The Honourable Colin Forrest SC

Colin completed his undergraduate degrees in Arts and Law at the University of New South Wales in Sydney in 1986. For his Arts Degree, he majored in Industrial Relations, but also studied Political Science, Philosophy and German.

Before completing university, he had three separate gap years studying and working in Germany, Japan, and the Northern Territory respectively. Colin still retains reasonable fluency in German and can speak some Japanese.

During his Northern Territory gap year, Colin spent a lot of time working with, and relating to, indigenous Australians.

He spent all of 1987 as Legal Associate to Justice Michael Kirby, then President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal. He was also admitted to the NSW Bar that year.

In 1988, Colin moved to Brisbane and worked for two years as a solicitor for the CBD firm of Goss Downey Carne.

In 1990, he was called to the Queensland Bar and, over twenty years, established a practice specializing in family law and succession law.

Whilst at the Bar, Colin spent several years as a part-time member of the Commonwealth Social Security Appeals Tribunal. He was later appointed as a part-time member of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal and, when that Tribunal became part of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, he became a sessional member of QCAT.

In the 2000’s, whilst maintaining his private practice at the Bar, Colin served several years as Deputy Public Interest Monitor and then several years as the Public Interest Monitor under Queensland’s Police Powers and Responsibilities legislation and the Commonwealth’s Anti-Terrorism legislation.

He also served as the Queensland Bar Association’s representative on the Queensland Law Society’s Family Law Specialist Accreditation Committee, and as a member of the Executive of the Family Law Practitioners’ Association of Queensland including a term as its President.

Colin also served on the Human Research Ethics Advisory Committee of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, and in 2010, he was appointed as Senior Counsel.

Between 2011 and 2021, he was a member of the Trial Division of the Family Court of Australia, based in the Brisbane Registry. In that time, he served as Case Management Judge in his home Registry, as a member of the Chief Justice’s Policy Advisory Committee and as the Family Court’s representative on the combined federal courts’ Children’s Committee.

Colin published over five hundred written judgments during his time on the Court, and on occasion, sat with Appeal Division Judges on the Full Court in determination of appeals.

During long-service leave in 2016, he spent six weeks in Timor-Leste building relationships with Timorese Judges, NGO’s in the justice sector, lawyers and community groups in that country.

In 2024, Colin completed and obtained a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Queensland.

Colin is a member of the Bar Association of Queensland, the Victorian Bar, the Family Law Practitioners’ Association of Queensland, the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators. He is also a member of the Queensland Chapter of the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

Colin is a Regulation 21 family law arbitrator and is also an AMDRAS accredited mediator. He has conducted hundreds of mediations assisting separated couples to resolve their disputes both before his appointment to the Family Court and since his resignation from the Court in early 2021. He has conducted numerous arbitrations since leaving the Court, as well.

Colin has presented many papers at conferences all over Australia and internationally.

Just check the Calendar below and then contact Colin Forrest's Executive Assistant, Ms Ly Bui, to make a booking.  

Please contact Colin's Executive Assistant, Ms Ly Bui, to discuss the costs of mediation and arbitration services as they apply to your particular circumstances.

Colin is prepared to conduct mediation or arbitration services in appropriate rooms chosen by the solicitors and their clients anywhere in Australia.

Please note that all visits to Colin's Chambers must be arranged by prior appointment.