The Hon. Susan Crennan AC KC (b. 1945) is a leading barrister and former High Court judge. Born in Melbourne, Crennan worked as an English teacher before studying law at the University of Sydney. A barrister for 24 years, she was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1979, to the Victorian Bar in 1980 and as a barrister at King’s Inns Dublin in 1991. She was appointed King’s Counsel (at the time named Queen's Counsel) in Victoria in 1989 and in New South Wales in 1990. Crennan was the first woman to serve as Chairman of the Victorian Bar Council, in 1993–1994, and the President of the Australian Bar Association, in 1994–1995. She served as a Commissioner for Human Rights for six years from 1992 and was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Australia in February 2004. In November the following year, she was appointed to the High Court of Australia, serving alongside justices Heydon and Gummow, both of whom taught her at law school. Crennan is widely acknowledged as a leader and mentor within the legal profession and her contributions to constitutional law, arbitration and law reform are remarkable.
Lewis Miller is a highly regarded portrait painter who won the 1998 Archibald Prize. His portrait of Crennan captures his sitter's wisdom and strength through his trademark bold brushstrokes and impressionistic qualities.
Gift of the Hon. Susan Crennan AC KC 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Lewis Miller/Copyright Agency, 2024
The Hon. Susan Crennan AC KC (1 portrait)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.
Well behaved women seldom make history, as the saying goes, and the National Portrait Gallery, consequently, is full of awesome Australian women who refused to conform to narrow ideas about their place and their worth.
