Bernadette Carmel Boss, is a Magistrate of the Australian Capital Territory, an officer in the

Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

and a former barrister. She was appointed as a magistrate on 11 June 2012. In her military career, Boss was the first woman to be a commanding officer of the

Sydney University Regiment Sydney University Regiment (SUR) is an officer-training regiment of the Australian Army Reserve. Its predecessor, the University Volunteer Rifle Corps, was raised in 1900 as a unit of the colonial New South Wales Defence Force. During the 20th ...

and the first woman to conduct an inquiry into the combat death of a soldier. Boss was appointed as the first (interim)

National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention The National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention is a statutory official in Australia, independent of the Government of Australia, established under Australian law. History On 5 February 2020, the Prime Minister of Austral ...

on 1 October 2020.

Legal career

Boss holds a

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

from 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 ...

. She also holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in anthropology from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

, a Diploma of Law from the

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

, a Masters of Public Policy from the University of New England, a Masters of International Law from the University of Sydney, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Strategic Studies from the

Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: * the War College, * the Australian Defence Force Training Cent ...

. Boss also qualified as a registered nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and holds an ophthalmic nursing diploma from Moorefields Eye Hospital in London. Boss was admitted to practice in the United Kingdom in 1992 and then in Australia in 1993. She then practised in England and Wales as a barrister and prosecutor. In 2002, Boss began practising as a barrister. She began practising in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

in 2004. She served as Vice-President of the ACT Bar Association. She was appointed a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

on 11 June 2012. On 1 October 2020, Boss was named the first (as "interim")

. The

Minister for Veterans' Affairs The Minister for Veterans' Affairs is an Australian Government position. In the Government of Australia, the minister oversees income support, compensation, care and commemoration programs for more than 400,000 veterans and their widows, widower ...

Darren Chester Darren Jeffrey Chester (born 13 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the House of Representatives for Gippsland in Victoria, representing the Nationals since 2008. Chester had served as the Minister for Veterans ...

, noted, “As a current Magistrate and Coroner in the Australian Capital Territory, Dr Boss has the skills and expertise to examine these tragic instances of ADF and veteran suicides to understand practical actions to reduce suicide risk.”

Military career

From 1996 to 2002, Boss was a legal officer in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

. She was the first woman to be a commanding officer of the

. She was also the first woman to conduct an inquiry into the combat death of a soldier. Boss served from 1995 in the British Territorial Army, and has seen service in the Australian Regular Army and the

, including deployments to East Timor, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Boss was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross for "outstanding achievement" in command of the Sydney University Regiment, and has served as the Army Adjutant General. Boss holds the rank of

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

in the Australian Army Reserve.

References

External links

National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention website
Australian brigadiers Australian magistrates Living people Magistrates of the Magistrates Court of the Australian Capital Territory Recipients of the Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) Year of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-law-bio-stub