User:Rebecca/Drafts/Elizabeth Curtain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elizabeth Helen Curtain, born in 19XX, is an Australian judge. She has been a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 2006. She was previously a Judge of the County Court of Victoria from 1993 to 2006.

Curtain grew up in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. She studied at Loreto Mandeville Hall and went on to read law at Melbourne University, graduating in 1976. After doing her articled clerkship with the firm of Cole & O'Heare, she initially practised as a solicitor, then went to the bar in 19XX. She worked as a barrister for nearly nine years, maintaining a general criminal, civil and family practice.

She was appointed to the Motor Accidents Tribunal in 1984, and the following year became an inaugural member of the Victorian Administrative Appeals Tribunal (later merged into the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal). She served two years in that role, while still working as a barrister, until her appointment as a Prosecutor for the Queen in 1987.

As only the second woman judge in Victoria, Curtain was appointed in November 1993 to the County Court, where she dealt largely with criminal trials. She was actively involved in the legal community through this period, serving on the Executive and Governing Council of the Australian Judicial Conference and as alternative chairwoman of the Youth Parole Board. She has assisted with advocacy training courses in Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea. A keen racegoer, she has also served as deputy chairwoman of the Victorian Racing Appeals Tribunal. Curtain is also involved in the broader community, becoming a director of Jesuit Social Services Limited in 2000, and serving on the school council of Loreto Mandeville Hall from 2000 to 2002. A devoted supporter of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League, she served for a time on the club's women network.

After nearly thirteen years on the County Court bench, Curtain was appointed by State Attorney-General Rob Hulls as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria on October 3, 2006. Hulls commented at the time of the appointment that Curtain's "extensive experience handling criminal trials [would] greatly benefit the Supreme Court as it hears an increasing number of major criminal trials." Curtain remains, as of 2007, the most recent appointee to the Supreme Court bench.