Experienced barrister, Justice David Chin, has been officially welcomed as a judge of the Industrial Court of NSW and Vice President of the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW.
In front of family, friends and colleagues at a ceremony attended by Attorney General Michael Daley in Sydney, Justice Chin committed to upholding integrity in the state's workplace relations system.
Justice Chin is a specialist in workplace health and safety, industrial, employment and discrimination law, who co-authored The Modern Contract of Employment. With 30 years' experience as a solicitor, barrister, lecturer and author, he has a long-held passion for advocacy, and for industrial law and justice making a positive change to people's lives.
For more than two decades, His Honour has been a barrister admitted in the High Court of Australia and in NSW and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2019. He was also admitted as a solicitor in the NSW Supreme Court in 1994.
Justice Chin worked on a range of cases during this period, including high-profile matters. From 2017 to 2019, he appeared for the Public Service Association of NSW in a major pay equity case before the Industrial Relations Commission. His work meant that female-dominated assistants employed in NSW public schools received substantial pay increases to rectify gender-based undervaluation.
He also appeared for the labour-hire employer in both the Federal Court and High Court of Australia in the landmark WorkPac v Rossatolitigation which settled the common law definition of casual employment.
At the same time, he was involved in academia. Justice Chin first taught at the University of NSW for three years and later became an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Sydney University Law School, where he ran a master's degree course for more than 10 years.
His Honour was sworn in on 1 July 2024.
Attorney General Michael Daley said:
"I am confident Justice David Chin will play an integral leadership role in the Industrial Court of NSW and the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC).
"Coincidentally, after returning to Australia from a master's degree at Oxford University in 1995 and working with the Labor Council of NSW, his first ever appearance was at the IRC. It's there he realised his values aligned with its purpose - to be independent, fair, and efficient.
"Once again, I would like to congratulate His Honour on this well-deserved appointment."
