Sara Hinchey, Judge

Sara Hinchey graduated from Loreto College in 1986. She studied Law and Science at Monash University, after which she completed her Articles of Clerkship at Purves Clark Richards (now Gadens Lawyers).

She was the first Associate to Justice Hansen in the Supreme Court of Victoria from 1994-1996, after which she went to the Bar, where she practiced for almost 20 years. She was appointed as a Judge of the County Court in May 2015.

In December 2015, Sara was appointed as the fifth State Coroner of Victoria, a position which she held until 2019, when she returned to her role as a County Court Judge. She presently works in the Common Law Division of the Court hearing a wide range of Personal Injuries matters and is also the Judge in Charge of the Appeals and Post Sentence Applications List.

Prior to her appointment to the County Court, Sara had a broad practice as a barrister and was regularly briefed in matters including large commercial disputes, professional negligence, occupational health and safety prosecutions and white-collar crime. She appeared in all Courts in Victoria, was briefed in numerous Royal Commissions, and also appeared interstate and in the High Court of Australia.

Sara has always had a love of cooking, gardening and nature. Since 2011, she has shared her love of the Australian Truffle industry with enthusiastic home cooks in the form of a cooking school called “The Truffle Hound.” She has hosted many truffle dinners around Victoria, including in conjunction with Grossi Florentino and Gourmet Traveller Magazine. She has been invited to present seminars at Truffle Melbourne. She regularly brings to work the produce which she grows at home, to share with her colleagues. Her collection of produce has become known as “The Third Floor Produce Store.” Sara loves learning about nature while bushwalking and working in her garden, which she does as often as she can with her husband and their two rescue dogs, Celti and Pip.