Margaret Joan Beazley, , (born 23 July 1951) is an Australian jurist who is the 39th and current governor of New South Wales, serving since 2 May 2019. She was the president of the

New South Wales Court of Appeal The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for civil matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian state of New South Wales. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeal operates pursu ...

, the first woman to hold the office, from 2013 until February 2019.

Biography

Early life

Beazley was born and grew up in , Sydney, NSW, one of five children to Gordon and Lorna Beazley; her father worked as a milkman. She was educated at Catholic schools – St Declan's Primary School in

Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, within the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The village is situ ...

, St Joseph's Girls High School in

Kogarah Kogarah () is a suburb of Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George, New South ...

, and Mount Saint Joseph, Milperra. Beazley graduated from the

Sydney Law School Sydney Law School (informally Sydney Law or SLS) is the law school at the University of Sydney, Australia's oldest university. Sydney Law School began a full program of legal instruction in 1890 following the appointment of its first dean, havin ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

in 1974 in law, with honours.

Legal career

Beazley served her articles of clerkship with Winter & Sharp, and was admitted to the

New South Wales Bar The New South Wales Bar Association is a professional body of lawyers responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The body administers the bar examination in accordance with the Legal Prof ...

in 1975. She was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1989. Beazley was a Judicial Member of the Equal Opportunity Tribunal from 1984 to 1988. She was an Acting District Court Judge from 1990 to 1991. From 1991 to 1992, Beazley served as Assistant Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. She was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1993 to 1996, an additional Judge of the

Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory The Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory is the highest court of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters and hears the most serious criminal matters. The court ha ...

from 1994 to 1997, and a judge of the Industrial Relations Court of Australia from 1994 to 1996.Who's Who in Australia From 1996 to 2019, she was a Judge of Appeal of the

. She was President of the court, the first woman to hold the office, from 2013 until February 2019. Beazley has also served on the Australian Executive of Amnesty International (1980).

Governor of New South Wales

In January 2019, Beazley accepted the position of 39th Governor of New South Wales, succeeding

David Hurley General David John Hurley, (born 26 August 1953) is an Australian former senior officer in the Australian Army who has served as the 27th governor-general of Australia since 1 July 2019. He was previously the 38th governor of New South Wales, ...

, and was sworn in as governor on 2 May 2019. In 2020, she was promoted to

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for eminent service to the people of New South Wales, particularly through leadership roles in the judiciary, and as a mentor of young women lawyers. In November 2021, it was reported that a member of the governor's staff had anonymously lodged whistleblower complaints about bullying with the Department of Premier and Cabinet, which provides staff for the governor's office. Following an investigation, the Departmentwhile not referring to a decisionthanked the complainant and promised measures to foster a "respectful" workplace culture in the office.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles

The Governor's style and title in full is: ''Her Excellency The Honourable Margaret Beazley, Companion of the Order of Australia, King's Counsel, Governor of the State of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia.''

Honours and awards

Honorary appointments

* 2019: Honorary Colonel of the Royal New South Wales Regiment. * 2019: Governor of the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

. * 2019: Deputy Prior of the Order of St John. * Naval Ensign of Australia

2019: Honorary

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

. *

Ensign_of_the_Royal_Australian_Air_Force

2019: Honorary Air Commodore of No. 22 Squadron

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

Honorary degrees

* 2008: Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) by the

. * 2019: Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) by the Australian Catholic University. * 2022: Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) by

The University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of me ...

Personal life

Beazley is married to Dennis Wilson. She has three adult children from her first marriage to barrister Alan Sullivan. She and Sullivan were reportedly "the first husband and wife from the private legal profession to become QCs".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beazley, Margaret 1951 births Living people Governors of New South Wales Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Australian King's Counsel Australian women judges Presidents of the NSW Court of Appeal Companions of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian judges 21st-century Australian judges Judges of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory Judges of the Industrial Relations Court of Australia Judges of the District Court of NSW 20th-century women judges 21st-century women judges 20th-century Australian women