- The
Honourable Janine Pritchard elected chairperson
of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia
- Ms Pritchard
served as a WA Supreme Court Justice for more than 14 years
- Senior assistant state solicitor Breony
Allen also appointed a member of the commission
The Honourable Janine Pritchard has been elected chairperson of the Law
Reform Commission of Western Australia (LRCWA) at the commission's first
meeting of the year. She was recently appointed to the commission, along with senior
lawyer Breony Allen.
Ms Pritchard replaces the
Honourable Lindy Jenkins and Ms Allen replaces new WA Solicitor-General Jean
Shaw SC.
Both new members commenced
their three-year terms in December 2025. They join existing member professor
Meredith Blake from The University of Western Australia, whose second term
began on 14 November 2025.
Ms Pritchard presided as a WA Supreme Court Justice from
June 2010 to January 2025, which included more than six years as a Court of
Appeal Judge, and as a WA District Court Judge for one year.
She retired from the judiciary in 2025. Ms Pritchard
also became the first female president of the State Administrative Tribunal,
serving between June 2019 and June 2024.
Her career on the Supreme and District Court benches was preceded by 16
years with the State Solicitor's Office (SSO), where she rose to the position
of senior assistant state counsel in 2002.
Primarily practising in administrative and constitutional law, she acted
and appeared as counsel and a solicitor for the State in litigation before
multiple courts during her time with the SSO.
Ms Pritchard is currently
leading a jurisdictional review for the WA Government that is looking at ways
to improve court efficiencies, including reducing the time to trial for
criminal matters.
Admitted to practice in
2010, Ms Allen has worked across most sections of the SSO for almost two
decades and has been a trusted adviser to the government.
She held the roles of solicitor
and assistant state solicitor before being appointed as a senior assistant state
solicitor in the SSO's Advice, Policy and Public Law team in July 2025.
Ms Allen's work has
included representing the State's interests in royal commissions and
commercial negotiations, advising on a wide range of matters, and
coordinating complex and politically sensitive litigation as counsel and as a
solicitor across various State courts.
The LRCWA is an
independent statutory authority that examines matters of law referred to it by
the Attorney General and makes law reform recommendations.
Comments attributed to Attorney General Dr Tony Buti:
"I congratulate the Honourable Janine Pritchard and Breony Allen on their
appointments as members of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia.
"The commission plays a
key role in advising the government on legal reform to benefit the community.
"Ms Pritchard brings a
strong background in complex criminal and civil matters stemming from her many years
serving with distinction as a judicial officer.
"She also provided advice to government while at the SSO on aspects of
the law relating to public, administrative, constitutional, privacy and industrial
law, and prosecution of regulatory offences.
"Ms Allen provides advice on legislative reform and on complex legal and
policy issues involving administrative,
constitutional, environmental and criminal law, emergency management, education
and care.
"I also thank outgoing
commission members the Honourable Lindy Jenkins and Jean Shaw SC for their
dedicated service."
