2025 Seabrook Chambers Public Lecture - 27.03.25
Honourable Justice Lincoln Crowley of the Supreme Court of QLD breaks down the challenges facing judiciary independence and the administration of justice in Australia.
Event Details
Courting danger: Threats to judicial independence, authority and the administration of justice in Australia
Australians rely on, and trust in, the impartiality and independence of our judiciary system. But we should not take this for granted.
Across the world, new threats to judicial independence are emerging. Ever-evolving technology, social media, fake news, artificial intelligence and resurgent political populism are posing new challenges.
Public confidence in Australia’s judiciary is high but this confidence needs protecting. Our faith in the courts and judicial system remain essential for the administration of justice and the rule of law. Australia is not immune to judicial controversies weakening public trust across our other democratic societies.
In this lecture, the Honourable Justice Lincoln Crowley of the Supreme Court of Queensland will break down the challenges facing judiciary independence and the administration of justice in Australia, and what can be done to counter these threats.
About the speaker
The Honourable Justice Lincoln Crowley holds a Bachelor of Laws from James Cook University, a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Queensland University of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Political Science, from the University of New England.
He was admitted to practice in Queensland in 1997. His first role after admission was as a solicitor with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, initially in Townsville and then later in Brisbane. After several years he moved to New South Wales, where he worked as a senior solicitor within the New South Wales Crown Solicitor’s Office, and later was called to the Sydney private bar. There he practised in both civil and criminal fields before returning to the public sector as in-house Counsel with the Sydney office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
After several years in that role his Honour returned to Queensland to take up a position as a Principal Crown Prosecutor for the Queensland Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, before finally settling into practise at the Queensland private bar, where he specialised in crime and all areas of public law for many years. In 2018, his Honour became the first Indigenous person appointed as Queen’s Counsel in and for the State of Queensland.
On 13 June 2022, Justice Crowley was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland, becoming the first Indigenous judge appointed to a superior court in Australia.