Kate Barton

Expertise

Kate is a member of the Dispute Resolution and Litigation group in Canberra. She has experience in the defendant insurance space, having acted for insurers, government and self-insured entities in workers compensation and work injury damages claims, public liability and property damage claims, and aviation matters.

Kate developed her practice in Sydney before returning home to Canberra in April 2026 and joining Holding Redlich soon after. She has appeared and instructed in matters in the District and Supreme Courts of NSW, as well as the Court of Appeal.

Experience

Since being admitted to practice in 2020, Kate has been involved in the following proceedings:

• acting for NSW Police Force in complex work injury damages proceedings brought by police officers who sustained psychological injuries in the course of their duties, including successfully obtaining a Markus order prior to the commencement of the substantive District Court proceedings to hold back service of covert footage obtained of the police officer performing activities outside his stated capacity
• acting for specialist self-insured entities, including supermarkets and charitable organisations, in proceedings brought by injured workers and victims of child sexual abuse
• advising Commonwealth government clients on their liability prospects in claims brought by a former detainee of Villawood Detention Centre and a former tenant of Defence Housing Australia
• acting for specialist aviation insurers in decades-long litigation involving an injured student pilot who was training in Australia for a Chinese-based airline, including a Court of Appeal proceeding raised on a question of the proper interpretation of the Transport Safety Information Act 2003
• advising directors and interested stakeholders, including government ministers, in a damages claim sustained at a Papua New Guinea airport when an intoxicated fuel truck driver drove into the wing of a stationary national air carrier's aircraft.

Membership

Women Lawyers Association