Bob Bellear
Encyclopedia
Bob Bellear was the first Indigenous Australian judge
.
Bob was born in the far north-east of New South Wales
, and grew up near the town of Mullumbimby
. His grandfather was a Vanuatu
an man who was blackbirded
to Australia to work on a sugar plantation, and his grandmother was an Aboriginal Australian woman from Minjerribah (also known as Stradbroke Island) in Queensland
. His other grandfather had been blackbirded from the Solomon Islands
. Bellear was one of nine children.
He left school early, but could not get a job, a fact which Bellear often attributed to racism
. Instead he joined the Royal Australian Navy
, where he was trained in mechanical engineering
and clearance diving
. He was a successful rugby union
player for the Navy's representative side. He was the first Indigenous person to achieve the rank of Petty Officer
. Bellear left the Navy in 1968, with several qualifications, including masonry
and fitting and turning. He was then able to easily find a job.
For some time Bellear lived in Redfern
with his wife Kaye Williams, whom he had met while in the Navy. The suburb had a substantial Aboriginal population at the time. Bellear established the Aboriginal Housing Corporation there in 1972, and throughout the 1970s was a director of both the Aboriginal Medical Service
and the Aboriginal Legal Service. Bellear was the leader of a campaign to prevent landlord
s in Redfern from evicting Aboriginal tenants, and his work led to the Whitlam government
transferring ownership of The Block
to the Aboriginal Housing Corporation.
Bellear would regularly see the patterns of intimidation
and harassment
which the New South Wales Police
practiced against the Aboriginal community in Redfern. In 1972, Bellear decided that he would study law. He completed his Higher School Certificate studies at Sydney Technical College
, and entered a law course at the University of New South Wales
. He became only the second Indigenous person to graduate from that university (after Pat O'Shane
) when he graduated in 1978. He was admitted to the New South Wales Bar
in 1979. As a barrister
he represented many Aboriginal people in criminal trials, and was often instructed by the Aboriginal Legal Service. In 1987 Bellear was appointed as an assisting counsel to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
.
In 1993 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws by Macquarie University
. On 17 May 1996, Bellear was appointed a judge of the District Court of New South Wales
, the first Indigenous person to be appointed to any court in Australia. He served as a judge for eight years. During this time he mentored young Indigenous lawyers, and encouraged students to attend his courtroom. He did not try to remain in Sydney
, instead preferring the rural circuit, where he could visit Aboriginal communities in regional centres, and bring students into his courtroom.
In his later life, Bellear was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma
, contracted during his time with the Royal Australian Navy, when as an apprentice engineer he was exposed to asbestos fibers
. Bellear died at his home on 15 March 2005, wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt. He was survived by his wife, two children Joanne and Kali (a third child Malu died young) and four grandchildren. The Government of New South Wales
granted Bellear a state funeral
, held at the Sydney Town Hall
. It was attended by about 2000 guests, including Governor of New South Wales Marie Bashir
and former Chief Justice of New South Wales
Laurence Street
.
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
.
Bob was born in the far north-east of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, and grew up near the town of Mullumbimby
Mullumbimby, New South Wales
Mullumbimby is a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia in Byron Shire, and is colloquially referred to as The Biggest Little Town in Australia. It lies at the foot of Mount Chincogan in the Brunswick Valley about from the sea...
. His grandfather was a Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
an man who was blackbirded
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
to Australia to work on a sugar plantation, and his grandmother was an Aboriginal Australian woman from Minjerribah (also known as Stradbroke Island) in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. His other grandfather had been blackbirded from the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
. Bellear was one of nine children.
He left school early, but could not get a job, a fact which Bellear often attributed to racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
. Instead he joined the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
, where he was trained in mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
and clearance diving
Clearance Diving Team (RAN)
The Clearance Diving Teams of the Royal Australian Navy also act as commando frogmen: they consist of naval personnel who are qualified in diving, demolitions, underwater repairs, and reconnaissance...
. He was a successful rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player for the Navy's representative side. He was the first Indigenous person to achieve the rank of Petty Officer
Petty Officer
A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...
. Bellear left the Navy in 1968, with several qualifications, including masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
and fitting and turning. He was then able to easily find a job.
