Use the correct titles to refer to members of the judiciary.
Use the correct form to refer to judges and magistrates
Refer to judges of the following courts as ‘Justice’ and use the title ‘The Honourable’:
- High Court
- Federal Court
- Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
- supreme courts in the states and territories.
Use the titles ‘Your Honour’, ‘His Honour’ or ‘Her Honour’ for judges of:
- district courts
- county courts.
High Court and Federal Court
Instructions for addressing judges and registrars are at:
- High Court – How do I address a High Court judge? [PDF 31 KB]
- Federal Court – How to address [Federal Court] judges & judicial registrars.
Judges of these courts retain the title ‘The Honourable’ for life.
Example
- The Honourable Chief Justice Stephen Gageler AC
- The Honourable Susan Kiefel [Retired.]
You can also abbreviate the term ‘Honourable’ to ‘Hon’ without a full stop.
Example
- The Hon Justice Penelope Neskovcin
- The Hon Justice Dowling
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the supreme courts
Refer to judges of the following courts as ‘Justice’ and use the title ‘The Honourable’:
- Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
- supreme courts in the states and territories.
Example
- The Honourable Justice Christine Mead
- The Honourable Justice Joshua Wilson
Judges of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and chief justices of the supreme courts in states and territories retain the title ‘The Honourable’ for life. Supreme court justices also generally retain the title for life.
In emails and letters, use ‘Your Honour’ to address:
- a justice of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
- a judge of a state or territory supreme court.
Conclude correspondence with ‘Yours faithfully’.
District and county courts
Address judges of the following courts as ‘Judge’:
- district courts
- county courts.
Use the title ‘His Honour’ or ‘Her Honour’ for judges of these courts.
Example
- Her Honour Judge Matteo
- His Honour Judge Jarro
In emails and letters:
- Open with ‘Your Honour’.
- Conclude with ‘Yours faithfully’.
Magistrate and local courts
Address magistrates in court as ‘Your Honour’. When outside court, address them as ‘Magistrate’.
When addressing an envelope use ‘Her Honour Magistrate’ or ‘His Honour Magistrate’.
Example
- His Honour Magistrate Smart
- Her Honour Magistrate Duvnjak
Knighted judges
Address a judge who is a knight or dame as ‘The Honourable Sir’ or ‘The Honourable Dame’.
Example
- The Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE QC
- The Honourable Dame Roma Flinders Mitchell AC DBE CVO QC
On subsequent mention, you can use ‘Sir’ or ‘Dame’ and the person’s given name.
Example
- Sir Ninian
- Dame Roma
Release notes
The digital edition includes information from the sixth edition with updated examples.
The digital edition removes the sixth edition’s requirement to use full stops with the abbreviation of ‘The Honourable’ to ‘The Hon’.
This change is supported by evidence from Australian corpora and is consistent with the digital edition’s recommendation to use minimal punctuation.
For the same reason, digital edition examples do not follow the sixth edition’s requirement for a comma before and between post-nominals.
The Content Guide did not include information on titles for the judiciary.
About this page
References
County Court of Victoria (2020) Judicial contacts, County Court of Victoria website, accessed 8 June 2020.
Courts Administration Authority of South Australia (n.d.) ‘Judicial officers’, Our courts, CAA website, accessed 8 June 2020.
Family Court of Australia (n.d.) Judges of the Family Court, Family Court of Australia website, accessed 8 June 2020.
Federal Court of Australia (n.d.) How to address judges and judicial registrars, Federal Court of Australia website, accessed 8 June 2020.
High Court of Australia (n.d.) How do I address a High Court judge? [PDF 31 KB], High Court of Australia, accessed 13 August 2024.
New South Wales Bar Association (2020) Court structure, judges’ titles and order of seniority [PDF 897 KB], New South Wales Bar Association, accessed 8 June 2020.
Queensland Courts (2020) Judges of the District Court, Queensland Courts website, accessed 8 June 2020.
University of Technology Sydney (6 January 2020) ‘The dummies’ guide to addressing judicial officers’, Faculty of Law News, accessed 8 June 2020.
Victoria Law Foundation (2013) What do I call the judge? [PDF 1.4 MB], Victoria Law Foundation, accessed 8 June 2020.
Last updated
This page was updated Tuesday 13 August 2024.