The Social Representativeness of Male and Female Judges in Australia: Insights from 15 years of Demographic Data

There are various arguments in favour of a more diverse judiciary, often advocating for the appointment of more women as judges. One argument is that more women judges will make the judiciary more representative of the community it serves and thereby increase the democratic legitimacy of the courts. This paper uses 15 years of demographic data to assess how ‘representative’ judges (both male and female) are in Australia and how the representativeness of judges has changed over time. Are male judges more representative of ordinary men than female judges are representative of ordinary woman, or vice versa? Has this changed over time? What might explain the answers to these questions? The focus of the paper is on the social experiences of judges rather than their age or race or other such characteristics. The paper examines the social experiences of male and female judges and how those experiences compare with the social experiences of men and women in the general population. How much unpaid domestic work do male and females judge do and how does this compare with ordinary men and women? How do male and female judges travel to work and how does this compare with ordinary men and women? Do male and female judges engage in voluntary community work and how does this compare with ordinary men and women? Do male and female judges have internet access at home and how does this compare with ordinary men and women? The paper concludes with some observations about why social experiences of judges should matter in arguments about the representativeness of the judiciary.