The Hon Michael O’BRYAN
Judge, Federal Court of Australia: 26.02.2019
Location: Melbourne
Other Commissions & Appointments:
Australian Competition Tribunal - President
Copyright Tribunal - Deputy President
Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory - Additional Judge
Michael Hugh O’Bryan was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia on 26 February 2019.
Justice O’Bryan graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1985, with an LLB (Hons) and BSc.
He was admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1987. He practised as a solicitor in London between 1988 and 1990 in the field of European competition law, and became a partner of the Australia law firm Minter Ellison in 1992 practising in the fields of corporate law, competition and consumer law and administrative law.
He was called to the Victorian Bar in 2002 and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2011. He practised in the areas of competition and consumer law, corporate law, class actions, administrative and constitutional law.
Justice O’Bryan was a member of the panel appointed by the Commonwealth Government in 2014 to conduct a review of Australia’s competition laws and policy (now known as the Harper Review), which resulted in the enactment of the Competition and Consumer (Competition Policy Review) Act 2017.
He was a member and past chairman of the Competition and Consumer Committee of the Law Council of Australia, and was a member of the Commercial Bar Association of the Victorian Bar and Chair of the Competition and Consumer Law Sub-committee.
From 2003 to 2015, he was a member of the Board (Executive Committee) of the Cancer Council of Victoria.
Associateship applications
Applications for the position of Associate to Justice O'Bryan commencing in July 2025 should be sent to chambers (via an email to the Executive Assistant to Justice O'Bryan) by 30 November 2024. Applications should take the form of a covering letter, CV and university transcript. Applicants with at least 2 years' experience in legal practice will be preferred. Interviews with shortlisted applicants will be conducted in January 2025.
General information about Associate positions can be found in the employment pages of the Court’s website.
Any queries in relation to the application process should be directed to the Executive Assistant to Justice O'Bryan by email.
Updated 13 November 2023
