He left politics to become chief judge of the newly created Commonwealth Industrial Court, a position which he held until 1976.

Spicer was born in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran, but was taken to England by his family in 1905 and educated at Chelston School, Torquay.

He studied law at the University of Melbourne from 1916 to 1918, and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in March 1921, later establishing a successful legal practice.

The Bill was eventually passed by the Parliament and became the Communist Party Dissolution Act 1950, but was later declared unconstitutional by the High Court of Australia.

In 1952, he drafted an official secrets bill which included a provision permitting the death penalty for spying and wide powers of search and arrest without warrant, but this was rejected by cabinet.