16 Facts About Kenneth Hayne

Kenneth Hayne graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Melbourne, during which time he resided at Ormond College.

Kenneth Hayne then graduated with a Bachelor of Civil Law from Exeter College, Oxford University.

Kenneth Hayne is the husband of another High Court Judge, Michelle Gordon.

Kenneth Hayne was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1971 and was appointed as a Queen's Counsel in 1984.

Kenneth Hayne joined the bench in 1992 when he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Kenneth Hayne was appointed as a Justice of the High Court in September 1997.

Kenneth Hayne retired in 2015 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70, in accordance with Section 72 of the Australian Constitution.

Kenneth Hayne was replaced on the High Court by his wife, Federal Court judge Michelle Gordon.

Kenneth Hayne has been described as being a part of a 'core' of judges during his time on the High Court, usually forming the majority, and often writing joint reasons with Justice William Gummow.

Kenneth Hayne serves as a commercial court judge, applying English Common Law, on the ADGM Courts.

In December 2017 Kenneth Hayne was appointed to head the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

In July 2019, in his first public statement since the Commission, Kenneth Hayne diagnosed an increasing demand for royal commissions as a symptom that "[t]rust in all sorts of institutions, governmental and private, has been damaged or destroyed".

Kenneth Hayne noted, in particular, political reactions to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Kenneth Hayne hoped that the Covid-19 pandemic would encourage governmental institutions to trust the public more with the truth, so that in response the public might have greater trust in them.

Kenneth Hayne received Australia's highest civil honour when he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2002 for service to the judiciary, to the law as an outstanding scholar, barrister and jurist, and to the community in the advancement of both legal and general education.

Kenneth Hayne is a patron of the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal.