Sandy Street

Alexander "Sandy" Whistler Street, is an Australian federal judge and a naval commander. His father Colonel Sir Laurence Whistler Street, grandfather Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Kenneth Whistler Street, and great-grandfather Sir Philip Whistler Street each served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and as Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales.

Background

Alexander Street was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. His mother, Susan Gai (née Watt) Street, formerly Lady Street, was the first female chair of the Eastern Sydney Health Service. His grandmother, Lady "Red Jessie" Street, was Australia's first female delegate to the United Nations, and the first Vice President of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. He descends from Australian politician Commandant William Lawson, and Australian politician John Street, and Australian politician John Watt, and Australian politician George Holden, and Australian politician Edward Ogilvie.

His sister, Sylvia Emmett (née Street), is a former federal judge and a naval commander. His brother-in-law, Australian federal judge Arthur Emmett, is the Challis Lecturer in Roman Law at Sydney Law School. His other siblings by his father’s first marriage are Kenneth Street, a businessman, and Sarah Farley (née Street), a businesswoman. His half-sister by his father's second marriage to Penelope (née Ferguson), Lady Street, is Jessie Street, a lawyer. He has four children: Charles Street, a barrister; Jack Street, a lawyer; Lucy Street and Heidi Street.

Career

On 1 January 2015, Street was appointed to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, now the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, by the Attorney-General George Brandis.

Criticism

In 2015, one of Street's rulings was overturned by the full Federal Court on appeal after he dismissed a cerebral palsy sufferer's claim of discrimination and pursuit of damages against Virgin Australia for refusing to allow his guide dog on a flight.

In late 2015, statistics were filed in court which revealed Street had heard 254 migration appeals between January and June 2015, and had found in favour of the immigration minister in 252 cases (99.21% of cases). In that same period, Street disposed of 286 cases while his eight judicial colleagues disposed of a combined 357 cases. Street was accused of lacking procedural fairness and over 80 of his rulings were subsequently overturned in five years. Similarly, many of his judgements were delivered ''ex tempore'' (literally, “on the spot”) without taking further time to consider cases more deeply.

In a case report from September 2018, he was found by the full Federal Court to have dismissed an Afghan asylum seeker's case without sufficient reasoning. In another case report from 2019, after an ''ex tempore'' decision, he took 75 days to provide written reasoning for his dismissal of an Iranian asylum seeker's application to review a visa rejection, when the litigant had only 21 days to appeal. The case was later ordered for retrial by a different judge due to procedural unfairness.

In 2022, Street was criticised for displaying bias in a bankruptcy dispute.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Street, Sandy
Australian Senior Counsel
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
21st-century Australian judges
Sandy
Judges of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia