Patrons of the Institute

Sir William Deane AC

William Deane was born in Melbourne in 1931, and received a Catholic education in Canberra and Sydney. He then commenced tertiary study at the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Laws (LLB), before going on to postgraduate study at Trinity College, Dublin and the Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands, graduating summa cum laude with a Diploma in International Law from the latter.

After brief employment as a solicitor at a leading Sydney firm, he was called to the New South Wales Bar in 1957, and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1966. He was first appointed to judicial office as a Judge in Equity of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 1977, and later served as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia and President of the Australian Trade Practices Tribunal.

Sir William was elevated to the bench of the High Court of Australia by the Fraser Government in 1982. In that year he was also made a Knight of the British Empire, and in 1988 was made a Companion of the Order of Australia.

He has been described as a leading member of the High Court under Sir Anthony Mason's chief justiceship. In his long and distinguished judicial career, Sir William delivered many important and still-quoted judgments across the diverse range of areas of the law which comprise the High Court's responsibility. Perhaps none was more notable than the compassionate, well-reasoned and much-respected joint judgment that he co-authored with Justice Mary Gaudron in the Mabo case, in which their Honours described the dispossession of indigenous peoples as 'the darkest aspect of the history of this nation'.

Sir William stepped down from the High Court bench in 1995 to serve as the Commonwealth of Australia's 22nd Governor-General. As Governor-General, he not only ably fulfilled his constitutional functions as"the Queen's Australian representative, but arguably transformed the office like no other before him, believing firmly that in the discharge of his duties he should attempt to unite the nation and give expression to its essential values. Sir William's tenure as Governor-General, which continued until his retirement in June 2001, will be especially remembered for his passionate advocacy on behalf of marginalised groups in Australian society, his ceaseless endeavours in furtherance of the cause of reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, and his and Lady Deane's unstinting commitment to a vast array of charitable institutions, a support that continues to this day.

Sir Gerard Brennan AC KBE

Gerard Brennan was born in Rockhampton, Queensland on 22 May 1928. He is an Australian lawyer, judge, the 10th Chief Justice of Australia and father to Jesuit priest and lawyer, Frank Brennan.

He was educated in Queensland and in 1951, was admitted to the Queensland Bar. Sir Gerard was appointed a QC in Queensland in 1965 and subsequently in New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Although his practice was based in Brisbane, he was senior counsel for the Alliance Party in Lord Denning's arbitration in Fiji Sugar Industry in 1969; in 1972, senior prosecutor in the long-running trial for the murder of the District Commissioner in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea; and, in 1974, senior counsel for the Northern land Council in the Woodward Commission into Aboriginal land Rights in the Northern Territory.

He was President of the Bar Association of Queensland from 1974 - 1976 and of tile Australian Bar Association from 1975 - 1976 and a member of the Executive of the Law Council of Australia from 1974 - 1976. ln 1975 he was a part-time member of the Australian Law Reform Commission, retiring in 1977.

He was the first President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in 1976, at which time he also served as a Judge of the Australian Industrial Court and an additional Judge of the Supreme Courts of the Australian Capital Territory and of the Northern Territory.

In 1977 he became a foundation judge of the Federal Court of Australia. He became a Justice of the High Court in 1981, and was appointed Chief Justice in 1995, retiring in 1998.

Sir Gerard has variously been Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (2000), and External Judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji (1999 - 2000), Chancellor of the University of Technology, Sydney (1999 - 2005) and Foundation Scientia Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales (1998). He has been an Honorary Visiting Professor of Law at UNSW.

Sir Gerard was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1981, and a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1988. He has been awarded honorary degrees by the University of Melbourne (Han l lD), University of Technology, Sydney (Hon llD), University of Queensland (Han llD), Griffith University (Hon Duniv), Central Queensland University (Hon Dlitt) and Trinity College, Dublin (Han llD).