Governance

Chair

The Honourable Robert French AC

Former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia

Robert French served as Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia from 2008 to 2017, the first Western Australian to hold the office. Admitted as a barrister and solicitor in Western Australia, he played a central role in establishing the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia. He was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Australia in 1986 and became the inaugural President of the National Native Title Tribunal. He has been President of the Australian Association of Constitutional Law and is a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

Directors

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  Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt AO

  Director

  A Eualeyai/Gamillaroi woman and Laureate Fellow at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, University of Technology Sydney. An award-winning author, filmmaker and host of Speaking Out on ABC Radio, she chairs the National Library of Australia. She was NAIDOC Person of the Year in 2009 and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2020.

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  Professor George Brandis KC

  Director

  Professor in the Practice of National Security at the Australian National University. A Senator for Queensland for 18 years, he served as Attorney-General and Leader of the Government in the Senate, and as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2018 to 2022.

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  Professor Rosalind Dixon

  Director

  Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales and a former associate to Chief Justice Murray Gleeson AC. She holds an LLM and SJD from Harvard Law School, and her work on comparative constitutional law and constitutional design is published in leading journals in Australia and abroad.

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  Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Gallop AC FASSA

  Director

  Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006, after serving as Minister for Education and Leader of the Opposition. Later a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government at the University of Sydney, and a former chair of the Australian Republican Movement.

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  Mr George Harris

  Director

  A legal practitioner with more than four decades in corporate practice, now Of Counsel at Baker McKenzie. He has lectured in the UNSW Master of Laws program and since 2010 has been a judge of CEFA's Governor-General's Prize.

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  Mrs Kerry Jones

  Director and Chief Executive Officer

  Chief Executive Officer of CEFA since 2001, leading programs including the Governor-General's Prize and the Australian Constitution Centre at the High Court. A former music teacher and NSW Department of Education arts consultant, she was Executive Director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, a delegate to the 1998 Constitutional Convention and chair of the No Case Committee for the 1999 referendum. She was awarded the Centenary Medal.

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  Rabbi Zalman Kastel AM

  Director

  A Hasidic rabbi who teaches Bible study at Chabad House North Shore in Sydney and holds a Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of New England. His work brings positive experiences of diversity to young Australians, and he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2020 for his contribution to interfaith and intercultural understanding.

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  Mr Paul Lenton

  Director

  Business Advisory Partner at Nexia Australia in Sydney, where he was Managing Partner for nine years. A Chartered Accountant and registered Tax Agent with more than 40 years advising businesses, who also coaches CEOs and mentors professionals.

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  Professor Murray Wesson

  Director

  Professor at the University of Western Australia Law School, teaching constitutional law, human rights law and legal theory. He leads an Australian Research Council project, with Oxford's Quill Project and nine Australian universities, to create an open online archive of the drafting of the Australian Constitution. A former Rhodes Scholar.