Catherine Holmes

Catherine Ena "Cate" Holmes (born 12 October 1956) is a retired Australian jurist who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, the highest ranking court in the Australian state of Queensland. She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2000, to the Queensland Court of Appeal in 2006 and appointed chief justice on 11 September 2015. She retired on 19 March 2022. Education Holmes attended Oxley State High School and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College, Darra, Queensland. She attended the Australian National University graduating with a Bachelor of Economics in 1977 and then attended the University of Queensland graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1980. She completed a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the Queensland Institute of Technology in 1983, a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in 1989 and a Master of Laws (advanced) in 1998 both at the University of Queensland. Holmes was awarded a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from The University of Queensland in 2016. Career Holmes was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1982. In 1984 she was admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland and was a Foundation Member of the Women's Legal Service in Queensland. She was a Crown Prosecutor in the Office of Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions from 1984 to 1986. In 1986 she began a law firm private practice focused on criminal and administrative law. She served as a Member of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal from 1994 to 2000. Holmes was appointed deputy president of the Queensland Community Corrections Board in 1997. From 1998 to 1999 she served as the counsel assisting the Forde Commission of Inquiry into Child Abuse. In 1999 she was appointed senior counsel and was made acting judge on the District Court of Queensland.