Tasmanian legal history is being made this month.  On 16 April 2025, the first court of appeal, composed entirely of female judges, and sitting as the Court of Criminal Appeal will convene to hear an appeal against conviction in the case of Mortyn v State of Tasmania.

Justices Helen Wood, Tamara Jago and Kate Cuthbertson

When Justices Helen Wood, Tamara Jago and Kate Cuthbertson take their seats on the bench on 16 April 2025, it will be a first in the 201-year history of the Supreme Court of Tasmania.

Justice Wood, who will be the President of the Court on Wednesday observed, “This is an historic moment and a privilege to be part of, a moment for us to reflect on how far we have come and the advances we have made. When I was appointed a magistrate 31 years ago, I was the first woman to be appointed to that role in the history of Tasmania and at that time there were no female judges and there had not ever been a female judge appointed to the Supreme Court.”

Justice Shan Tennent was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Tasmania in 2005.  Justice Wood was the second woman to be appointed in 2009.  After Justice Tennent retired in 2017, Justice Wood was the only woman on the Supreme Court bench until Justice Jago (also the first Tasmanian woman to be made Senior Counsel) was appointed in 2021.

An all female court of appeal became a possibility when Justice Cuthbertson was appointed on 3 February 2025. Now of the seven permanent Supreme Court judges, three are women.

Chief Justice Shanahan warmly welcomed the advent of the first court of appeal composed entirely of women judges and noted, “This is a landmark occasion and measures the continuing evolution of the oldest Supreme Court in Australia”.

It is fitting that on this historic occasion the parties are represented by female counsel, with Ms Kim Baumeler appearing for the appellant and Ms Georgia Robinson appearing for the State with the Director of Public Prosecutions , Daryl Coates SC.