Edward Woodward was born in Ballarat. He graduated Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne and was called to the Bar in 1951. He became a Queen’s Counsel in 1965 and was a member of the Victorian Bar Council from 1969 to 1972. He served as a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory from 1972 to 1979.
As a barrister, Woodward was leading counsel for the plaintiffs, the Yirrkala people, in Australia's first major Aboriginal land rights case, Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, in 1968-71. His recommendations as Aboriginal Land Rights Commissioner (1973-4) formed the basis for pioneering Northern Territory land rights legislation.
During his career Woodward sat on several boards and no less than seventeen Royal Commissions. He was President of the Trade Practices Tribunal (1974-6) and a Justice of the Federal Court of Australia (1977-90). As Director-General of Security between 1976 and 1981, he headed the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
Woodward has had a long association with the University of Melbourne. He was a member of the Council of the University from 1973–6 and 1986-2001, and as an external member of the Faculty of Law he chaired a curriculum review in 1974-5. He served as Chancellor of the University from 1990 to 2001.
Sir Edward Woodward was made a Knight Bachelor in 1982 and Companion in the Order of Australia in 2001. His memoir, One Brief Interval, was published in 2005.
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