Australian Judicial Biography: Past, Present and Future

This article posits that biographical writing on High Court judges generates insights that may otherwise be overlooked in explorations of national history and politics. Firstly, the article addresses the relative scarcity of such biographies in Australia. It then explores themes common to the existing works and the ways in which they are evoked. The article canvasses some possibilities inherent in judicial biography, expanding briefly on the themes of national and gender identity, before surveying some of the minor controversies of the genre, including the question of who is best qualified to write it. The discussion concludes with the suggestion that the development of this genre would provide nuanced material for legal scholars, historians and political scientists alike.