For some time Bellear lived in Redfern
Redfern, New South Wales
Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Redfern is 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...
with his wife Kaye Williams, whom he had met while in the Navy. The suburb had a substantial Aboriginal population at the time. Bellear established the Aboriginal Housing Corporation there in 1972, and throughout the 1970s was a director of both the Aboriginal Medical Service
Aboriginal Medical Service
The Aboriginal Medical Service was established in Redfern from 1971. It was the first Aboriginal community controlled health service in Australia, and it is now a key Indigenous community organisation, from which most Aboriginal medical services around the State of New South Wales have stemmed...
and the Aboriginal Legal Service. Bellear was the leader of a campaign to prevent landlord
Landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
s in Redfern from evicting Aboriginal tenants, and his work led to the Whitlam government
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
transferring ownership of The Block
The Block (Sydney)
The Block is a colloquial but universally applied name given to a block of housing in Redfern Sydney. The block was purchased over a period of 30 years by the Aboriginal Housing Company for use as a project in Aboriginal-managed housing....
to the Aboriginal Housing Corporation.
Bellear would regularly see the patterns of intimidation
Intimidation
Intimidation is intentional behavior "which would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities" fear of injury or harm. It's not necessary to prove that the behavior was so violent as to cause terror or that the victim was actually frightened.Criminal threatening is the crime of intentionally or...
and harassment
Harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
which the New South Wales Police
New South Wales Police
The New South Wales Police Force is the primary law enforcement agency in the State of New South Wales, Australia. It is an agency of the Government of New South Wales within the New South Wales Ministry for Police...
practiced against the Aboriginal community in Redfern. In 1972, Bellear decided that he would study law. He completed his Higher School Certificate studies at Sydney Technical College
Sydney Technical College
The Sydney Technical College was a name used by Australia's oldest technical education institution.It began as the Sydney Mechanics' Institute in 1843...
, and entered a law course at the University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
. He became only the second Indigenous person to graduate from that university (after Pat O'Shane
Pat O'Shane
Patricia June O'Shane is a magistrate of the Local Court of New South Wales living in Sydney, Australia. A former head of the New South Wales Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, and Aboriginal herself, O'Shane was appointed a magistrate in 1986...
) when he graduated in 1978. He was admitted to the New South Wales Bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
in 1979. As a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
he represented many Aboriginal people in criminal trials, and was often instructed by the Aboriginal Legal Service. In 1987 Bellear was appointed as an assisting counsel to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody studied and reported on the high level of deaths of Aboriginal people whilst in custody after being arrested or convicted of committing crimes. This included suicide, natural causes, medical conditions and injuries caused by police...
.
In 1993 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws by Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
. On 17 May 1996, Bellear was appointed a judge of the District Court of New South Wales
District Court of New South Wales
The District Court of New South Wales has jurisdiction to hear most indictable offences . It hears appeals from the Local Court and civil claims up to A$750 000. In some circumstances the amount may be higher, e.g. with the consent of the parties or in motor accident claims etc...
, the first Indigenous person to be appointed to any court in Australia. He served as a judge for eight years. During this time he mentored young Indigenous lawyers, and encouraged students to attend his courtroom. He did not try to remain in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, instead preferring the rural circuit, where he could visit Aboriginal communities in regional centres, and bring students into his courtroom.
In his later life, Bellear was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma
Peritoneal mesothelioma
Peritoneal mesothelioma is the name given to the cancer that attacks the lining of the abdomen. This type of cancer affects the lining that protects the contents of the abdomen and which also provides a lubricating fluid to enable the organs to move and work properly.The peritoneum is made of two...
, contracted during his time with the Royal Australian Navy, when as an apprentice engineer he was exposed to asbestos fibers
Asbestos fibers
Asbestos fibers are released from asbestos containing materials . Friable asbestos containing materials release fibers more readily than encapsulated asbestos containing materials.- Determining airborne asbestos fiber levels :...
. Bellear died at his home on 15 March 2005, wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt. He was survived by his wife, two children Joanne and Kali (a third child Malu died young) and four grandchildren. The Government of New South Wales
Government of New South Wales
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
granted Bellear a state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
, held at the Sydney Town Hall
Sydney Town Hall
The Sydney Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building located in the heart of Sydney. It stands opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral...
. It was attended by about 2000 guests, including Governor of New South Wales Marie Bashir
Marie Bashir
Marie Roslyn Bashir AC, CVO is the present Governor of New South Wales since 2001 and also the Chancellor of the University of Sydney since 2007. Born in Narrandera, New South Wales, Bashir graduated from the University of Sydney in 1956 and held various medical positions, with a particular...
and former Chief Justice of New South Wales
Chief Justice of New South Wales
The Chief Justice of New South Wales is the senior judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the highest ranking judicial officer in the Australian state of New South Wales. The Chief Justice is both the judicial head of the Supreme Court as well as the administrative head...
Laurence Street
Laurence Street
Sir Laurence Whistler Street AC, KCMG, QC is an Australian jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.-Family:...
.