The National Survey of Australian Judges: An Overview of Findings

Abstract

The Magistrates Research Project and the Judicial Research Project of Flinders University have conducted extensive empirical research into the background, careers, attitudes and everyday work of the Australian judiciary. This article describes the development of the National Survey of Australian Judges 2007 and provides an overview of findings on several topics: personal and social characteristics of judges, such as age, gender, family and the professional background which judges bring to their work; factors which affected the decision to become a judge; the skills needed for their work; and attitudes towards work, including areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction and stress. The findings from this survey have significant value to the judiciary, to the community and for government in developing appropriate policies in areas such as recruitment, selection, appointment, training, education and court management, including issues of work allocation, hours, out of court work, working conditions and expectations.

Keywords: Judiciary, judges, courts, Australia, empirical research, survey research, gender, family, professional background, skills, attitudes to work, judicial attitudes, judges’ backgrounds