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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-08-28 Daily Xml
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Norman, Ms I.

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (14:42): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the Attorney please inform the council about the upcoming retirement of Crown Solicitor Ingrid Norman?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:42): I would be most pleased to and I thank the honourable member for his question. It is with mixed emotions that I inform the council about the upcoming retirement of Ms Ingrid Norman, who served with distinction as our Crown Solicitor in South Australia. I informed the chamber yesterday of the upcoming retirement of Ms Gabrielle Canny from the Legal Services Commission, and this marks another retirement of someone who has been very important and influential in South Australia's legal community.

Ms Norman served as the Crown Solicitor for the past three years and has led the office with distinction, bringing a breadth of experience, expertise and pragmatism to a demanding role. It's no small feat to provide a very brief summary of Ms Norman's expansive and impressive career, but I will go through just some of the highlights of what Ms Norman has contributed to the South Australian legal and justice sector since her admission to practice as a solicitor way back in 1981. When you consider it, that's quite a long time ago; 20 years into the last century was a time even before Rob Lucas served in this chamber back in 1981.

The Hon. C.M. Scriven: Before records were kept!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: It was; when Ant Music was a worldwide hit, or Bette Davis Eyes. The very, very first Indiana Jones movie had just come out in 1981, or On Golden Pond, which might be more appropriate for the retirement of a Crown Solicitor.

Ingrid's career commenced as a solicitor at Mahoney & Partners, where she worked primarily in the area of motor vehicle accidents and industrial injury claims, both at common law and under the Workers Compensation Act, which was repealed in 1987. This industrial experience set Ms Norman up very well for her next role, and it is a little known fact that her career then led her to the South Australian Salaried Medical Officers Association, better known as SASMOA, as an industrial liaison officer and officer manager—a role she has had good experience in, coming up against it as a solicitor now on the other side for the Crown representing the government.

I should make it clear that despite Ms Norman's brief but impressive work history as an industrial advocate at a union, her ultimate appointment as Crown Solicitor was under a former Liberal government. It is a great testament to Ms Norman that she has not only worked on both sides of the fence industrially, but has also impressed both sides of the political spectrum.

Heading back to private practice after SASMOA, Ms Norman then commenced as a senior lawyer at what is now Norman Waterhouse, engaging in a broad spectrum of work from industrial injury claims to commercial law, family law and medical negligence. It wasn't long before Ms Norman was formally recognised for her experience and exceptional skills, and she was promoted to senior associate, where she acted for the Auditor-General for the purposes of his inquiry into the State Bank of South Australia.

Bringing her time in private practice to an end, Ingrid then commenced employment as a solicitor with the Crown, and she would dedicate the next 31 years of her career to public service. Moving through various senior leadership positions within the Crown Solicitor's Office, Ms Norman held positions as a senior solicitor in the State Bank litigation section, becoming senior solicitor in the civil litigation section, and a managing solicitor outposted to DHS and the Department for Health—in that position likely coming face to face with those she used to work for in her brief time in SASMOA.

Further positions that Ingrid served in with distinction included as managing solicitor outposted to the then Department of Education and Children's Services, and as executive solicitor advising all of government on highly complex public law matters. As Acting Assistant Crown Solicitor, then Assistant Crown Solicitor, Ms Norman's wealth of experience could not have prepared her better for becoming Crown Solicitor in 2021.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere appreciation and thanks for the work Ingrid Norman has committed to the sector, especially her public service through 31 years at the Crown Solicitor's Office. During her time as Crown Solicitor she has had a significant impact on the betterment of South Australia. I know, from my time as Attorney-General, that I have seen her work on very significant matters, including the South Australian Voice to Parliament, the review of SafeWork and, before that, responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ingrid's presence will be sorely missed at the Crown Solicitor's Office, throughout the whole Attorney-General's Department and throughout the public sector more generally. Her astute and frank advice has been appreciated not just by me but by many ministers. I thank Ingrid for her service and wish her well for the future.

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