13 Facts About Margaret McMurdo

Margaret McMurdo resigned effective 24 March 2017 after more than 18 years as a justice of the Court of Appeal.

Margaret McMurdo graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1975.

Margaret McMurdo was admitted as a barrister in 1976 and worked as a public defender from 1976 until 1989.

Margaret McMurdo briefly worked as a prosecutor and a part-time member of the Criminal Justice Commission Misconduct Tribunal from 1990 until 1991.

Margaret McMurdo held a simultaneous commission as a judge of the Children's Court of Queensland from 1993 until 1998.

Margaret McMurdo was appointed directly as president of the Queensland Court of Appeal, without having previously been a member of the Supreme Court.

Margaret McMurdo served from 30 July 1998 until she resigned in October 2016.

Margaret McMurdo was the first woman appointed to lead an appellate court in Australia.

Carmody proposed to deal with the recusal application himself, which promoted a further reaction from Margaret McMurdo and Fraser that there was a reasonable apprehension that in stating the recusal application was utterly preposterous, Carmody had prejudged the recusal application.

Margaret McMurdo was appointed Chair of the Legal Aid Board of Queensland in May 2017.

In December 2018 Margaret McMurdo was appointed as commissioner for the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants which was set up to examine the actions of Nicola Gobbo and Victoria Police whilst Gobbo was working as a lawyer and acting as a registered informer.

In October 2023 Margaret McMurdo was appointed to head the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force MRH-90 Inquiry into the fatal crash of an Australian Army MRH-90 Taipan helicopter in July 2023 while it was conducting a night-time training exercise.

In 1976 Margaret McMurdo married Philip Margaret McMurdo who would subsequently join her as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland.