Michael Laurence Barker is a former Australian judge who served as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 9 February 2009 to 11 February 2019. He previously served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and as President of the Western Australian State Administrative Tribunal. Barker studied at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

and was admitted to practice in 1973. He practiced in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

for several years, before undertaking postgraduate study at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He returned to Australia in 1981, and was a member of the faculty of law 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 Canberra from 1981 to 1985. Barker returned to practice in Perth in 1986. While a practicing barrister, he served a term as counsel assisting the

WA Inc Royal Commission WA Inc was a political scandal in Western Australia. In the 1980s, the state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Lau ...

in 1991-1992, and spent four years as Chairman of the Western Australian Town Planning Appeals Tribunal from 1990 to 1994. He was appointed as a Queens Counsel in 1996. Barker was appointed to the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 2002, replacing retired judge Henry Wallwork, and was further appointed to head the State Administrative Tribunal in 2004. He was appointed to the Federal Court in February 2009, following the appointment of veteran Perth-based judge

Robert French Robert Shenton French (born 19 March 1947) is an Australian lawyer and judge who served as the twelfth Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 2008 to 2017. He has been the chancellor of the University of Western Australia since 2017. Fren ...

as Chief Justice of the High Court. Barker retired as a judge of the Federal Court on 10 February 2019. He is now an associate member of Murray Chambers, Barristers, Perth, Western Australia and acts as a mediator and consultant. He is now also the writer and editor of Fremantle Shipping News.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Michael Australian King's Counsel Living people Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Judges of the Supreme Court of Western Australia Year of birth missing (living people)