Mordy Bromberg


Mordecai "Mordy" Bromberg SC is an Australian judge who was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia in 2009. He was previously a senior barrister, and in his youth also played four seasons of Australian rules football for the St Kilda Football Club.

Early life

Bromberg was born in Israel in 1959 and arrived in Australia with his family in 1967, shortly before the Six-Day War. His father became a supermarket proprietor in Melbourne. He was educated at Brighton Road State School, Elsternwick State School and Elwood College.

Football

After playing junior football at Brighton East, Bromberg began playing for St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League under-19 competition. He made his senior debut in the first round of the 1978 VFL season, against Fitzroy. He played 12 games in his first year, but lost his spot in the team in 1979 and fell out with coach Mike Patterson. Bromberg played the rest of the season with the all-Jewish AJAX Football Club in the Victorian Amateur Football Association. He requested a clearance to Richmond at the end of 1979 but it was refused. Returning to St Kilda, he played 16 games in 1980 and four in 1981. He was released by the club at the end of the season after a career total of 34 VFL games. In 1982, he played one final season of football for Camberwell in the VFA.

Career

Bromberg combined his football career with law studies at Monash University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1988. Prior to the 2001 federal election, he unsuccessfully contested Australian Labor Party preselection for the Division of Burke. He was defeated by Brendan O'Connor, who went on to win the seat. Bromberg was appointed Senior Counsel in 2003 and was President of the Australian Institute of Employment Rights.
Bromberg's appointment to the Federal Court of Australia commenced on 7 December 2009. He presided in Eatock v Bolt in the Federal Court, in which columnist Andrew Bolt was found to be in breach of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.