Edvard William Alstergren (born 12 April 1962) commonly known as Will Alstergren, is an Australian jurist who has held the positions of Chief Justice of the

Family Court of Australia The Family Court of Australia was a superior Australian federal court of record which deals with family law matters, such as divorce applications, parenting disputes, and the division of property when a couple separate. Together with the Fed ...

since 10 December 2018, and Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia since 13 October 2017. Alstergren attended

Geelong Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"( 1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ...

Scotch College, Melbourne (For God, for Country, and for Learning) , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Presbyterian , slogan = , ...

and

Melbourne Grammar School (Pray and Work) , established = 1849 (on present site since 1858 - the celebrated date of foundation) , type = Independent, co-educational primary, single-sex boys secondary, day and boarding , denomination ...

.https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6531709960789852160 He graduated with

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 yea ...

and 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 Ch ...

degrees from 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 ...

in 1991, where he resided at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

and 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 mo ...

in 2010. He commenced practising as a barrister 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 metro ...

in 1991, specialising in commercial law, tax law, industrial law and family law, and was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 2012. In 2013 he was Chairman of the Victorian Bar Association, and in 2017 was the Chairman 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. ...

. On 13 October 2017, Alstergren was appointed as the Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, replacing John Pascoe (who was appointed as Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia). Alstergren was given a concurrent commission as a Justice of the Family Court of Australia. When Pascoe reached the statutory retirement age from the Family Court a year later, Alstergren was appointed to succeed him as Chief Justice of the Family Court, effective from 10 December 2018. He retained his appointment as Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court amongst a Government plan to merge both courts. Robert McClelland was appointed as Deputy Chief Justice at the same time.

Bobsleigh career

Alstergren was the captain of the Australian bobsled team in 2002. His team met the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

qualifying standards for the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internationa ...

, but the

Australian Olympic Committee 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 ...

used higher standards and did not send them to compete. Alstergren said "We also beat half the teams currently in Salt Lake City, but unfortunately we couldn't meet the very high standard of the AOC".

Honours

In 2022, Alstergren was appointed as 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 Go ...

for "distinguished service to the judiciary and to the law, and to sport as an administrator, coach and athlete".

References

Living people Judges of the Family Court of Australia Judges of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia 21st-century Australian judges 1962 births Australian King's Counsel Australian male bobsledders Officers of the Order of Australia People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) {{Australia-law-bio-stub