SUSAN PURDON

Susan is Federal Magistrate and was previously one of Australia's leading family law practitioners. She was the first Australian woman lawyer to be made a Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers at the invitation of the Academy. A leader in the field of non-court dispute resolution she was appointed by the Federal Attorney-General Hon. Philip Ruddock MLA to the Family Law Council of Australia in 2004. The Council advises and makes recommendations to the Attorney-General on matters relating to family law. In a practice that has spanned 25 years, Susan has been at the forefront of the ADR movement in Australia. Her principal professional focus has been the development and encouragement of interventions that support families following marital breakdown.

A graduate of the University of Queensland, Susan has served on many committees of the Queensland Law Society including the Family Law Committee, the Family Law Specialist Accreditation Committee, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, Equalising Opportunities in the Law Committee and the Mentoring Committee. She has also served on a number of government Boards. She is presently a member of the practitioner's panel of the Legal Practice Tribunal of Queensland and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Queensland Art Gallery. A Past President of the Queensland Women Lawyers Association, she was co-editor in 2005 of "A Woman's Place: 100 Years of Queensland Women Lawyers".

Susan was previously a partner with the Brisbane firm, Hopgood Ganim. Hopgood Ganim was voted Australia's Best Value Professional Services Firm in 2005 and 2006 in the BRW-St.George Client Choice Awards. Susan is married to Brian Sully, a partner in a national accounting firm. They have three children, aged 22, 20 and 13. A member of the Brisbane North Australia Stake, Chermside Ward, Susan teachers Laurels in the Young Women's programme.