Michelle May AM KC

BA LLB

At St Margaret’s 1966-1972

Michelle May AM KC is a former Judge of the Family Court of Australia, having retired from the Bench in 2017 and returning to the Bar to practice in alternate dispute resolution. Michelle commenced legal practice in 1979 after she was admitted to the Queensland Bar in 1978. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1993 - the first female barrister with a predominately family law practice to achieve such a level of seniority. In 1995 she became the first female appointed to Brisbane’s Family Court (and no doubt the first judge appointed with four year old triplet daughters).

Michelle has held positions as the President of the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration, Chair of the Judge’s Forum of the International Bar Association, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

In 2017, Michelle was appointed a member of the General Division of the Order of Australia for significant service to the law, particularly to the Family Court of Australia, to judicial administration and to professional associations.

Michelle attended St Margaret’s from 1966 until 1972, where her mother had attended and her grandmother had also taught. She excelled at school, recalling that “teachers allowed girls considerable freedom to learn in their own way”. At the conclusion of her senior studies, she was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship for tertiary study, allowing her to undertake an Arts and Law degree at The University of Queensland. Throughout her schooling, Michelle developed close relationships at St Margaret's and still regularly sees a number of women that she went to school with - 40 years later.