Writer and journalist, Jim McClelland studied at the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney, graduating in law. He practised law before being elected to the Australian Federal Parliament in 1971.
In 1974 McClelland became a minister in the Australian government led by Gough Whitlam. He resigned from parliament in 1978 and was appointed to the New South Wales Industrial Court. In 1980 McClelland was appointed the first chief judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales and in 1984 the commissioner for the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia.
A well-known figure in Australian law and political life, McClelland was known as 'Diamond Jim'. In the latter part of his life he wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald and published his autobiography.
