| Francis Xavier Costigan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 January 1931 Melbourne, Australia |
| Died | 13 April 2009 (aged 78) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | The University of Melbourne |
| Occupation | Barrister |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Francis Xavier "Frank" Costigan, QC (14 January 1931 – 13 April 2009[1]) was an Australian lawyer who is most famous for chairing the Costigan Commission into organised crime.
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Costigan grew up in Preston, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne and was educated by the Jesuits at St Patricks College, East Melbourne, and at the University of Melbourne, where he obtained a law degree. He was admitted as a solicitor in Victoria in 1953 and became a barrister in 1957. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in Victoria in 1973, and was admitted to practise throughout Australia and in Ireland.
Costigan was active in the campaign to reform the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s. Costigan, along with a group of lawyers including John Button, John Cain, Xavier Connor QC, Barry Jones, and Richard McGarvie, formed a reform group called the Participants which challenged the undemocratic state executive for control of the party and supported the political agenda of then opposition leader, and later prime minister, Gough Whitlam[2]
In 1980, Costigan was appointed to chair the Royal Commission on the activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union (commonly called the Costigan Commission or the Costigan Royal Commission). The commission moved from the investigation of union criminality to allegations of tax evasion and organised crime.
Costigan was subsequently involved in Catholic campaigns for social justice. He was a director and deputy chair of Jesuit Social Services. In the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute he accused the Patrick Corporation of using the same "bottom of the harbour" corporate strategies as he had exposed in his Commission.
Costigan later mainly practised in Alternative Dispute Resolution, either as Arbitrator or Mediator.
In 2005 he was appointed chairman of the Australian branch of Transparency International, an anti-corruption coalition.
Costigan was the brother of former Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Peter Costigan.
He had 10 grandchildren.