Guide to the Papers of Elizabeth Evatt, 1968-2016
Collection context
Summary
- Collection number:
- MS 10501
- Creator:
- Dr Elizabeth A Evatt
- Extent:
- (57 ms boxes, 3 small folio packets, 1 medium folio packet, 1 map folio, 59 colour photographs, 4 audiovisual carriers, 8 digital carriers)
- Language:
- English and English
- Preferred citation:
- Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], papers of Elizabeth Evatt, National Library of Australia, MS 10501, [class/series/file/item number(s)]'.
- Availability:
- Available
- Access conditions:
- Part available for research; part permission required for research. Not for loan.
Background
- Content Summary:
-
Cultural Sensitivity Advisory Notice: Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and other First Nations people are advised that this collection contains content that may be culturally sensitive. Specifically, Series 9, File 9 includes correspondence and other materials relating to Denis Walker's (Bejam Kunmunara Jarlow Nunukel Kabool) proceedings against the High Court of Australia. Content Summary: This collection comprises the personal papers of Elizabeth Evatt including correspondence, certificates, diaries, ephemera, financial material, meeting agenda and minutes, newscuttings, notebooks, notes, photographs, publications, reports, papers and speeches.
The materials relate to organisations and events Evatt was involved with, such as the Pearl Watson Foundation; the Evatt Foundation; the Blue Mountains Festival 1988; Newcastle University; the Aboriginal Heritage Act Review; her work with the United Nations and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and other human rights activities.
The collection also includes papers and speeches presented by Evatt while President of the Australian Law Reform Commission.
- Biographical Note:
-
Eminent Australian reform lawyer, judge, jurist and civil and human rights advocate, Elizabeth Evatt was born in 1933, the daughter of barrister Clive Evatt, QC and the niece of judge, politician and former Labor leader H. V. Evatt. She studied law at the University of Sydney, becoming the first female student to win the University's Medal for Law. She graduated in 1955 and was admitted as a barrister in New South Wales the same year. Evatt won a scholarship to Harvard and was awarded a LLM (Master of Laws) in 1956. She then moved to London and worked as a barrister at the Inner Temple, London. From 1968 to 1973 she worked at the England and Wales Law Commission.
In 1973 Evatt returned to Australia to take up an appointment as the first female Deputy President of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. Over successive years she undertook several other judicial appointments. Between 1974 and 1977 Evatt chaired the Royal Commission on Human Relationships producing recommendations leading to the enactment of the Family Law Act 1975 and the Family Court of Australia. In 1976 she was appointed as the inaugural Chief Judge of the Family Court, a position she held until 1988. She was also appointed to the position of President of the Australian Law Reform Commission, 1988-1993 and a part-time Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1995-1998.
Evatt was also a key figure in the international human rights field. She was a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination and Discrimination Against Women from 1984-1992 and chaired the Committee from 1989-1991. Evatt was the first Australian to be
elected to the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 1992, serving as a member from 1993-2000. Evatt also served two terms as a judge of a tribunal of the World Bank, 1998-2007 and was elected as a Commissioner of the International Committee of Jurists in April, 2003.
Evatt has also held several non-judicial appointments in Australia. From 1988-1994 she was Chancellor of Newcastle University. She is a life member of the Evatt Foundation, an organisation established in honour of her uncle, H V Evatt and served as Vice-President of the Foundation from 1982-1987. She was also a member of the Board of the Pearl Watson Foundation which was established in 1985 in honour of Pearl Watson, the wife of a Family Court judge who was killed in a bomb explosion in 1984.
In 1995 Evatt was appointed to review the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984. Her report Review of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 was published in August 1996.
Evatt was awarded an Order of Australia in 1982 and a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1995. She was also the recipient of the Australian Human Rights Medal in 1995.
- Reading Room Access Note:
-
For preservation reasons, we are unable to deliver digital and audiovisual carriers to the Special Collections Reading Room. Please contact (Ask a Librarian) to enquire about access.
- Arrangement:
-
Elizabeth Evatt arranged her papers into subject categories according to her own unique numbering system. The collection was delivered to the Library in boxes ordered numerically in accordance with this system.
This instalment comprises Evatt's "series 600 and 700", with some gaps in the numbering system left for additional material to be inserted at a later date.
The collection has been arranged into 17 series by the Library, guided by a listing provided by Evatt. File numbering starts again from '1' per series.
Where possible, original subject headings from Evatt's listing have been used for series and file titles. Evatt's unique reference numbers have been retained in the content summary for each file.
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Law and criminology
- Names:
- Dr Elizabeth A Evatt
Access and use
- Conditions Governing Access:
- Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn10116618).
- Conditions Governing Use:
- Conditions for copying and publishing of this collection may apply, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn10116618).
- Preferred citation:
- Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], papers of Elizabeth Evatt, National Library of Australia, MS 10501, [class/series/file/item number(s)]'.
- Location of this collection:
-
Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: