As of October 2022, there is a female majority for the first time, since the retirement of Patrick Keane and his replacement by Jayne Jagot. In 2017, Justice Kiefel became the first woman to be appointed Chief Justice. Michael Kirby was the first openly gay justice of the Court. He was replaced by Virginia Bell, who is the first person on the bench to identify as a lesbian. Twenty-eight appointees have been residents of New South Wales, twenty-five of which graduated from Sydney Law School. Sixteen have come from Victoria, eight from Queensland, and four from Western Australia. No resident of South Australia, Tasmania, or any of the Territories has ever been appointed to the bench. The majority of Justices have been of Protestant backgrounds, with a smaller number of a Catholic background. Two Jewish members have been appointed, Sir Isaac Isaacs and James Edelman, making them the only members of the court to have a faith background other than Christianity. However, many justices have refrained from commenting publicly upon their religious views. Almost all judges on the High Court have "taken silk" in some form prior to their appointment, in the form of appointment to King's Counsel (KC), Queen's Counsel (QC) or Senior Counsel (SC). The exceptions are Starke, McTiernan, Webb, Walsh, Kirby, French, Edelman and Jagot. While thirteen historical justices of the court have previously served in a Parliament; no parliamentarian has been appointed to the Court since Lionel Murphy in 1975. Working conditions Salaries are determined by the Remuneration Tribunal. The regular justices receive $551,880, while the Chief justice receives $608,150. High Court judicial compensation is constitutionally protected from decrease during appointment. The court typically sits for two weeks for each calendar month of the year, excepting for January and July in which no sitting days are held. Judicial associates Each judge engages associates for assistance in exercising their functions. The usual practice is to engage two associates simultaneously for a one-year term. Additionally, the Chief Justice is assisted by a legal research officer employed by the court library. Associates have varying responsibilities; typically their work involves legal research, assistance in preparation for oral arguments, tipping in court during oral argument, editing judgments and assisting with extrajudicial functions, such as speechwriting. Associates are typically recruited after having graduated from an Australian law school with grades at or near the top of their class. Hundreds of applications for