President
& Commissioners
President, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC)
The Hon. John von Doussa QC
The Hon. John von Doussa was appointed President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) on 1 May 2003 for a five year term.
At the time of his appointment he was a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia, an appointment he had held since 1988. He was also the President of the Australia Competition Tribunal, a Presidential Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and an Additional Judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. From 1992 until shortly before his appointment he was also a part-time Commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission. From 1986 to 1988 he was a Judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia.
Before his appointment as a Judge he was a Queens Counsel practicing mainly in South Australia, and had served terms as the President of the Law Society of South Australia, and Vice-President of the Law Council of Australia.
In 1996 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the University of South Australia in recognition of his close involvement in the organisation and provision of practical legal training for newly qualified graduates in law in South Australia.
Since 1997 he has been a member of the Court of Appeal of Vanuatu and has been a non-resident member of the Supreme Court of Fiji since 2003.
Mr von Doussa was appointed Chancellor of the University of Adelaide. He assumed the role on 26 July 2004.
In July 2007 he was appointed a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.
Mr von Doussa presently represents HREOC as a member of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions based in Geneva, and is Chair of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions.
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Last updated January 11, 2008
