Justice Lowell Goddard, the newly appointed chair of the inquiry into child sexual abuse, is a New Zealand high court judge who has served on United Nations committees.

The first woman from a Maori background to sit in her country’s high court, Goddard, 66, has experience working with victims of sexual assault; as a barrister she helped establish support programmes for survivors of abuse.

Goddard has also been chair of New Zealand’s Independent Police Conduct Authority and has sat on the UN subcommittee on the prevention of torture.

A law graduate from the University of Auckland, she began practising as a barrister in 1977 and was appointed Queen’s counsel in 1988. In 1992 she was appointed deputy solicitorgeneral for New Zealand. Goddard was appointed to the high court bench in December 1995.

Goddard is based at the high court in Wellington, where she has developed expertise in criminal law procedure. She is a member of New Zealand’s criminal division of the court of appeal.

Married to a lawyer, Christopher John Hodson QC, Goddard has three stepchildren and a daughter from her first marriage. Her interests are listed as being: gardening, family and her grandchildren. She also breeds and races horses.

Ben Emmerson QC, counsel to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, praised the selection of Goddard. He said: “The home secretary is extremely fortunate to have secured the services of Justice Lowell Goddard, one of the most respected and experienced judges in the Commonwealth, to act as chair of the new statutory inquiry that was announced in the House of Commons this afternoon.

“Justice Goddard has all the key qualities necessary to lead the inquiry’s work – absolute independence from the executive, a proven track record of holding state and non-state institutions to account and the forensic skills necessary to digest and analyse vast quantities of evidence.

“She is a judge with a longstanding commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, both in New Zealand and within the United Nations system. She has the courage, independence and vision required to run a major national investigation into the failure to protect vulnerable children against sexual abuse, which has reportedly taken place on an almost industrial scale in institutional settings in the United Kingdom over many years.”