In 1973, Kiefel joined a firm of solicitors as a legal clerk. Completing her education at night, she enrolled in the Barristers Admission Board course and passed her course with honours.[4]
In October 2001, Kiefel was appointed Deputy President of the Australian Federal Police Disciplinary Tribunal and became its president in April 2004. In 2003, Kiefel was appointed as a part-time commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission, and was re-appointed for a further three years in 2006.[4]
Appointment to the High Court
On 13 August 2007, Attorney-GeneralPhilip Ruddock announced Kiefel as the nominee to the High Court of Australia to replace the retiring High Court Justice Ian Callinan. Kiefel had previously been considered a favourite nominee to replace former High Court Justice Mary Gaudron when she retired in 2003,[8] and again in 2005 as replacement for Justice Michael McHugh.[9] Kiefel is the third female High Court Justice and the forty-sixth overall. Her appointment alongside incumbent Justice Susan Crennan marked the first time two women sat concurrently on the High Court bench.[10]
Kiefel's nomination was met with support from the Australian Bar Association amid criticism of the lack of consultation by the Australian government.[11] She was considered a conservative "black-letter" judge.[9] She may remain on the High Court until 2024, when she will reach the constitutionally mandatory retirement age of 70.[12]
Giving the inaugural Lord Atkin Lecture in November 2017, Kiefel expressed her disapproval of the prevalence of judicial dissent, which she believes should be reserved for only the most important cases. She said law students should devote more attention to "mundane majority opinion", and described judges who frequently dissent as "somewhat self-indulgent". She further observed that "humorous dissent may provide the author with fleeting popularity, but it may harm the image the public has of the court and its judges".[16] An article in May 2018 noted that Kiefel had dissented in only two out of 164 cases before the High Court since 2014, classing her as one of the court's "great assenters" along with Patrick Keane and Virginia Bell.[17]
In June 2020, Kiefel announced that the High Court had in 2019 commissioned an independent investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against her former colleague Dyson Heydon. The inquiry, led by Vivienne Thom, concluded that Heydon had sexually harassed six female associates. In a statement, Kiefel said that she had apologised to the women on behalf of the court and that it had adopted recommendations from the inquiry.[19]
She was one of three dissenters who held the minority view in a 4-3 split[20] in Love v Commonwealth (2020), which found that Aboriginal Australians are not subject to the aliens power in section 51(xix) of the constitution. She stated that the majority had confused property rights with citizenship rights, and said that "race is irrelevant to the questions of citizenship and membership of the Australian body politic".[21]
In general her judgments have been regarded as conservative, but ANU professor Heather Roberts commented that she was hard to label, and that she "values the court as an institution".[18]
Retirement
On 15 June 2023, at the end of a hearing, Kiefel announced her retirement as of 5 November 2023.[22] She gave her farewell address to the court on 16 October 2023. Her successor is Justice Stephen Gageler.[18]
Recognition and honours
In August 2009, Justice Kiefel was granted an honorary doctorate from Griffith University. Justice Kiefel was chosen to recognise her distinguished contributions to the legal profession and for leading the way for women in the industry.[23]
On 13 June 2011, she was named a companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service to the law and to the judiciary, to law reform and to legal education in the areas of ethics, justice and governance.[24][25]
Personal life
While at Wolfson College, Kiefel met her future husband, Michael Albrecht, a social anthropologist, when she became a member of the college rowing crew and Albrecht was her coach.[26]
^Marriner, Cosima (18 August 2007). "Straight-shooter jumps the bar". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
^ abPelly, Michael (14 August 2007). "Third time's a charm". The Australian. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
^"Biographies: Susan Kiefel". Women in the Law in Queensland. Supreme Court of Queensland. Archived from the original on 19 September 2006. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
