John Pascoe
John Henry Pascoe is a former Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia and Deputy Chancellor of the University of New South Wales.
Background and career
Pascoe was raised in Broken Hill and Menindee, the only child of a grazier and a mother with interests in the mining industry. He studied Asian languages and philosophy at the Australian National University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1969 and Bachelor of Laws in 1971.Prior to his appointment to the bench, Pascoe was the chairman and CEO of George Weston Foods, chairman of Centrelink, deputy chairman of Aristocrat Leisure and managing director of the insurance and risk management division of Phillips Fox. He has also held positions on several other corporate boards, such as Qantas. Pascoe was a member of the board of directors of the International Award Foundation and in 2016 he was awarded a Gold Distinguished Service Medal. Previously he has held positions on the boards of the Cancer Council of New South Wales, the Sydney Opera House Trust, and the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children.
Pascoe's appointment as Chief Judge has been widely applauded as a result of the significant management skills that he has brought to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, which continues to be the most rapidly expanding court in Australia. The Federal Circuit Court is the largest federal court in Australia. In December 2015, Pascoe was appointed as the Australian delegate to The Hague working group considering an international surrogacy convention.