AUSTRALIA'S first female attorney-general says she is determined to cast the widest net for the nation's top judges and will consider candidates who break the mould of being commercial barristers from legal bastions in Sydney and Melbourne.

With two key High Court appointments looming in the next 12 months, Nicola Roxon said she had written this week to the states, law societies, universities and community legal centres to seek the sharpest legal minds.

Nicola Roxon Credit:Graham Tidy

In defining diversity she included the attributes of ''gender, professional background, geography, cultural background''.

''What I want is that people don't think they can only nominate a commercial barrister from Sydney - who's a man,'' Ms Roxon told The Age.