Annual Report 2016-17

15 Overview of the Commission The Honourable Justice Derek Price AM Chief Judge of the District Court of NSW — commenced 8 August 2014 Justice Price worked as a solicitor in Sydney and in Dubbo, becoming a partner with Peacocke, Dickens and King in 1974. In 1988, his Honour was appointed a magistrate of the Local Court of NSW. He was appointed an acting judge of the District Court of NSW in 1999 and this appointment became permanent in 2000. In 2002, his Honour was appointed Chief Magistrate of the Local Court of NSW during which time he served as a member of the Judicial Commission. In 2006, his Honour was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of NSW. His Honour has also been a member of the Governing Council of the Judicial Conference of Australia (1997–2000). His Honour was appointed the Chief Judge of the District Court of NSW and President of the Dust Diseases Tribunal of NSW on 8 August 2014 and remains a judge of the Supreme Court of NSW. His Honour became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2010. His Honour Judge Graeme Henson AM Chief Magistrate of the Local Court of NSW — commenced 28 August 2006 Judge Henson was called to the Bar in 1980 and served as Solicitor for Public Prosecutions in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) from 1986 to 1988. He was appointed a magistrate in 1988, Deputy Chief Magistrate in 1994, Chief Magistrate of the Local Court of NSW in 2006, and a judge of the District Court of NSW in 2010. Judge Henson is a Member of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of Australia. He is also a Member of the Advisory Committees, Faculty of Law, of the Australian Catholic University and the University of Wollongong. In 2017, Judge Henson became a Member of the Order of Australia. The Honourable Justice Michael Walton President of the Industrial Court and the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW — commenced 3 February 2014–7 December 2016 Justice Walton was called to the Bar in 1989 and appointed a judge and Vice-President of the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW in 1998. He was appointed President of the Industrial Court of NSW and the Industrial Relations Commission in 2014. His Honour has served as an executive member of the Governing Council of the Judicial Conference of Australia since 2002 and has been a member of the Executive Committee since 2006. Justice Walton is called upon regularly to speak on general law issues as well as industrial and employment law. He has published widely in legal and other publications. His Honour is presently a member of the editorial committee of the Australian Journal of Labour Law . His Honour was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of NSW on 8 December 2016. The Honourable Justice Brian Preston Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of NSW — commenced 14 November 2005 Justice Preston was called to the Bar in 1987, appointed Senior Counsel in 1999 and Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of NSW in 2005. He holds academic and editorial positions and has authored over 102 publications on environmental, administrative and criminal law. His Honour has also been involved in a number of international environmental law consultancies and capacity-building programs for the judiciaries in Indonesia, Kenya, China, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand and Sri Lanka. He is a member of numerous legal professional committees, Chair of the Standing Committee on Environmental Law of the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA) and member of the Technical Advisory Committee for the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) Environment Project on “Combating Crimes that have Serious Impacts on the Environment”. Chief Commissioner Peter Kite SC Industrial Relations Commission of NSW — commenced 1 May 2017 Chief Commissioner Kite was appointed Chief Commissioner on 3 April 2017. He is the first Chief Commissioner of the Industrial Relations Commission. He was previously Acting Deputy President and acting judge of the Commission, appointed between 2 December 2014 and 2 June 2015. Chief Commissioner Kite came to the Industrial Relations Commission after over 30 years as a barrister specialising in industrial law. He was appointed Senior Counsel in November 1996 and was the NSW Bar Association’s representative on the NSW Industrial Relations Advisory Council between November 2010 and December 2014. He also served as Chair of the Executive of the Federal Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section of the Law Council from October 2002 to October 2008. Between 2000 and 2014, Chief Commissioner Kite was also a Director of Camp Quality Limited, a national children’s cancer charity.