Pioneering Australian judge Mary Gaudron honoured after death at age 83

Pioneering Australian judge Mary Gaudron has been honoured for her contributions to Australia's legal landscape after her death at age 83.

Ms Gaudron became the first woman appointed to the High Court of Australia in 1987 at age 44 and served until 2003.

Her death was confirmed in multiple tributes posted online yesterday.

While serving on the High Court, she contributed to decisions that shaped Australian law, including the landmark native title case, Mabo vs Queensland.

In the decision, Ms Gaudron and fellow High Court Judge William Deane wrote of Aboriginal dispossession as "the darkest aspect of the history of this country".

Born on January 5, 1943, in the north-west New South Wales town of Moree, Ms Gaudron blazed a trail in a male-dominated profession.

After studying law at Sydney University on a scholarship and initially practising primarily in defamation and industrial law, she became the first woman appointed to the NSW Bar Council in 1972.

After stepping down from the High Court in 2003, Ms Gaudron took a job with the International Labour Organization in Geneva and became president of its administrative tribunal.

In 2000, she laid bare what she believed were the true views of some powerful men on women's equality.

"There are, I think, people who do not accept that men and women are equal, who do not think of equality as a good thing and, indeed, who actually fear the equal participation of women in the workplace," she said.

Governor-General Sam Mostyn said Ms Gaudron's legacy endured in the many people who continued to follow the path she helped forge.

"As the first woman appointed to the High Court of Australia, and the only woman justice in the court's first century, she broke new ground and inspired generations of Australians to pursue careers in the law and public service," Ms Mostyn said in a social media post yesterday.

"Her legacy endures in the Australian legal system and in the many people who continue to follow the path she helped forge."

The Law Society of South Australia said Ms Gaudron's intellect, courage and commitment to justice helped shape the Australian legal landscape.

"Justice Gaudron made an enduring contribution to public life through her advocacy for equality, her service to the legal profession and her role as a trailblazer for women in law," Law Society president David Colovic said.