Simon Harry Peter Steward (born 9 January 1969) is an Australian judge and former

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

currently serving as a

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

of the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

. He was previously 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 2018 until his appointment to the High Court.

Education

Steward grew up in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, attending Sacred Heart School in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

before going on to

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. Th ...

. He graduated from the

Melbourne Law School Melbourne Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of Melbourne. Located in Carlton, Victoria, Melbourne Law School is Australia's oldest law school, and offers J.D., LL.M, Ph.D, and LL.D degrees. In 2021-22, THE ...

in 1991 with first-class honours. He later completed a

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 ...

degree in 2000 with a thesis on the constitutional limitation of taxation powers.

Professional career

After graduating, Steward joined

Mallesons Stephen Jaques King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is the largest global law firm in Asia. It has 30 offices and more than 3,500 legal professionals in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. Its predecessor firms include ''SJ Berwin'' of the United Kingdom's ...

(now

King & Wood Mallesons King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is the largest global law firm in Asia. It has 30 offices and more than 3,500 legal professionals in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. Its predecessor firms include '' SJ Berwin'' of the United Kingdom's ...

) as a solicitor within its tax division. He was called to 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 ...

in 1999, specialising in revenue law, and was appointed

Senior Counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdicti ...

(SC) in 2009, later converting to

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 ...

(QC). He also taught at the Melbourne Law School as a senior fellow. Steward was president of the Victorian Tax Bar Association from 2013 to 2014.

Judicial career

Steward was appointed to the

on 1 February 2018. On 28 October 2020, Prime Minister

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...

and Attorney-General

Christian Porter Charles Christian Porter (born 11 July 1970) is an Australian former politician and lawyer who served as the 37th Attorney-General of Australia from 2017 to 2021 in the Turnbull government and the subsequent Morrison government. He was a Mem ...

announced that Steward and

Jacqueline Gleeson Jacqueline Sarah Gleeson (born 7 March 1966) is an Australian judge. She has been a Justice of the High Court of Australia since 1 March 2021, and was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, based in Sydney, from April 2014 to February 2021. ...

would be appointed to the

to fill the vacancies caused by upcoming retirements of

Geoffrey Nettle Geoffrey Arthur Akeroyd Nettle (born 2 December 1950) is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy, who served from 3 February 2015 to 30 November 2020. Prior to his appointment to the ...

and Virginia Bell. His term began on 1 December 2020 following the compulsory retirement of Nettle. Although described as a "little-known tax expert", the ''

Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

'' reported that he enjoyed the backing of Victorian conservatives supportive of his

black-letter Blackletter (sometimes black letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norweg ...

approach to jurisprudence. He was reportedly endorsed by the

Samuel Griffith Society The Samuel Griffith Society was founded in 1992 by a group led by former Chief Justice of Australia Sir Harry Gibbs, former Senator John Stone, businessman Hugh Morgan and legal academic Greg Craven. Named after Sir Samuel Griffith, one of th ...

Personal life

Steward met his wife Anne on a fine art course. The couple have two children. According to ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'', Steward has a "reputed love for all things British"; he placed a bust of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

in his chambers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steward, Simon Living people Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Australian barristers Melbourne Law School alumni 1969 births Australian King's Counsel People educated at Xavier College

Education

Professional career

Judicial career

Personal life

See also

References