Most cases heard by the High Court are appeals from the Supreme Courts of the Sates and Territories, the Federal Court of Australia or the Family Court of Australia.
The High Court is the highest court in Australia’s judicial system. The High Court of Australia sits in the Parliamentary Triangle in Canberra.
It has three Court rooms. The High Court of Australia is the highest court in Australia, it’s not the tallest building but the highest level.
The High Court deal with cases of significance including Challenges to the constitutional, laws and to hear appeals, from Federal, State and Territory Courts.

Court Rooms

Court room 1 is 17.5 metres high (from floor to ceiling) The tapestry in the form of a banner is 4.3 metres long & 2.5 metres wide.

Court room 2 is described as the “working court room” as it holds most of the hearings. It is mostly used in cases where a full court of less then seven justices.

Court room 3 has been designed for cases which will be dealt with normally by a single justice. It is the smallest out of all three court rooms. It has a jury box so that a trial can be conducted on rare occasions.

Justices of the High Court
There have been eleven Chief Justices of the High Court and thirty-eight justices since the court was established in 1903.

JUSTICES OF THE HIGH COURT
Sir Edmund Barton 1903-1920
Richard Edward O'Connor 1903-1912
Sir Isaac Isaacs 1906-1930
Henry Bournes Higgins 1906-1929
Sir Frank Gavin Daffy 1913-1931
Sir Charles Powders 1913-1921
Sir Albert Bathurst Piddington 1913-1913
Sir George Rich 1913-1950
Sir Hayden Starke 1920-1950
Sir Owen Dixson 1929-1952
Herbert Vere Evatt 1930-1940
Sir Edward McTiernan 1930-1976
Sir Dudley Williams 1940-1958
Sir William Webb 1946-1958
Sir Wilfred Fullagar 1950-1961
Sir Frank Kitto 1950-1970
Sir Alan Taylor 1952-1969
Sir Douglas Menzies 1958-1974
Sir Victor Windeyer 1958-1972
Sir Williams Owen 1961-1972
Sir Cyril Walsh 1969-1973
Sir Harry Gibbs 1970-1981
Sir Ninian Stephen 1972-1982
Sir Anthony Mason 1972-1987
Sir Kenneth Jacobs 1974-1979
Lionel Keith Murphy 1975-1986
Sir Keith Aickin 1976-1982
Sir Ronald Wilson 1979-1989
Sir Gerald Brennan 1981-1995
Sir William Deane 1982-1995
Sir Daryl Dawson 1982-1997
John Leslie Toohey 1987-1998
Mary Genevieve Gaudron 1987-still going
Mitchael Hudson McHugh 1989-still going
William Montague Charles Gummow 1995-still going
Mitchael Donald Kirby 1996-still going
Kenneth Madison Hayne 1997-still going
Ian David Francis Callinan 1998-still going

Chief Justices
Sir Samuel Griffith 1903-1919
Sir Adrian Knox 1919-1930
Sir Isaac Isaacs 1930-1931
Sir Frank Gravan Duffy 1931-1935
Sir John Latham 1935-1952
Sir Owen Dixon 1952-1964
Sir Garfeild Barwick 1964- 1981
Sir Henry Gibbs 1981-1987
Sir Anthony Mason 1987-1995
Sir Gerard Brennan 1995-1998
Anthony Murray Gleeson 1998-still going

The High Court Building in Canberra

Our drawing of Court Room 1

Court Room Two

Court Room Three

by Jo G.

The first sitting of the High Court took place in the Bancoo Court of the Supreme Court building in Melbourne on the 6th of October 1903. It was a distinguished bench, choosing three people who stood out in the Federal movement. They were,
Chief Justice Sir Samuel Griffith, formal premier and former Chief Justices of Queensland,
Sir Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister and leader of the Constitutional Conventions,
Richard Edward O'Connor, a formal minister of Justices and solicitor-general of New South Wales and the first leader of Government in the Senate.
The court remained made of three justices until 1906 when it's number was increased to five.While most sittings were held in Canberra, the court continues the practice.

by Tarryn