Chief Justice Diana Bryant AO

The Honourable Diana Bryant AO was appointed Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia on 5 July 2004. Prior to her appointment, she was the Chief Federal Magistrate of the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia (now the Federal Circuit Court of Australia) from 2000-2004, having guided the emergence and growth of that court as the inaugural Chief Federal Magistrate. Before her appointment to the Bench, Chief Justice Bryant practised as a family lawyer with a national firm in Perth and spent ten years at the Victorian Bar, being appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1997. She has had a longstanding commitment to the advancement of women in the law and is currently the Patron of Australian Women Lawyers and a committee member of The Australian Association of Women Judges. She is also a Board member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) and President of the Australian Chapter of the AFCC. Chief Justice Bryant received a Centenary Medal in 2001 for her role in the establishment of the Federal Magistrates Court and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2011 for her distinguished service to the judiciary and to the law, particularly to family law policy reform and practice, through the establishment of the Federal Magistrates Court, and to the advancement of women in the legal profession.