Sally Thomas

Sally Gordon Thomas AM (7 Aug 1939 - ) is a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. She was appointed to the Court on 10 August 1992 and is the first and only female to be appointed as a Judge of the Court.

Early life

Justice Thomas was born in Cambridge, England on August 7, 1939, to Geoffrey A and Mary G Thomas.Her family relocated to Sydney, New South Wales in 1947. She attended Hornsby Girls' High Schoolcite encyclopedia| editor = Suzannah Pearce| encyclopedia = Who's Who in Australia Live!| title = THOMAS Sally Gordon, Hon. Justice| accessdate = 2007-10-06| date = 2006-11-17| year = 2007| publisher = Crown Content Pty Ltd| location = North Melbourne, Vic] and eventually commenced work as a solicitor in New South Wales in 1963.

Magistrate and beyond

Justice Thomas and her husband Ted Rowe relocated to Darwin in 1978 after she was appointed as a Magistrate. She was appointed Chief Magistrate in 1986 and held that position until she was appointed to the Supreme Court bench in 1992.

She was President of the Australian Stipendiary Magistrates Association from 1988 - 1990.

Other interests

Justice Thomas is Patron of a number of organisations. She has been a Member of the Council of the Charles Darwin University since 1989 and has been the Northern Territory Chair of the Winston Churchill Fellowship since 1992. She was also Chair of the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission from 1990 - 1996 and was an Honorary Colonel in the Northern Territory Cadet Corp of the Australian Army from 1993 - 1997. She was also an advisor to the Family Law Council.

References