John Basten is a judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales

Supreme Court of New South Wales

The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales...

, the highest court in the State 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...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, which forms part of the Australian court hierarchy

Australian court hierarchy

There are two streams within the hierarchy of Australian courts, the federal stream and the state and territory stream. While the federal courts and the court systems in each state and territory are separate, the High Court of Australia remains the ultimate court of appeal for the Australian...

.

Education

Basten graduated in law, with first class honours, from the University of Adelaide

University of Adelaide

The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...

. He subsequently attained a BCL

BCL

BCL may stand for:*BCL, an Algerian company that produces light infantry vehicles for the National Popular Army* the ISO 639-3 code for the Central Bikolano language*Bachelor of Civil Law, the name of various degrees in law in English-speaking countries...

 from the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

.

Career

From 1996-99, Basten served as a part-time Commissioner of the NSW Law Reform Commission. He was a member of the NSW Pay Equity Taskforce (1996–97), Part-time Commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission

Australian Law Reform Commission

The Australian Law Reform Commission is an Australian independent statutory body established to conduct reviews into the law of Australia and advocate options for law reform...

 (1986–87), a lecturer in law 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...

 (1974–80), and a Bigelow Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 (1972–73). He has also served as part-time Hearing Commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

The Australian Human Rights Commission is a national human rights institution, a statutory body funded by, but operating independently of, the Australian Government. It has the responsibility for investigating alleged infringements under Australia’s anti-discrimination legislation...

 (HREOC) (1994–97).

In 1992, Basten was appointed Queen's Counsel. He was appointed a Judge of Appeal of the NSW Court of Appeal

Supreme Court of New South Wales

The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales...

in 2005.