Hilary Ruth Penfold

PSM PSM, an acronym, may refer to: Organizations * Sepaktakraw Association of Malaysia ( ms, Persatuan Sepaktakraw Malaysia; PSM), a national governing body in Malaysia. * Pakistan School Muscat, a Pakistani co-educational institute in Oman * Palest ...

(born 1953) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n parliamentary counsel and judge. She was the first woman to be First Parliamentary Counsel and the first woman to be a resident judge in 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 ...

Early life

Penfold was born in 1953 in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. At the age of three, her family moved to Australia. She was educated at

Ascham School , motto_translation = With Heart and Soul , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Girls , educational_authority = , oversight = , district = , denomination = , slogan = , ...

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 ...

. She studied the combined Arts / Law degrees course at 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 ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. She was a joint winner of the Tillyard Prize in 1976 with the theologian, philosopher and poet

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. Originally known as a stand-up comedian, he has since starred in Hollywood films and on TV. He has also released several well-received comedy albums. After winning se ...

Career

Penfold joined the

Office of Parliamentary Counsel (Australia) The Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) is an Australian Commonwealth government agency established under the ''Parliamentary Counsel Act 1970'' (Cth) within the Commonwealth Attorney-General's portfolio. OPC drafts all government Bills that ...

in 1977. In 1993 she became the first woman to be appointed First Parliamentary Counsel. Her drafting included legislation for the ''Tampa'' affair (the Border Protection Bill, rejected by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

), workplace relations reforms (the ''

Workplace Relations Act 1996 The ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' was an Australian law regarding workplace conditions and rights passed by the Howard government after it came into power in 1996. It replaced the previous Labor Government's ''Industrial Relations Act 1988' ...

''), and the constitutional amendments which would have been required to have created an Australian republic in 1999. She was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2000. In 2001 she was the first woman to be appointed a Commonwealth

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 2004 Penfold became Secretary of the newly created

Department of Parliamentary Services The Clerk of the Australian Senate is the head of the Parliamentary Department of the Senate, which is the parliamentary department supporting the work of the Australian Senate. The Clerk is responsible to the President of the Senate who in turn is ...

. In 2008 she became the first woman to be a resident judge of the

Margaret Beazley Margaret Joan Beazley, , (born 23 July 1951) is an Australian jurist who is the 39th and current governor of New South Wales, serving since 2 May 2019. She was the president of the New South Wales Court of Appeal, the first woman to hold the of ...

had been an additional judge from 1994 to 1997, but Penfold was the first woman to be a resident judge. She retired in 2018.

Personal life

Penfold is married to Mark Cunliffe, and has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penfold, Hilary 1953 births Living people Australian public servants Judges of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory First Parliamentary Counsel Australian National University alumni People educated at Ascham School