Finding Solutions and Bridging the Divide

Robert Benjamin AM is a lawyer and former Justice of the Family Court of Australia.

Admitted to legal practice in 1975, Robert practised extensively in family law and child protection prior to his appointment to the bench in 2005. He retired as a Family Court Justice in May 2021.

Educated and raised in both Tasmania and New South Wales, Robert has had a long-standing history of academic and practical involvement in mediation, arbitration, negotiation and other forms of dispute resolution. He is a member of the AIFLAM Arbitrators panel.

Robert has been extensive involved in legal education and professional development over the decades. He has previously chaired the Family Court of Australia’s Education, Benchbook, Finance, Costs and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Outreach Committees. He has assisted with the development of non-adversarial dispute resolution practices in various other countries around the world including Indonesia, Japan and Zimbabwe.

In 2003 he was the President of the New South Wales Law Society and in 2003and 2004 he was the Chair of the College of Law. He has served on the College's Academic Committee over the last 10 years or so.  In 2015 Robert was awarded an Honorary Degree in Master of Laws (Applied Law) and Fellow of the College of Law.

In the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2015, Robert was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to the judiciary and to the law, legal education, mediation and arbitration and professional standards.