisher was appointed a judge of the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...

on 30 July 1979, serving until 17 November 1981, when he was appointed President of the Industrial Commission of New South Wales. (During the period from 1992 to 1996, the Industrial Court was separated from the commission; Fisher was also Chief Judge of that body.) Serving for sixteen years until his retirement on 11 April 1998, he was the second-longest serving president in the commission's history. He was subsequently an acting judge of the District Court between 1998 and 2002, Chair of the New South Wales Parole Board from 1999 to 2002, Commissioner of the Review of Professional Standards in the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

in 2003, and a partner in the industrial law firm Fisher, Cartwright and Berriman from 1998 to 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Bill 1926 births 2010 deaths Australian King's Counsel Officers of the Order of Australia Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Judges of the District Court of NSW 20th-century Australian judges