Barbara Avalon Baker is an Australian

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 ...

and former judge, who is the 29th and current

governor of Tasmania The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the ...

since 16 June 2021. She served on the

Federal Circuit Court of Australia The Federal Circuit Court of Australia, formerly known as the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia or the Federal Magistrates Service, was an Australian court with jurisdiction over matters broadly relating to family law and child support, ad ...

from 2008 to 2021.

Early life

Baker was born in Hobart and raised in Sandy Bay. Her parents were

Alison Burton Alison Violet Burton (3 November 1921 – 9 June 2014) was a left-handed Australian tennis player. She and Joyce Wood won the girls' doubles competition at the Australian Championships (now the Australian Open) in 1938, 1939 and 1940. Biography ...

, a tennis player, and Bob Baker, a lawyer who became a Liberal member of the Tasmanian Parliament. Baker studied arts and law at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

, graduating in 1980. She represented Tasmania in tennis and field hockey at under-18 level.

Career

Baker was admitted to the legal profession in 1983. She joined Simmons Wolfhagen as a solicitor and later worked for the Office of the Solicitor-General. In 1993 she became the first female partner at Murdoch Clarke. As a lawyer Baker "specialised in family law and relationship matters". She served on the executive of the Law Society of Tasmania (1995–1996) and as president of the Family Law Practitioners' Association (2002). In 2008, Baker was appointed to the

Federal Magistrates Court of Australia The Federal Circuit Court of Australia, formerly known as the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia or the Federal Magistrates Service, was an Australian court with jurisdiction over matters broadly relating to family law and child support, ad ...

, the first Tasmanian woman to serve on the court. In 2013 the court was renamed the Federal Circuit Court and its members received the title "judge" rather than magistrate. She retired from the judiciary in January 2021 and returned to practise as a barrister at Burbury Chambers.

Governor of Tasmania

In May 2021, Premier Peter Gutwein announced that Baker would succeed

Kate Warner Catherine Ann Warner (born 14 July 1948) is an Australian lawyer and legal academic who was the 28th Governor of Tasmania from 2014 to 2021. Early life and education Warner was born Catherine Ann Friend in Hobart, Tasmania, and attended St M ...

as governor of Tasmania with effect from 16 June. She stated that she would "focus on gender equality and family violence issues in the community", as well as encouraging participation in sport and acting as a role model for young lawyers. She also said that her personal views on the monarchy or

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...

were not relevant to the position. In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours she was appointed a

Companion 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 ...

Personal life

Baker is married to Don Chalmers, AO, an emeritus professor of law at the University of Tasmania, and has two daughters. Baker captained Tasmania in

indoor hockey Indoor hockey is an indoor variant of field hockey. It is similar to the outdoor game in that two teams compete to move a hard ball into the goal of the opposing side using hockey sticks. Indoor hockey is played on a smaller area and between sm ...

and is a former national singles and doubles champion in

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Barbara Living people Companions of the Order of Australia Governors of Tasmania Judges of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia Australian barristers Australian real tennis players University of Tasmania alumni Australian female field hockey players Year of birth missing (living people) People from Hobart