The Brief:
Ruth Higgins SC has been appointed Australia's first female solicitor-general, starting 8 June.
The NSW Bar Association past president succeeds Stephen Donaghue KC, who departed for the Victorian Supreme Court bench in December.
Ruth Higgins SC is heading to Canberra.
The Albanese government has appointed the veteran Sydney barrister as Australia's 12th solicitor-general, making her the first woman to hold the role.
The announcement, made on Easter Monday by Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, is a notable one: for the first time, women occupy both the first and second law officer positions of the Commonwealth.
There's also a shared origin story. Both Higgins and Rowland are Gilbert + Tobin alumni who cut their teeth in competition law at the firm. Higgins was at G+T from 2002 to 2006 before heading to the Bar. Rowland was there from 2000 to 2010.
Higgins brings more than three decades of legal experience, with a practice spanning competition law, constitutional law, class actions, energy, media and corporations law.
Her recent CV reads like a highlight reel of Australia's biggest legal moments.
She represented ASIC in its landmark case against Star Entertainment’s former directors, appeared for Commonwealth Bank during the Hayne Banking Royal Commission, and was part of the legal team that persuaded the High Court to invalidate indefinite immigration detention in the NZYQ case. She’s been senior counsel since 2017.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said Higgins’ “experience, ability and acumen will see the Commonwealth well represented in significant legal matters, and I have every confidence in her ability to undertake this important work.”
Beyond the Bar, Higgins served as president of the NSW Bar Association, director of the Australian Bar Association and the Law Council of Australia, and sat part-time on the Takeovers Panel from 2023 to 2026.
Her academic credentials are just as sharp. She holds a PhD from Balliol College, Oxford, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Glasgow, and has held visiting fellowships at New College and Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
Her five-year term starts 8 June, filling the vacancy left when Stephen Donaghue KC resigned in December to join the Victorian Supreme Court.
Source: Attorney-General