AFL SportsReady Board Member Appointed Governor of Victoria

AFL SportsReady is delighted with today’s announcement that current AFL SportsReady Board member and former Chair, The Hon Linda Dessau AM, will be appointed the 29th Governor of Victoria.

A long-serving Family Court Judge and AFL Commissioner, Ms Dessau will commence her appointment on July 1, 2015.

When announcing the appointment today, the Hon. Daniel Andrews MP, Premier of Victoria praised Ms Dessau’s outstanding contribution to Victoria.

“As an honest voice of change, Ms Dessau helped bring Australian family law and the Australian Football League into the new century,” said Premier Andrews.

Ms Dessau served as a Judge of the Family Court from 1995 to 2013. During her time on the Family Court, she notably chaired national projects relating to family violence and child abuse.

Prior to her appointment to the Family Court, she was a magistrate in the Children’s Court, Coroner’s Court and the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, a barrister at the Victorian Bar, and Senior Crown Counsel in Hong Kong.

In 2010, Ms Dessau was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her service to the judiciary and the community, 36 years after graduating with honours in law from the University of Melbourne.

Ms Dessau has had a long and influential involvement with Australia’s greatest game, serving as an AFL Commissioner since 2008. She was the inaugural chair of the Essendon Football Club Women’s Network.

“From the sporting and cultural icons that make our state liveable, to important family law work that keeps women and children safe, Ms Dessau has helped shape Victoria for the better.”

“I was proud to recommend her appointment to Her Majesty and Victorians will be proud to call her their Governor,” Andrews further commented.

Ms Dessau has contributed her valuable time not only to AFL SportsReady, but to organisations throughout Victoria.

A Chair and Board Member of the Melbourne Festival and a Trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria, Ms Dessau has helped make our state Australia’s cultural capital.

She was a Patron of the Epilepsy Foundation and food recycling charity One Umbrella, and has been involved in many other charitable and community service organisations, such as Turning Point Drug and Alcohol Centre.

AFL SportsReady wholeheartedly congratulates Ms Dessau on this appointment.