Jessie Street and Human Rights: Commemorating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

First Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, President of the Law Reform Commission of Australia, Member and Chair of the UN Commission on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Elizabeth Evatt was brought up in Sydney as a socialist, studying law at Sydney University (LLB) and Harvard (LLM). She then worked in London for almost twenty years, where she developed an interest in law reform. In 1973, she was invited by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam to return to Australia as Deputy President of the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, which became the Industrial Relations Commission. She headed the Royal Commission into Human Relations which was established to inquire into broad issues of human relationships in response to rapid social and technological changes. She became the first chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia when it was established in 1976. In 1995, Elizabeth was awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal, and she holds international respect as a Human Rights lawyer.