Annabelle Bennett

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title: "Annabelle Bennett" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1950-births", "living-people", "judges-of-the-federal-court-of-australia", "21st-century-australian-women-judges", "university-of-sydney-alumni", "university-of-new-south-wales-law-school-alumni", "judges-of-the-supreme-court-of-the-australian-capital-territory", "officers-of-the-order-of-australia", "companions-of-the-order-of-australia", "australian-biochemists", "australian-women-chemists", "jewish-australian-academics", "chancellors-of-bond-university", "fellows-of-the-australian-academy-of-science", "21st-century-australian-chemists", "20th-century-australian-chemists", "australian-barristers", "lawyers-from-sydney", "21st-century-australian-judges"] description: "Australian judge" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annabelle_Bennett" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian judge ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
honorific-prefix	The Honourable Dr
name	Annabelle Bennett
honorific-suffix
office	Judge of the Federal Court of Australia
term_start	5 May 2003
term_end	23 March 2016
office2	8th Chancellor of Bond University
predecessor2	Helen Nugent
term_start2	19 April 2016
term_end2	24 May 2024
occupation	Judge, lawyer
education	University of Sydney
University of New South Wales
birth_name	Annabelle Claire Darin
birth_date
birth_place	Sydney, Australia
spouse
succeeded2	David Baxby
::

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable Dr | name = Annabelle Bennett | honorific-suffix = | image = | caption = | order = | office = Judge of the Federal Court of Australia | term_start = 5 May 2003 | term_end = 23 March 2016 | appointer = | nominator = | predecessor = | office2 = 8th Chancellor of Bond University | predecessor2 = Helen Nugent | term_start2 = 19 April 2016 | term_end2 = 24 May 2024 | office3 = | nominator3 = | appointer3 = | term_start3 = | term_end3 = | office4 = | term4 = | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | occupation = Judge, lawyer | education = University of Sydney University of New South Wales | birth_name = Annabelle Claire Darin | birth_date = | birth_place = Sydney, Australia | spouse = | children = | nationality = | succeeded2 = David Baxby

Annabelle Claire Bennett (nee Darin; born 8 January 1950) is an Australian judge and lawyer, she was the eighth Chancellor of Bond University and former Judge of the Federal Court of Australia.

Early life and education

Annabelle Claire Bennett (born Darin) was born on 8 January 1950 in Sydney, Australia, to Emanuel Darin (born Finkelstein) and Raissa Darin (born Atlas).

Bennett's father was a lawyer, and at an early age she had hopes of following him into the legal profession. Her father, however, thought that law was a bad career choice for women, because "you had to be better than the best to break even" and discouraged his daughter from pursuing this ambition. Instead, Bennett studied science at the University of Sydney and completed a Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the same institution.

In 1980, still interested in the legal profession, Bennett went on to study law at the University of New South Wales.

Career

After graduating from the University of New South Wales, Bennett began practising as a barrister, specialising in intellectual property law.

Bennett was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia on 5 May 2003. Bennett retired from the Federal Court on 23 March 2016, and now practises as a consultant barrister, mediator and arbitrator at 5 Wentworth.

In April 2016, Bennett became the eighth Chancellor of Bond University in Queensland. After eight years in the role, she was replaced by David Baxby, a graduate of the university.

On 20 February 2020, Bennett was appointed as a commissioner to the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.

In 2022, the Albanese government commissioned an Independent Review of Australian Carbon Credit Units, that reported in December 2022. The independent panel was composed of Ian Chubb AC (chair), Bennett, Ariadne Gorring, and Stephen Hatfield Dodds.

Awards and honours

Bennett was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2005, for "service to the law, particularly in the areas of intellectual property, administrative law and professional conduct; and to the community through a range of educational, medical, women's and business organisations".

In 2011, she received the honorary degree of doctor of the university from the Australian National University.

She was upgraded to a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours. In 2016, she received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of New South Wales.

In May 2020 Bennett was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Personal life

Annabelle Bennett is married to David Bennett, the former Commonwealth Solicitor-General.

Outside of the courtroom, Bennett's interest in biological sciences has continued, and she has been involved in a number of committees, including the Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee, the Biotechnology Task Force and the Gene Patenting Advisory Committee of the Australian Law Reform Commission. She has also served as a Director of the Sydney Children's Hospital and Neuroscience Research Australia and is a former president of the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences. In 2012, she was appointed Chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council.{{cite web|title=Members of Council 2012–2015 triennium|publisher=National Health and Medical Research Council|url=https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about/council-nhmrc/members-council-2012-15-triennium|access-date=24 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501065241/https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about/council-nhmrc/members-council-2012-15-triennium|archive-date=1 May 2017|url-status=dead

Bennett is also a past President of Chief Executive Women, a former Trustee of the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust. She was a member of the Reference Group for the APEC Women Leaders' Network Meeting 2007 and the Head of the Australian Delegation to the APEC Women Leaders' Network Meeting 2008 in Peru.

References

References

1. ["Search Annabelle Bennett".
2. "Who's Who in Australia". ConnectWeb.
3. (2021). "The Hon. Dr ANNABELLE BENNETT AC SC". Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre.
4. Jerums, Georgina. (January 2009). "A Top Honour". Australian Institute of Management.
5. (14 March 2016). "Ceremonial Sitting of the Full Court to farewell the Honourable Justice Bennett AO". [[Federal Court of Australia]].
6. Jeffery, Nicole. (9 December 2015). "Rio Olympics: Canberra judge Annabelle Bennett on arbitration panel". [[The Australian]].
7. (29 March 2012). "Former Judges of the Federal Court". [[Federal Court of Australia]].
8. "The Hon Dr Annabelle Bennett AO SC". 5 Wentworth.
9. "8th Chancellor and the new Council". [[Bond University]].
10. "David Baxby".
11. (20 February 2020). "Letters Patent". Prime minister of Australia.
12. [https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/emissions-reduction/independent-review-accus Independent Review of Australian Carbon Credit Units], [[Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water]], accessed 2023-01-11
13. (13 June 2005). "BENNETT, Annabelle Claire".
14. (28 July 2015). "Roll of honour". [[Australian National University]].
15. "The Honourable Dr Annabelle Claire Bennett AO SC".
16. "Honorary Degrees". [[UNSW Sydney]].
17. "Annabelle Bennett".

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