Justice – Waltzing With Matilda's

The Justice card represents justice, fairness, truth and the law.

Justice represents the balancing of scales. The payment of dues. The ‘right’ outcome. The serving of justice as we enjoy it in films and literature. Social change, progress. Justice is, in principle and by definition, about fairness, balance, equity.

he Alchemical Tarot by Robert Place includes a 22nd card entitled Truth. A friend sent me a link to an article titled Mrs Sherlock Holmes’ and the other real female sleuths who were written out of history. This addresses the women who rivalled male private eyes in a masculine world, who sought truth and justice.

One notable female private investigator of the past included Matilda Mitchell, who left the pantomime stage to become head of Selfridge’s “secret service” on Oxford Street in 1912, and Liverpool’s own “Mrs Sherlock Holmes.

This set me, like others, on the trail to find an equivalent Australian. Turns out that Lillian Armfield was Australia’s first female detective. When she and Maude Rhodes began their work as the first constables in the newly formed Womens Police, part of the NSW Police Force, in 1915, World War I was raging in Europe and the Middle East, and Australian troops experienced warfare on a mass scale for the first time as they went ashore at Gallipoli on 25 April.

Lady detectives seem to have come late to Australia. The concept of them was known throughmost of the Victorian era, as they were subject of some popular novels, including Revelations of a Lady Detective (1864) which was advertised, widely, for many, many, many years in regional Australian newspapers. Tracing them was also complicated because the distinction between police detective and private detectives isn’t always obvious from the context. Still, they don’t appear until near the end of the century and the earliest mentions are from overseas.
Mistress of the Rough Seas

To say things were stacked against Lillian is an understatement.

For one, Armfield had to sign a waiver agreeing that the New South Wales police department she served was not responsible for her safety and welfare, and that no compensation would be provided for injuries sustained during her duties.

Then there was the fact that she wasn’t given a uniform and had to pay for civilian clothes worn on duty. She couldn’t marry either. To top it all, she had to go about her business unarmed and, er, was not allowed to arrest criminals.

Ah, yes… the spinster policewoman with no uniform, no weapon, with no powers of arrest… All they were short of doing was painting a target on her back, saying ‘Assault me’

By the time Christine Nixon, who headed Victoria police, was in power things had certainly changed, but she makes no secret of the fact that she still struggled with the very masculine world of the force.

Female Private Investigation Today

The history of private investigators in Australia is a lesser-known topic since there are no accurate records about the exact year when the first PI agency commenced its operations in the country. However, newspaper articles and court reports suggest that private investigators in Australia have been working since at least the 1880s.

Sydney based Amy Elliot talks about the breadth of work, and the skills she offers. Many might find what she does daunting but Elliot loves her work. She believes that investigators like herself can effect change more quickly than the court system.

On any day her role can embrace.

• Criminal background checks on candidates for a job vacancy for businesses
• Bad debt recovery and collection
• Investigating suspicious business employees
• Insurance or workers compensation claims
• Conducting interviews for investigating workplace theft or harassment complaints
• Investigation and evidence collection through internet forensics
• Process serving for legal cases
• Background checks on to-be spouse before wedding
• Infidelity investigation
• Data recovery from damaged phone or laptop
• Strengthening your case in child custody matters
• Investigating financial fraud

Justice, sword aloft, scales in hand, is a powerful archetypal figure representing a social and personal ideal. Without justice, there cannot be peace. Regardless of the injustice around us, this card asks us to get clear about our own ideas of justice, and how we can embody these principles in our lives.
Little Red Tarot

Christine Nixon belongs to the postwar generation of women who were not content to be passed over in favour of men when they entered the workforce, and who refused to accept the notion of a glass ceiling. Nixon rose to the top in two of the most masculine organisations in Australia, the New South Wales and Victorian police forces.

The daughter of Ross Nixon, an assistant commissioner with the New South Wales Police Force, Christine Nixon began her policing career as a trainee with the same police force in 1972. She has worked in the School Lecturing Section of the Criminal Investigation Branch, the Darlinghurst Police Station, the Commissioner’s Policy Unit, the Police and Planning Branch and the Police Academy. Christine studied at Harvard University and undertook a secondment with the London Metropolitan Police. She has a Diploma in Labour Relations and Law, a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy and Politics) and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard.

She was appointed Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police in April 2001 by the Bracks Labor governmentIn March 2001, taking over from over from Neil Comrie. At the time the New South Wales Police Commissioner, Peter Ryan, said, “This is a compliment to Commander Nixon’s skills and abilities…she has been an exceptional leader of the South Eastern Region since May 1999, and has had broad experience of policing. She has achieved a great deal in the areas of her additional responsibilities, including community safety, targeting the aged, Neighbourhood Watch and Safety House”.

Christine has also been a mentor and supporter of young policewomen. She is the inaugural President of the Australasian Council of Women and Policing. Her biography, Fair Cop, candidly shares the public and private stories of Christine Nixon—woman, spouse, citizen, constable—on a journey that encounters tragedy, corruption, ambition and humility.