Papers of Elizabeth Evatt, 1968-2016
- Bib ID:
- 10116618
- Format:
- Manuscript
- Author:
- Evatt, Elizabeth Andreas, 1933-
- Related Online Resources:
- Finding aid at National Library of Australia
- Access Conditions:
- Part available for research; part permission required for research. Not for loan.
- Description:
-
- [between 1968 and 2016]
- 10.41 metres (57 boxes) + 3 small folio packets + 1 medium folio packet + 1 map folio + 59 colour photographs + 4 audiovisual carriers + 8 digital carriers
- Summary:
-
This collection comprises the personal papers of Elizabeth Evatt including correspondence, certificates, diaries, ephemera, financial material, meeting agenda and minutes, newscuttings, notebooks, notes, photographs, publications, reports, papers and speeches. The materials relate to organisations and events Evatt was involved with, such as the Pearl Watson Foundation; the Evatt Foundation; the Blue Mountains Festival 1988; Newcastle University; the Aboriginal Heritage Act Review; her work with the United Nations and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and other human rights activities. The collection also includes papers and speeches presented by Evatt while President of the Australian Law Reform Commission.
- Cultural sensitivity advisory notice:
- Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and other First Nations people are advised that this collection may contain names and images of deceased people and other content that may be culturally sensitive. Please also be aware that you may see certain words or descriptions within these works which reflect the author's attitude, or that of the period in which the works were created, and may now be considered inaccurate, inappropriate or offensive.
- Biography/History:
-
Eminent Australian reform lawyer, judge, jurist and civil and human rights advocate Elizabeth Evatt was born in 1933, the daughter of barrister Clive Evatt QC and the niece of judge, politician and former Labor leader H. V. Evatt. She studied law at the University of Sydney, becoming the first female student to win the University’s Medal for Law. She graduated in 1955 and was admitted as a barrister in New South Wales the same year. Evatt won a scholarship to Harvard and was awarded a LLM (Master of Laws) in 1956. In 1973 Evatt returned to Australia, after working as a barrister in London, to take up an appointment as the first female Deputy President of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. Between 1974 and 1977 Evatt chaired the Royal Commission on Human Relationships producing recommendations leading to the enactment of the Family Law Act 1975 and the Family Court of Australia. In 1976 she was appointed as the inaugural Chief Justice of the Family Court, a position she held until 1988. She was also appointed to the position of President of the Australian Law Reform Commission, 1988-1993 and a part-time Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1995-1998. As a key figure in the international human rights field, Evatt was a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination and Discrimination Against Women from 1984-1992 and chaired the Committee from 1989-1991. Evatt was the first Australian to be elected to the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 1992, serving as a member from 1993-2000. Evatt also served two terms as a judge of a tribunal of the World Bank, 1998-2007 and was elected as a Commissioner of the International Committee of Jurists in April, 2003. Evatt has also held several non-judicial appointments in Australia. From 1988-1994 she was Chancellor of Newcastle University. She is a life member of the Evatt Foundation, an organisation established in honour of her uncle, H V Evatt and served as Vice-President of the Foundation from 1982-1987. She was also a member of the Board of the Pearl Watson Foundation which was established in 1985 in honour of Pearl Watson, the wife of a Family Court judge who was killed in a bomb explosion in 1984. In 1995 Evatt was appointed to review the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984. Her report "Review of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984" was published in August 1996. Evatt was awarded an Order of Australia in 1982 and a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1995. She was also the recipient of the Australian Human Rights Medal in 1995.
- Notes:
-
- Manuscript reference number: MS 10501.
- Reading Room Access Note: For preservation reasons, we are unable to deliver digital and audiovisual carriers to the Special Collections Reading Room. Please contact Ask a Librarian to enquire about access.
- Related Material:
-
- Elizabeth Evatt interviewed by Amy McGrath; Located at; National Library of Australia in the Oral History collection, ORAL TRC 658.
- Elizabeth Evatt interviewed by Jenny Hocking in the Gough Whitlam biography project; Located at; National Library of Australia in the Oral History collection, ORAL TRC 6304.
- Elizabeth Evatt interviewed by Craig McGregor in the Craig McGregor MS7949 collection; Located at; National Library of Australia in the Oral History collection, ORAL TRC 2924/14.
- Elizabeth Evatt interviewed by Daniel Connell in the Law in Australian society oral history project; Located at; National Library of Australia in the Oral History collection, ORAL TRC 3501.
- Subject:
-
- Evatt, Elizabeth Andreas, 1933- -- Archives
- Australian Law Reform Commission -- Officials and employees -- Archives
- World Bank Administrative Tribunal -- Employees -- Archives
- University of Newcastle -- Employees -- Archives
- Lawyers -- Australia -- Archives
- Judges -- Australia -- Archives
- Women lawyers -- Australia -- Archives
- Women judges -- Australia -- Archives
- Law reform -- Australia
- Women's rights -- Australia
- Speeches, addresses, etc., Australian
- Time Coverage:
- 1968-2016
- Occupation:
- Terms of Use:
- Copying of Elizabeth Evatt's copyright material is: part permitted for research purposes; part permission required for research purposes (Box 8, Series 2, File 3; Box 26, Series 11, Files 1-3; Box 27, Series 11, Files 4-5; Box 28 - 31; Box 32, Series 12, Files 26-29).
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
If you wish to copy or order copies, contact us. For access conditions return to the record display above.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Photograph
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 2016
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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