Sally Gordon Thomas (born 7 August 1939) is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, serving from 1992 to 2009. She was appointed to the Court on 10 August 1992 and was the first woman to be appointed a Judge of the Court. She was sworn in as the first female

Administrator of the Northern Territory The Administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the Governor-General of Australia to represent the government of the Commonwealth in the Northern Territory, Australia. They perform functions similar to those of a state gov ...

in October 2011. One of her first engagements in the role was to welcome

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

, to Darwin during his visit in November 2011.

Early life

Thomas was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, England on 7 August 1939, to Geoffrey A and Mary G Thomas. Her family relocated to Sydney, New South Wales in 1947. She attended

Hornsby Girls' High School Hornsby Girls' High School is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for girls, located in Hornsby, a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1930, the school' ...

and eventually commenced work as a solicitor in New South Wales in 1963.

Magistrate and beyond

Thomas and her husband Ted Rowe relocated to Darwin in 1978 after she was appointed as a

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

. She was appointed Chief Magistrate in 1986 and held that position until she was appointed to the Supreme Court bench in 1992. Thomas retired on 6 August 2009. She was President of the Australian Stipendiary Magistrates Association from 1988 to 1990. She has a strong interest in the tertiary education of Territorians and was Deputy Chairman of the Northern Territory College of

Queensland University , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = Br ...

and then a Member of the then Northern Territory University Council from 1989 to 2003. In 2003 the Northern Territory University changed its name and became part of the expanded

Charles Darwin University Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with a main campus in Darwin and eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Territory University ...

. She was appointed to the Council of Charles Darwin University and elected Deputy Chancellor, and she was appointed Chancellor of the University on 1 January 2010. Upon the completion of her second term as Chancellor, she announced

Neil Balnaves Neil Richard Balnaves (5 May 1944 – 21 February 2022) was an Australian media executive and arts philanthropist. His production companies were responsible for bringing '' Big Brother'' and '' Bananas in Pyjamas'' to Australian television scr ...

would succeed her as Chancellor of the University. Her career has not been limited to the judicial system, she was Chair of the

Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

from 1990 to 1996, Chair of the Northern Territory Winston Churchill Fellowship Committee from 1992 to 2004 and in 2004 she was appointed Deputy National Chair Fellowship, of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. In June 2000 she was appointed a Member 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 Gov ...

for her service to the community, particularly through the Northern Territory Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship Committee, to tertiary education, and to the law. She continues to hold an interest in these fields.

Honours

On 12 June 2000, Thomas was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Order (distinction), honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of Australia, Queen of Aus ...

for service to the community, particularly through the Northern Territory Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship Committee, to tertiary education, and to the law. On 26 January 2014, Thomas was named a

Companion 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 Gove ...

for eminent service to the people of the Northern Territory, particularly to the judiciary and social justice, to the advancement of women in the legal profession, to youth, and to the promotion and development of tertiary education.- She was nominated Senior Australian of the Year in 2010 for her achievements in her legal career.

Other interests

Thomas is Patron of a number of organizations. She has been a Member of the Council of the

since 1989 and has been the Northern Territory Chair of the

Winston Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

since 1992. She was also Chair of the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission from 1990 to 1996 and was an Honorary Colonel in the Northern Territory Cadet Corp of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

from 1993 – 1997. She was also an advisor to the Family Law Council.

Administrator of the Northern Territory

It was announced on 6 October 2011 that Sally Thomas would be appointed the 20th

, as well as the first female in that role. She was sworn into this position on 31 October 2011 at

Parliament House, Darwin Parliament House in Darwin is Australia's newest Parliament Building. It has been the seat of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly since 1994. Parliament House is located on State Square in the centre of Darwin, which is also the administr ...

by the Governor-General of Australia, Ms Quentin Bryce AC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Sally 1939 births Living people Administrators of the Northern Territory Judges of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory Australian women judges Australian solicitors Companions of the Order of Australia English emigrants to Australia People from Darwin, Northern Territory People from Sydney