Mary Padbury is an Australian intellectual-property and trade-practices lawyer, corporate director, and governance leader. She chaired Blake Dawson Waldron and Ashurst Australia, served as Ashurst’s global vice chairman, directed the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and chaired the Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health.
Background
Mary Padbury was born in Perth, Western Australia. Her family moved between Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne because of her father’s employment, giving her an upbringing across several southern Australian states. She was the youngest of three children. Her father had wanted to study law, but his studies were interrupted by service in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War; Padbury later chose to study law partly in response to his unfulfilled ambition. Although she had initially been more interested in classical studies and Russian literature, she found legal study challenging and engaging.
Education
Padbury studied at the University of Melbourne, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours. She studied intellectual property at a time when it was only beginning to be established as a university subject, and this early academic interest developed into the principal focus of her legal career.
Career
Padbury began her legal career in Melbourne in 1981 with Blake & Riggall, the firm that later merged with Dawson Waldron to form Blake Dawson Waldron and subsequently became part of Ashurst. After completing her articles, she was initially assigned to property law but moved toward intellectual property work, volunteering for intellectual-property matters as they arose. She was seconded to the London intellectual-property firm Bristows, where she broadened her specialist experience and developed an international professional network. She later became a partner of the Blake firm and was appointed the first female chairman of Blake Dawson Waldron in 2005. She led the firm through its transition to Blake Dawson and then into its full merger with Ashurst LLP, completed in 2013. Following the merger, she became Ashurst’s global vice chairman and served as chairman of Ashurst Australia. She retired as an Ashurst partner at the end of April 2018 after a legal career spanning more than 35 years. Her practice concentrated on intellectual property, patents, trade practices, technology, and related governance issues for Australian and multinational corporations. Alongside private practice, she developed an extensive non-executive career. She joined the Burnet Institute board in 2011 and served as its chair from 2019 until her retirement from the board in January 2026. She was appointed an independent non-executive director of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in June 2016 and retired from that board at the conclusion of its 2025 annual general meeting. She has also held board and chairing roles with organisations connected with medical research, technology, the performing arts, education, and sport.
Achievements
Became the first female chairman of Blake Dawson Waldron in 2005.
Led Blake Dawson’s negotiations and integration work for its full merger with Ashurst LLP in 2013.
Built an international legal career of more than 35 years specializing in intellectual property, patents, trade practices, technology, and governance.
Served as the first female Chair of the Burnet Institute and led the organisation’s board through major governance, strategic, and commercial developments.
Views
Padbury has expressed the view that effective leadership is collective rather than individual, and that diverse boards and diversity of thought contribute to better decisions. She has also emphasized that people flourish when they feel supported and know that their managers care about them.
Quotations:
“I believe leadership is a collective endeavour, rather than an individual endeavour, and I think women tend to lead that way.”
Membership
Padbury has been associated with Chief Executive Women, the Melbourne University Law School Foundation, the Professional Standards Board for Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys, the Victorian Legal Admissions Board, and the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group. Her professional and public-service participation has combined legal expertise with governance, regulatory, technology, health, and gender-diversity interests.
Member.
Chief Executive Women
,
Australia
Member.
Melbourne University Law School Foundation
,
Australia
Member and later chair.
Professional Standards Board for Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys
,
Australia
Member.
Victorian Legal Admissions Board
,
Australia
Director and member.
Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group
,
Australia
Personality
Padbury has described leadership as a collective endeavour requiring openness, diversity of thought, empathy, resilience, and the ability to manage people as well as technical matters. Her public statements emphasize constructive feedback, support for colleagues, and the importance of remaining open to being wrong.
Quotes from others about the person
Commonwealth Bank chairman David Turner described Padbury as bringing exemplary legal, technology, governance, and international experience to the bank’s board. Burnet Institute chief executive Brendan Crabb has credited her with leading the Institute with clarity, generosity, and a strong commitment to purpose and best-practice governance.
Interests
Medical research, public health, technology, gender diversity, and supporting the professional development of women.
Writers
Russian literature
Connections
Padbury’s professional career is closely connected with the institutional evolution of Blake & Riggall, Blake Dawson Waldron, Blake Dawson, and Ashurst. Her work with the Burnet Institute also connected her legal and governance experience with medical research and public-health initiatives, including the Institute’s activities in Papua New Guinea. She has supported and mentored women in professional leadership and has publicly identified the development of the next generation of women leaders as one of her proudest career achievements.
First Women: Stories of Women at Ashurst
Documents Padbury’s career from Blake & Riggall through Blake Dawson and Ashurst, her Bristows secondment, intellectual-property specialization, and leadership roles.
2024 Annual Report
Documents Padbury’s qualifications, tenure as Burnet Institute chair, and directorships with Commonwealth Bank, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Richmond Football Club, and Ormond College.
Board Renewal
Documents Padbury’s decision not to seek re-election to the Commonwealth Bank board and her retirement at the conclusion of the 2025 annual general meeting.
