Meet the Commission

Fleur Kingham was the President of the Land Court of Queensland from 2016 to 2024 and is the immediate past-President of the Australian Association of Women Judges. The Chair’s distinguished legal career includes judicial appointments as Deputy President of the Land and Resources Tribunal, the first Deputy President of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) and Judge of the District Court of Queensland. Ms Kingham is passionate about judicial education and regularly presents for the National Judicial College of Australia. Ms Kingham holds an LLB (Hons) and a BA from the University of Queensland, as well as a Master of International Law (Dist) from the University of Nottingham. She is a continuing member of the Griffith Law School Visiting Committee and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Griffith University in 2016. In recognition of her contributions to environmental law, she was named the Eminent Environmental Lawyer of the Year by the Law Council of Australia in 2024. The University of Queensland further honoured her achievements with an honorary doctorate of laws in 2025.

His Honour is a Judge of the District Court of Queensland, the Childrens Court of Queensland and the Planning and Environment Court. Judge Rafter has also served as an Acting Judge on the District Court of New South Wales in 2019, as Acting Justice on the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2021 and Acting President of the Childrens Court from June 2022 to November 2022. Judge Rafter was admitted as a barrister in 1985 and appointed Senior Counsel in 2003. He has previously been the Chairperson of the Nursing Tribunal, a member of the Board of Legal Aid Queensland and a Commissioner of the Queensland Thoroughbred Racing Inquiry.

Dr Cullen is a Senior Member of the Administrative Review Tribunal and a List Leader in the Migration Jurisdictional Area. Previously, she was a Senior Member of the former Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and a legal Member of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Dr Cullen was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1995 and to the Queensland Bar in 2000. She has a PhD, Juris Doctorate, Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and an LLB from the Queensland University of Technology. She is the co-editor of Thomson Reuters’ Queensland Civil Practice publication, and has taught Civil Procedure, Legal Ethics, and Evidence in Queensland, and enjoys mentoring students. Dr Cullen is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Griffith Law School.

Mr Hinson KC graduated from the University of Queensland with a BA and LLB (Hons). He has a LLM from University of Cambridge. Mr Hinson was admitted as a barrister in 1981 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1998. He was appointed an Acting Judge of the District Court between August and November 1998.

Ms O'Gorman practises in criminal law where she appears in trials in the Supreme, District and Magistrates Courts of Queensland, and appeals in the High Court of Australia and Queensland Court of Appeal. In 2023, Doyles Guide listed Ruth as a pre-eminent senior counsel in criminal law in Queensland and a recommended senior counsel in criminal law in Australia. She also accepts briefs in professional disciplinary matters and regulatory prosecutions. Ms O'Gorman appears in inquiries and inquests. In 2022, she was the senior Counsel Assisting the Independent Commission of Inquiry into Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence. In 2020 – 2021, Ms O'Gorman was one of the Counsel Assisting the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry.

Ms Tarrago is a Wangkamahdla woman from central-west Queensland. She is a barrister with a practice focused on inquests and inquiries, health, regulatory and administrative law jurisdictions. Ms Tarrago previously had a 17 year career in the public service as a Government Legal Officer for the Coroners Court of Queensland, Office of the Health Ombudsman and Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. In 2014, Ms Tarrago completed an Indigenous Fellowship with the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights. In 2023, she was also appointed to the Board of Legal Aid Queensland.

Dr Taylor is an Assistant Professor at Bond University. Dr Taylor was awarded a PhD from ANU in 2020 which focused on discrimination law in Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada. She has undertaken visiting positions at universities in the UK and Canada. Prior to entering academia, she was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2013. She has worked as a solicitor at a top-tier commercial law firm, an Associate at the Supreme Court of Queensland and the Legal Research Officer at the High Court of Australia.