Roma Mitchell


Dame Roma Flinders Mitchell, was an Australian lawyer, judge and state governor. Mitchell was the first woman to hold a number of positions in Australia – she was the country's first woman judge, and the first woman to be a Queen's Counsel, a chancellor of an Australian university and the Governor of an Australian state.
Mitchell was considered to be a pioneer of the Australian women's rights movement. Her grandfather, Samuel James Mitchell, was the first Chief Justice of the Northern Territory.

Early life and education

Roma Mitchell was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 2 October 1913, the second daughter and youngest child of Harold and Maude Mitchell. She was an alumna of St Aloysius Convent College, Adelaide and the University of Adelaide.

Career

Mitchell was admitted as a barrister in 1935. In 1962 she was appointed a Queen's Counsel. As well as a practicing barrister, Mitchell was a lecturer in Family law at the University of Adelaide and Margaret Nyland was one of her students, with Mitchell becoming a mentor to Nyland. Mitchell was made a Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia in 1965. She was still the only female judge in South Australia when she retired 18 years later in 1983 although Justices Elizabeth Evatt and Mary Gaudron had been appointed to federal courts by the Whitlam Government. It was not until 1993 that the second woman was appointed to the court, Mitchell's former student Margaret Nyland.
Mitchell was Governor of South Australia from 1991 to 1996, Chancellor of the University of Adelaide from 1983 to 1990 and was a member of the Council for the Order of Australia from 1981 to 1990.

Honours

Mitchell was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 12 June 1971. She was raised to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 12 June 1982.
On 26 January 1991, Mitchell was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honour, for services to the law, to learning, and to the community. She was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on 1 January 2000. Mitchell received her honour directly from The Queen of Australia in a private investiture.
Roma Mitchell Secondary College in northern Adelaide was named for Dame Roma. One of the Bay class patrol boats operated by the Australian Customs is named ACV Dame Roma Mitchell.