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Lawyers Weekly
Queensland's first woman judge, Justice Margaret McMurdo, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The award was made in recognition of her…
Queensland's first woman judge, Justice Margaret McMurdo, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
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The award was made in recognition of her distinguished service and contribution to the community. Her relationship with QUT extends to 1991, when she became a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee, a post she maintains today.
Justice McMurdo graduated in law from the University of Queensland in 1975. When she joined the Queensland bar in 1976, only four of Queensland's 350 bar association members were women.
Her next career move was joining the Public Defender's Office, where she represented many Indigenous people in her role as Assistant Public Defender from 1978 to 1989.
Justice McMurdo became the first woman in Queensland to be appointed a judge - to the District Courts in January 1991.
From 1993 to 1998, she held a commission as a Children's Court judge and in 1998 was appointed President of the Court of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Queensland, marking another first for women in the Australian judiciary.
