His father, a diplomat and public servant from Sydney, met his mother (a Canadian) while both were on the staff of Richard Casey, the Australian Ambassador to the United States.
[19] His appointment to the High Court by the Howard government was generally welcomed, and Attorney-General Daryl Williams noted Heydon's strong work ethic.
[4] There was some disapproval, however, because Heydon replaced the only female justice, Mary Gaudron, making the court then all-male, and because of his opposition to judicial activism.
[21] As he approached the constitutionally mandated retirement age of 70, Heydon's rate of dissent increased markedly, tripling to 47.6 percent from 2010 to 2011.
[24] His publicly expressed views, set out while a senior New South Wales judge, criticised the evolution of the High Court under the two immediately preceding Chief Justices, Sir Anthony Mason and Sir Gerard Brennan,[25] were described by contemporaneous commentators as a "job application"[26] for appointment to the High Court by the government of Liberal Party Prime Minister John Howard.
[32] Heydon's time on the High Court cemented his reputation as a leading "black-letter lawyer", meaning that he strictly followed the traditional interpretation of the law.
[34][35] Heydon handed down the Commission's interim report in December 2014[36] and found that the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) acted in "wilful defiance of the law".
Dyson recommended that criminal charges of blackmail be considered against John Setka, the Secretary of CFMEU Victoria, along with charges against other senior CFMEU officials in Queensland and New South Wales for activities that included death threats, extortion, gross neglect, and other "serious criminal matters".
No charges were laid against Gillard, although Heydon agreed with counsel assisting Jeremy Stoljar's submission, that her conduct as a solicitor had been "questionable".
The report recommended that charges be considered against seven past and present Health Services Union officials for their role in an alleged right of entry scam.
[38] In 2015, while the Royal Commission was still sitting, Heydon agreed to deliver the Sir Garfield Barwick Address, an event organised by a branch of the Liberal Party.
[43][44] Heydon submitted his final report to the Governor-General on 28 December 2015, finding "widespread and deep-seated" misconduct by union officials in Australia.
The Chief Justice of Australia, Susan Kiefel apologised to the women on behalf of the Court, and announced new measures to protect judges' personal staff, and to improve the handling of complaints.
[47] The same month, the Sydney Morning Herald published the results of its own investigation in which several women alleged that they had been sexually harassed by Heydon.