Steward grew up in Melbourne, attending Sacred Heart School in Kew before going on to Xavier College.
[1] He later completed a Master of Laws degree in 2000 with a thesis on the constitutional limitation of taxation powers.
[1] On 28 October 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Attorney-General Christian Porter announced that Steward and Jacqueline Gleeson would be appointed to the High Court of Australia to fill the vacancies caused by upcoming retirements of Geoffrey Nettle and Virginia Bell.
[4] Although described as a "little-known tax expert", the Australian Financial Review reported that he enjoyed the backing of Victorian conservatives supportive of his black-letter approach to jurisprudence.
[3] According to The Australian, Steward has a "reputed love for all things British"; he placed a bust of Winston Churchill in his chambers.