Austin was a judge of the equity division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 1998 until March 2010. Prior to that, Austin was a partner with Minter Ellison's corporate group in Sydney between 1990 and 1998.

Within two months of rejoining Minter Ellison, Austin became a key force behind the firm's launch of a new practice group, the corporate HQ advisory team, and was appointed as its leader.

Austin heads a team of approximately 15 partners and six other senior lawyers, advising the corporate headquarters of ASX listed companies on boardroom, management and shareholder relations, plus all Corporations Act and ASX Listing Rules issues.

The Challis lecturer in corporate law and adjunct professor at the University of Sydney, Austin is also the co-author of Ford's Principles of Corporations Law.

Austin was also a member of the Takeovers Panel from 2001 to 2008 and served on the board of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority in 1998.

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