Australia has a new High Court judge, with the swearing-in this week of Justice Geoffrey Nettle.

Justice Nettle is the first appointment to the High Court under the Abbott government and is considered a politically safe selection.

“He is certainly not a political appointment, either side of politics could have easily appointed him to this post,” says constitutional law expert George Williams.

“There's no doubt given his prior record in the Victorian Supreme Court that he is up to the job and is indeed one of the intellectual leaders of the profession.”

Federal Attorney-General George Brandis says Justice Nettle is one of Australia’s finest jurists.

At 64-years-old, Justice Nettle is the most elderly person to be appointed to the position.

He can only sit on the bench until the court's mandatory retirement age of 70.

“It means he will have the shortest tenure on the High Court of anyone for about four decades,” Professor Williams said.

“Which means he is a logical appointment but he won't have the opportunity that other judges have had to make his mark on the court over an extended period of time.”

During his speech at the swearing-in ceremony, Justice Nettle joked that selectors had chosen a wild card.

Luckily, he said, they had capped the damage by making sure he would have to retire in a few years’ time.

Another appointment to the High Court bench will be filled later this year.