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Ceremonial Farewell to Justice Garry Foster as Judge of the Family Court of Australia

Speech delivered via online by Dr Jacoba Brasch QC, Law Council of Australia President, at the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Parramatta Registry, 8 December 2021.


"May it please the Court.

I too acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we all meet, and pay my respects to their Elders: past, present and emerging. It is a privilege to come before the Court on behalf of the Law Council of Australia and the 90,000 Australian lawyers we represent, to render thanks to Your Honour for your service to this Bench and this country, over a formidable career of almost half a century in the law. It is also a personal pleasure to speak today, as I warmly remember doing a CLE program alongside Your Honour in Tasmania some years ago, and more recently some AIFLAM arbitration work.

Your Honour has made a mammoth contribution to family law in Australia. You spent 27 years as a solicitor from the time of your admission in 1974, including 10 years as an accredited specialist.

For decades, you practised at Kogarah with T.C. Redmond & Foster, later Redmond Foster & McIntyre. The first namesake of the firm, Mr. T.C. Redmond, was Your Honour’s maternal grandfather, and your master solicitor. Your time as a solicitor at the firm was as much a demonstration of family commitment as it was an accumulation of extraordinary experience and accomplishment in family law.

As a solicitor, Your Honour served as President of the New South Wales Young Lawyers, a suburban councillor for the Law Society of New South Wales, and President of the St George-Sutherland Law Society. At the Law Society, you were a prime mover for the importance of mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE). It was just one of the projects spearheaded by an outspoken and remarkably well-organised Committee, turned formal Section, of Young Lawyers."

You can read the full speech below.

Last Updated on 10/12/2021

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