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Michael Kirby was first appointed to judicial office in 1975 in the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. In the same year he was appointed Inaugural Chair of the Australian Law Reform Commission. That Commission engaged in a number of projects relevant to medical law during his time. These included the report on Evidence Law (1975); report on Child Welfare Law (1976); the report on Human Tissue Transplants (1977); and the report on Privacy Protection (1978-80).
Between 1989-94 he served as a Commissioner of the World Health Organisation Global Commission on AIDS. He also took part in many national and international activities relating to that pandemic. These included service as a member of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee (1996); member of the Reference Group of UNAIDS on HIV and Human Rights; the UNDP Global Commission on HIV and the Law (2011-12); the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Access to Essential Health Care (2016); and official mandates of the United Nations on Cambodia and the Commission of Inquiry on North Korea. In addition to these international activities, Michael Kirby served in a number of judicial posts: as Judge of the Federal Court of Australia (1983-84); President of the NSW Court of Appeal (1984-96); President of the Court of Appeal of Solomon Islands (1995-96); and Justice of the High Court of Australia (1996-2009). At the time of his judicial retirement, he was the longest serving judicial officer in the Commonwealth. Since judicial retirement, Michael Kirby has been involved in international arbitrations. He has also served as Co-Chair of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association (2017-22). More recently he has been closely involved in LGBTIQ issues worldwide including through the Commonwealth Charter 2013, now celebrating its first 10 years. Michael Kirby lives in Sydney with his partner since 1969, Johan van Vloten. |