State Parole Authority welcomes new Chair – retired Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Bellew

Thursday, 16 February 2023

The State Parole Authority welcomes new Chair, highly respected former Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW, the Honourable Geoffrey Bellew, SC.

He begins his new role this week and brings to the SPA his vast experience in criminal and civil law and a reputation for fair-mindedness, common-sense and diligence.

Having retired from the bench last Friday (February 10) after serving more than 11 years, he continues his long and distinguished career with the Authority.

Judge Bellew was admitted to the NSW Bar in 1991, appointed Senior Counsel in 2006 and sworn in as a Judge of the Supreme Court in 2012, sitting in the Common Law Division, and regularly as a member of the Bench of the Court of Criminal Appeal.

A noted author, he has written numerous legal texts on various subjects including the law of evidence and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Notre Dame University.

Outside the law, Judge Bellew remains a passionate rugby league devotee and is a proud former Director of the National Rugby League Limited, the Manly-Warringah Leagues’ Club and former Chairman of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Football Club. 

For more than 20 years he also appeared before disciplinary tribunals and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, representing amateur and professional sportspersons, including rugby league players, jockeys, soccer players and Olympic athletes.

Judge Bellew’s appointment as Chair of the SPA is for a term of three years.