Who am I?

I hold a Master of Laws (International Law) with merit, A Bachelor of Laws with honours and a Bachelor of Arts (Government and Public Administration) and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practise.

I qualified as a solicitor in 2002 and became a Barrister in 2015.

My first job was as an 11-year-old delivering newspapers of a morning around Prince Henry Hospital at Little Bay. After finishing school, I worked in a variety of jobs to support myself at university, including pearl farm labourer, hospitality worker, charity fundraiser, disability support worker and nursing assistant in aged care.

My first job as a solicitor was as a prosecutor with the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, where for a time I specialised in prosecuting sexual assault and domestic violence.

In 2004 I took a position as a Public Defender in Solomon Islands as part of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (“RAMSI”). Working in an unstable post conflict environment I played a role in rebuilding the rule of law in our near neighbour. In 2006 mass civil unrest devastated the capital Honiara. I spent much of the next 18 months playing a key role in the trials that followed.

Upon my return to Australia, I took a position as senior advisor to Simon Corbell MLA, then the ACT Attorney-General. I had the opportunity to see from the inside how a progressive reforming Labor government governed.

In 2010 I fulfilled a long-standing ambition to work on Indigenous justice issues and took a position with the Aboriginal Legal Service in Dubbo. Ultimately, I became the principal solicitor of the ALS in western NSW and managed a large team of lawyers working from seven offices across western NSW.

In this position I spear headed a successful High Court case for a Wilcannia man that has become a leading precedent, used to ensure that the unique social disadvantage of Aboriginal peoples is properly accounted for in sentencing (Court deliberates on Indigenous disadvantage in sentencing offenders | Indigenous Australians | The Guardian).

It was as an ALS lawyer I helped to kick start an almost ten-year campaign for justice reinvestment in the Dubbo region. In 2021 as mayor of the Dubbo Region I was proud to welcome state government funding commitments to the rehabilitation centre and the Drug Court.

In 2013 I took leave without pay for a year and undertook an Australian Civilian Corps Position in Afghanistan. Working from Bagram Army Base I assisted lawyers at the ‘Justice Centre in Parwan’ working on the trials of Taliban detainees. The JCIP is a special court established under Afghan law to hear the trials of combatants captured by Coalition forces and charged with national security offences. Defendants before the JCIP were persons detained by coalition forces under the international Law of Armed Conflict/International Humanitarian Law before being transferred to the Afghan jurisdiction for trial.

I was privileged to receive the NATO ISAF Medal and the Australian Operational Service Medal (Civilian) for this service.

Since 2015 I have been a barrister in private practice. I have a diverse national practice specialising in public law. I regularly appear in appellate courts and the High Court of Australia.

A significant proportion of my case load is assisting refugees and asylum seekers to access justice in Australia through the Federal and High Court.

In 2020 I had the privilege of appearing (from Dubbo on an audio visual link) for Black Lives Matters protest organisers in a particularly high profile case in the Court of Appeal (Sydney's Black Lives Matter protest appeal won from Dubbo - ABC News).

I regularly offer my legal services pro bono to individuals and organisations whose access to justice is not guaranteed.

You can learn more about my legal career at these links:

• Chambers Profile

• LinkedIn

• CV

• ‘The Wigs’ Podcast