Former judge Peter Vickery dies of natural causes, months after sexual harassment claims emerge

Retired Supreme Court judge Peter Vickery, QC, found by the court to have sexually harassed two junior associates, has died.

Vickery died of natural causes after a battle with cancer. He had been in palliative care for some time.

Peter Vickery, QC, has been named as the retired Supreme Court judge who allegedly sexually harassed two young female associates.Credit:The Age

Vickery was at the centre of a media storm in February after The Age revealed he had sexually harassed two junior female associates during his time on the bench.

Two independent reports commissioned by the Victorian Supreme Court, written by respected barrister Kate Eastman, SC and seen by The Age, found the women experienced unwelcome sexual advances from the judge. He also subjected them to unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature and unfavourable treatment in their employment because they were women, the report found.

Vickery denied the claims, and issued a statement on his website saying he never meant harm to the women.

“I never for a second believed that anything I did may have hurt two of them,” he wrote.

“I accept that I should have been more alert to this possibility. Had I possessed sufficient awareness, without hesitation I would have altered my behaviour. I extend my sincere apologies to both for any distress unknowingly caused.”

The associates – who were aged 21 and 26 when they began working for him, while he was some 40 years older, accused Vickery of kissing them and making inappropriate advances.

One woman said Mr Vickery put his hand between her thighs in the back seat of a car, while the other said he repeatedly sent her poetry. One poem was adorned with Italian master Caravaggio’s 1602 painting Amor Vincit Omnia (Love Triumphant), and contained the Latin sign-off Nunc scio quid sit amor, or “now I know what love is”.

Mr Vickery included an image of Caravaggio’s Amor Vincit Omnia (Love is Triumphant) in a letter to one of his associates.Credit:AP/Van Gogh Museum

Vickery, 72, retired from the bench in 2018 after serving 10 years as a judge.

Chief Justice Anne Ferguson accepted Eastman’s report’s findings and apologised on behalf of the court to the two women – who she said were subjected to “reprehensible” sexual harassment during their time working as associates to Mr Vickery – and thanked the women for coming forward.

“I know that was not easy,” she said. “I acknowledge the trauma they have experienced.

“Although we know how hard it is to make a complaint, we encourage people to speak up when they experience or witness inappropriate behaviour. We will investigate any complaints, past or present. Anyone who reports sexual harassment will be supported and treated fairly.

“This unacceptable behaviour must stop. Apologies are not enough. The responsibility to change culture and put measures in place to stop it happening lies with us. ”

Later that day, Vickery issued a statement on his website saying he never meant harm to the women.

Vickery said he maintained his innocence of wrongdoing and said Ms Eastman’s inquiry was “limited in the findings it was permitted to make”.

“It could not make any binding findings of fact or consider my legal defences. Further, the investigation was not conducted as a court of law or statutory tribunal, with the full hearing protections available under the law. Consequently, the findings are open to serious challenge.”

Vickery, also a part-time poet, was the co-founder of Recognition in Anthem, a small not-for-profit group proposing changes to Australia’s national anthem, Advance Australia Fair. The group achieved a win last New Year’s Eve when Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a one-word change from “young and free” to “one and free”.

He had more than 40 years’ experience in arbitration and litigation in a number of complex construction cases including the Qantas domestic terminal in Tullamarine, the South Australian desalination plant and dam construction at Yallourn.

He was also a senior fellow at the University of Melbourne’s law school, teaching Law of Construction Delay and Disruption to Masters’ students.

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