Fiona Margaret McLeod (born 1964) is an Australian barrister practising at the

Victorian Bar The Victorian Bar is the bar association of the Australian State of Victoria. The current President of the Bar is Roisin Annesley KC. Its members are barristers registered to practice in Victoria. On 30 June 2020, there were 2,179 counsels ...

Early life and education

McLeod's father was a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

, who presided over the department at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

for seven years, until McLeod was 13 years old. Her mother was a biochemist, later a

ceramic art Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whi ...

ist. McLeod attended the Melbourne Law School at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, where she enjoyed participating in student theatre productions. She earned 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 ...

and

Bachelor of Laws 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 ...

there, and later Masters of Public and International Law. McLeod was President of the

Australian Law Students' Association The Australian Law Students' Association is a confederation of Australian law student associations and societies, representing some 28,000 students in all. All Australian law student societies are members. References External linksAustral ...

in 1987, winning the Butterworths prize for Civil Jurisprudence in the same year.

Career

McLeod was employed as an articled clerk and solicitor by the law firm Cornwall Stodart in Melbourne. She was admitted as a barrister in Victoria in 1991 and started practising at Owen Dixon Chambers. She was appointed Senior Counsel in Victoria in 2003. In 2013, McLeod was appointed chair of the

Victorian Bar Council The Victorian Bar is the bar association of the Australia, Australian States and territories of Australia, State of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The current President of the Bar is Roisin Annesley King's Counsel, KC. Its members are Barrist ...

, and in 2015 was the president of the

Australian Bar Association The Australian Bar Association (ABA) is the peak body representing more than 6,000 barristers throughout Australia. The ABA was established in 1963 to serve, promote and represent its members, and advocate for fair and equal justice for all. ...

. She was appointed to the executive of the

Law Council of Australia The Law Council of Australia, founded in 1933, is an association of law societies and bar associations from the states and territories of Australia, and the peak body representing the legal profession in Australia. The Law Council represents mo ...

in 2014, serving as treasurer in 2015, president-elect in 2016 and President in 2017. McLeod attended the 2020 Summit participating in the Regional Security and Prosperity stream. At the time she was the President of

Australian Women Lawyers Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

. She is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Australian Academy of Law. She is a Council member of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Advisory Council of the University of Melbourne Law School and the Victorian University Sir Zelman Cowan Centre. She has represented the Commonwealth in major cases, including the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, Queensland Floods Commission and the

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was a royal commission announced in November 2012 and established in 2013 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and repo ...

Political career

On 22 March 2019 McLeod replaced Josh Spiegel 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 la ...

candidate for the seat of Higgins in the 2019 federal election. The change was made from central party leadership who wanted a higher profile candidate, because of reports that the formerly safe

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

seat was winnable. At that election, she came closer to taking the seat off the Liberals than any Labor candidate had come before. She managed a swing of six percent to Labor, enough to make this longstanding blue-ribbon Liberal seat marginal against Labor for the first time. On 15 January 2020, it was announced that McLeod would be one of the members of the National Co-design Group of the Indigenous voice to government.

Awards and honours

*In the 2013 Women in Law Awards, McLeod won Barrister of the Year, Mentor of the Year and the '' Lawyers Weekly'' Excellence Award. *2013 Advocate Award *On 5 March 2014 McLeod was appointed to the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the Australian state of Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the celebrations of Victoria's Centenary of Federation. Public no ...

. *McLeod 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 the

2020 Australia Day Honours The 2020 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2020 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australia ...

for "distinguished service to the law, and to the legal profession, at the national and international level, and to women lawyers."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLeod, Fiona Living people Australian barristers 1964 births Australian Senior Counsel Australian women lawyers Melbourne Law School alumni Officers of the Order of Australia University of Melbourne alumni University of Melbourne women