Bell was recognised for his contributions to the judiciary, the law, and legal education and training
NSW Supreme Court chief justice Andrew Bell has been awarded the title of Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in this year’s Australia Day Honours List.
He was recognised for eminent service to the judiciary and to the law, to legal education and training, and to the arts as an administrator and benefactor. He joins a short list of former NSW chief justices who have earned this distinction: the late Sir Laurence Street AC KCMG KStJ QC, Tom Bathurst AC KC FRSN and Murray Gleeson AC GBS KC.
“Since his appointment as chief justice in 2022 and before that as president of the NSW Court of Appeal, Chief Justice Bell has demonstrated exemplary leadership among his judicial colleagues and the entire NSW justice system. This award is due acknowledgement of the chief justice’s enormous contributions to NSW”, said NSW Law Society president Ronan MacSweeney.
Bell has presided over the NSW judicial commission and served as NSW lieutenant governor since 2022. He has also taught at the University of Sydney School of Law as an adjunct professor since 2008 and is currently a Fellow at the Australian Academy of Law.
MacSweeney highlighted Bell’s cultivation of a “positive, constructive and open relationship” between the Supreme Court and the legal profession.
“This has been particularly important as lawyers grapple with the growing presence of artificial intelligence in legal practice, including in the courts”, MacSweeney said.
Fromer NSW Local Court chief magistrate Peter Johnstone was also included in the Honours List, earning the distinction of Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the law and to the judiciary, to legal standards, and to indigenous youth.
He served as chief magistrate until 2024 and has been an honorary judicial member of the Law Society since 2006. He began teaching at The University of New England Armidale’s School of Law as an adjunct professor in 2024.
Johnstone was appointed to the bench after a stint as the Law Society’s senior vice president.
“His visionary advocacy for and early stewardship of the Youth Koori Court while President of the Children’s Court of NSW, resulted in a decline of incarceration rates of young Indigenous people”, MacSweeney said.
MacSweeney also congratulated Geoff Bellew SC, David Kirby KC, Chris Robison, George Newhouse, Gail Hambly and Maria Brick on being awarded AM distinctions. Bellew and Kirby were previously Supreme Court justices, Robinson a former District Court judge, and Newhouse the founder and leader of the National Justice Project. Hambly was recognised for service to the legal profession, while Brick was honoured for her legal military service with the Royal Australian Air Force.
Late District Court judge Christopher Armitage received an Order of Australia medal (OAM) posthumously for services to the judiciary and the church. Other OAM recipients included former Southern Highlands Regional Law Society president William Baker (service to the community of Queanbeyan); Laurence Crennan (service to the law and the community of Bathurst); former Law Society business law committee chair Roger Downs (service to the community of the Illawarra); Kyogle mayor Danielle Mulholland (service to local government and the community of Kyogle); and Law Council of Australia intellectual property committee deputy chair Miriam Stiel.
“Like the overwhelming majority of their colleagues, each of the lawyers recognised in this list have demonstrated the finest traditions of the legal profession, upholding the rule of law, defending the justice system, and acting as a bulwark for a free society”, MacSweeney said.
