Iain James Kerr Ross is a retired Australia jurist who served as a judge of the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

from 1 March 2012 to 18 November 2022, as well as President of the Australian

Fair Work Commission The Fair Work Commission (FWC), until 2013 known as Fair Work Australia (FWA), is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the ''Fair Work Act 2009'' as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Australia ...

(formerly Fair Work Australia) during the same period. He previously served as a judge of the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court comprises ...

between 2009 and 2012. Ross was previously an assistant secretary of the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and la ...

, serving under

Bill Kelty William John Kelty, AC (born 5 February 1948) is an Australian trade unionist and a well-known figure in the Australian labour movement, who served as Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) from 1983 to 2000. Born in Brunswi ...

. In 1994 he was appointed a Vice President of the former

Australian Industrial Relations Commission The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), known from 1956 to 1973 as the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and from 1973 to 1988 as the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, was a tribunal with powers ...

, a role in which he served until 2006. In 2009, he was appointed a judge of the

, as well as the president of the

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) was formed by the ''Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act'' 1998 in the state of Victoria, Australia. As part of the Victorian Justice system the Tribunal sits 'below' the Magistrat ...

(VCAT) from 1 April 2010. He also served as a Commissioner of the

Victorian Law Reform Commission The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...

between 2003 and 2010. He has also served as Chair of the Council of Australasian Tribunals, inaugural Chair of the Mediator Standards Board, a Judge of the

County Court of Victoria The County Court of Victoria is the intermediate court in the Australian state of Victoria. It is equivalent to district courts in the other states. The County Court is the principal trial court in the state, having a broad criminal and civi ...

, partner of

Corrs Chambers Westgarth Founded in 1841, Corrs Chambers Westgarth (often referred to as ''Corrs'') is a leading, independent Australian commercial law firm. Its clients include national and international corporations, governments, banks and financial sponsors. The firm ...

and a Vice President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia on 13 June 2005 and elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia on 25 September 2019. Justice Ross succeeded

Geoffrey Giudice Geoffrey Michael Giudice (16 December 1947 – 18 November 2021) was a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1997 to 2012 and the president of Fair Work Australia from 2009 to 2012. Giudice studied at Xavier College, Melbourne before t ...

as President of Fair Work Australia in March 2012 (which was renamed to the Fair Work Commission in January 2013).

Early life

Ross emigrated from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

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 ...

when he was six months old. He attended

Caringbah High School , motto_translation = Diligence conquers all , established = , grades = 7- 12 , grades_label = Years , principal = Alan Maclean , students = , type ...

in Sydney. Ross then went on to graduate from the University of Sydney with a

Bachelor of Economics The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon), or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics; the ...

in 1981, a

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 ...

and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in 1983 and 1987 respectively, and a Doctor of Philosophy in law in 2001. His doctoral thesis was supervised by Professor

Ron McCallum Ronald Clive McCallum AO (born 8 October 1948) is an Australian legal academic. He is an expert in labour law, and has served as a professor and dean of law at the University of Sydney. He is the first totally blind person to be appointed to a f ...

. Ross also holds a Master of Business Administration from

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

Academic career

Since 1997, Ross has been a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Sydney, where he teaches units in its Master of Laws Program. In 2004, he was appointed an

Adjunct Professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...

in Law. For his services to law, the University of Sydney conferred upon Ross an Honorary

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL ...

s on 23 May 2014.

References

Living people Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria Year of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-law-bio-stub