Judge was born in Cooma, New South Wales, and educated in her early years in both Canberra and New Delhi, India, where her father was posted as a diplomat associated with the Columbo Plan. She later returned to Canberra for her secondary schooling. From an early age Judge was an aspiring coloratura soprano, and won many awards in the Australian National Eisteddfod in Canberra. She obtained distinctions at 6th grade with the NSW Music Examinations Advisory Board in each of Speech and Drama, Pianoforte and Music Theory. Unfortunately, her intended career as an opera singer was cut short by vocal cord polyps. She received a Bachelor of Education from the Canberra College of Advanced Education and the Canberra School of Music. Judge taught in primary and secondary schools in both Sydney and Canberra. She also worked as a volunteer abroad for the Overseas Service Bureau in Tonga and as a project officer for small non-government organisation, The Australian Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific, now known as Action on Poverty, delivering items such as humidicribs, toilets and ovens to Pacific islands such as Nauru, the Solomon Islands and Fiji. After her work in Tonga, Judge returned to Sydney and resumed her teaching career, including at Evondale Special School for students with intellectual disabilities. She also studied law part-time at Macquarie University.
On 23 March 2003 Judge was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales as the first woman to represent the NSW seat of Strathfield. In May 2007, following the re-election of the Labor Government led by Morris Iemma, she was appointed Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Minister for Education & Training, Industrial Relations, and the Minister Assisting the Minister for Finance. In September 2008, when Nathan Rees became Premier, she was appointed Minister Assisting the Premier on the Arts, Minister for Citizenship, and Minister for Fair Trading. In the cabinet re-shuffle following Rees being replaced as Premier by Kristina Keneally, Judge retained the portfolio of Fair Trading, and became Minister for the Arts, the first woman to hold this portfolio in NSW. She held these portfolios until the ALP lost office at the 2011 election.
Post political career
In July 2011, Judge became Head of Strategic Partnerships at the Children's Medical Research Institute which is an independent medical research institute which commenced operations in 1958 as part of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children in Camperdown, Sydney. Judge left CMRI in late 2018 and then took up the position of Business Development Manager at the Heart Research Institute in Newtown, Sydney, where she currently works. In July 2015, Judge completed studies with, and was admitted as a Graduate of, the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has been a member of the and is an active and long time supporter of the and the . Since leaving politics, Judge has been very active in supporting the major cultural institutions in New South Wales. In 2013, she became a Board Member of the Riverside Theatres Parramatta and Board Member of Gallery 49 Marrickville. Judge has been a Vanguard Member of both the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Dance Company since 2011. She has been a Platinum Member and a member of the at the Art Gallery of New South Wales since 2018. Judge is actively involved in the activities of the Australian Museum where she was appointed a Trustee and Director of the Australian Museum Foundation in October 2016, and with the Royal Society of New South Wales where she was elected a Fellow in July 2017. She was shortly afterwards elected to the Council of the RSN. Judge is also a long time supporter of Jewish House, an independent not-for-profit organisation helping people in need with crisis intervention and prevention services and support.
