(28 June 1928 – 6 December 2013)

Barbara Hocking studied Arts and Law at Melbourne University, graduating in 1962. She went on to complete her LLM degree at Monash University in 1970 and was later admitted to practice in Victoria in November 1975 and in the ACT in December 1975.

In 1982 Barbara became the first barrister briefed in the Mabo case, which would finally right the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’ and recognise native title in common law.

She was a long-standing and active member of the Australian Labor Party and maintained her political commitments throughout her life.

In 1986 Barbara became a Senior Member of the Commonwealth Veterans Review Tribunal and Chairperson of the Medicare Participation Review Committee, and in 2004 she was appointed to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.