Lorraine Anne Walker is the Chief Magistrate of the Australian Capital Territory and was an Acting Judge of Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. She was sworn in as a Magistrate on 19 July 2010 and as Chief Magistrate on 13 October 2011. On 1 August 2019, Walker was appointed an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court for 12 months to establish the Territory's Drug and Alcohol Court. She is the first woman to be appointed Chief Magistrate.

Early life

Walker was born in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. She travelled between the

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

as a child. She studied at 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 ...

Career

After graduating, Walker enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

as a legal officer. She then worked in the

as a prosecutor and defence lawyer. In 1996, Walker returned to

and worked as a partner at Barker Gosling. She then became a barrister in 2000 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 township#Aust ...

. Walker has served on the board of the ACT Law Society, the ACT Bar Association and the Canberra Institute of Technology. She has also tutored 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 an ...

. In 2010, she was appointed to the

Magistrates Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cou ...

. In 2011, she was appointed Chief Magistrate. By virtue of her appointment as Chief Magistrate, she is also the Chief Coroner of the Australian Capital Territory.''Coroners Act 1997'' (ACT)
(PDF). In 2019, Walker was appointed to the Supreme Court as an Acting Judge to establish the Territory's Drug and Alcohol Court. As her appointment as an Acting Judge was only for one year, and she continued to formally hold the role of Chief Magistrate. Magistrate Glenn Theakston was appointed as Acting Chief Magistrate during her appointment to the Supreme Court.

Personal life

She has four children and a partner. Her youngest son, Callum, regularly sits on the rugby bench.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Lorraine Magistrates of the Magistrates Court of the Australian Capital Territory Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian magistrates Judges of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory