Hugh King

Hugh King is a private sector lawyer and has been based in Sydney throughout his professional life. At all times he has specialized in the broad areas of commercial law, governance, ethics and the process of government and has developed sub-specialities in serving the aviation, tourism, government and health sectors.

He was admitted as a Solicitor in 1968, and in 1971 he became a partner at Phillips Fox (now DLA Phillips Fox) which during his thirty years as a partner grew from a small Sydney commercial practice to become a major Australian law firm extending also to New Zealand and Vietnam. In that practice he advised a large number of public and substantial private corporations, both Australian and international, on the complete spectrum of risk, commercial and governance issues. On several occasions in the period 1984-2000 he accepted invitations to join the boards of directors of client companies (in three cases, as chairman) and industry associations.

Since July 2001 he has been a Consultant to DLA Phillips Fox and as such he retains full access to its people, skills and facilities across Australia and internationally.

Also in July 2001 he commenced CEO Collegiate Pty Limited (www.ceoadvising.com) a new strategy and policy consultancy jointly owned with his long-term friend Paul Barratt AO. In 1997-1999 Paul Barratt was the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Defence and, prior to that, the Secretary of the Department of Primary Industry and Energy. From 1993 to 1996 Paul Barratt was the chief executive officer of Business Council of Australia.

Hugh is a long-term active member of law profession groups including the Law Society of New South Wales. Since 1990 he has been a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and until 2005 was a member of the Institute of Public Administration of Australia.

He is a past national chairman of the Aviation Law Association of Australia and New Zealand, and with a deep professional involvement in the tourism sector deriving from aviation interests, he was a member of the Tourism Task Force until 2000 and served for three years as a Director of Tourism Council Australia. In March 2005 he was appointed by the Federal Minister for Tourism and Small Business to serve as a Member of the five-person National Tourism Investment Infrastructure Consultative Group which reported to the Minister in November 2005. He served for four years to 2003 as a director of the Regional Aviation Association of Australia.

For five years to 2003 he was a Director of the Australian Institute of Health Law & Ethics, and he was a member of the organizing committee for the 2004 World Congress for Medical Law hosted in Sydney by the Australian College for Medical Law. He is one of the four trustees and chairman of the ‘Good Beginnings Foundation’ supporting the Good Beginnings National Parenting Project.

He graduated in Arts and Law from the University of Sydney in 1968 and continues admitted to practise as a Solicitor in New South Wales (previously also in Victoria and Solomon Islands). He has lived in the Sydney suburb of Clifton Gardens since 1976. He is married to Dr Jill King a Sydney medical specialist and they have two adult children.