Richard Michael Niall is an Australian jurist who has served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 3 February 2025. He previously served as a judge of the Court of Appeal of the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

from 28 November 2017 to 2 February 2025. On 17 December 2024, it was announced that Niall would be the next Chief Justice of Victoria. Niall attended

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. The ...

and then graduated with a

Bachelor of Economics A Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon)Bureau of Labor StatisticsHow to Become an Economist/ref> is an academic degree, awarded to students who have completed specialised undergraduate studies in economics. Variants include the "Bachelor of Econo ...

and a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(Hons) from the

Monash University Faculty of Law The Monash University Faculty of Law is the law school of Monash University. Founded in 1964, it is based in Melbourne, Victoria and has campuses in Malaysia and Italy. It is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in Australia and gl ...

in 1989. In 1995, he commenced practice as a barrister at the

Victorian Bar The Victorian Bar is the bar association of the Australian State of Victoria. The 2024-2025 President of the Bar is Justin Hannebery KC. Its members are barristers registered to practice in Victoria. Those who have been admitted to practice ...

, where he specialised in public law, revenue law, discrimination, employment and industrial law, and human rights law. He was appointed senior counsel in 2010. In 2015, he was appointed

Solicitor-General of Victoria The Solicitor-General of Victoria, known informally as the Solicitor-General, is the state's Second Law Officer and the deputy of the Attorney-General. The Solicitor-General acts alongside the Crown Advocate and Crown Solicitor, and serves as o ...

. He was a member of the legal team that advised the Victorian Labor government on the cancellation of the controversial East West Link project. Niall is the nephew of academic, biographer, and literary critic

Brenda Niall Brenda Mary Niall (born 25 November 1930) is an Australian biographer, literary critic and journalist. She is noted for her work on Australia's well-known Boyd family of artists and writers. Educated at Genazzano FCJ College, in Kew, Victoria, ...

AO FAHA and the cousin of sports journalist

Jake Niall Jake Niall is a sports journalist at '' Fox Sports Australia'' and ''ABC Radio Grandstand'' based in Melbourne, Australia. He specialises in covering the Australian Football League, and currently appears on '' AFL Tonight'' on Fox Sports News ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niall, Richard Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria Lawyers from Melbourne Monash Law School alumni