Councillor, Law Society of NSW Co-Chair, Rural Issues Committee, Chair of RRR Lawyers Committee Law Council of Australia 

Joanne van der Plaat is the co-Chair of the Law Society of New South Wales Rural Issues Committee. Joanne is a partner at Blaxland Mawson & Rose Solicitors in Cooma and practises predominantly in the areas of workplace relations, property and planning and wills and estates. She lives on a rural property in the Snowy Mountains with her husband and two teenage children and is a prominent advocate for the recruitment and retention of lawyers in RRR areas and the importance of succession planning in rural firms. Joanne holds a Bachelor of Laws from Macquarie University and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Joanne is the current Junior Vice President of the Law Society of New South Wales. She is also a director of Lawcover Insurance Pty Ltd.

Principal Legal Director of Halliday Solicitors

Helen McGowan is the principal in a small law practice in Yackandandah in north east Victoria. She is a cross border lawyer – practicing in NSW and Victoria with a particular interest in supporting rural communities to in the practice of Wills and Estates. Helen has a PhD from the ANU College of Law which explored how country lawyers identify and respond to conflicts of interest. She is active in the North East Law Association (VIC) and the Albury & District Law Society (NSW).

CEO of Aboriginal Family Law Services (AFLS) WA

Corina Martin is a Mulgyin Jaru/Kitja and Gooniyandi woman born and raised in Broome Western Australia. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Marketing and the Media and Bachelor of Law. She gained her admittance to the Supreme Court of WA as a barrister and solicitor in 2006. She was the Principal Legal Officer of the Aboriginal Family Law Service in WA from 2014 before being appointed to CEO in 2017.

The Aboriginal Family Law Services provide legal assistance and support to Aboriginal
victims and survivors of family violence. They have one of the largest Family Violence Legal Services in WA, with six regional offices across the state. AFLS continue to provide a professional and realistic approach to ensure our clients receive the best assistance, both in the legal arena and at community level with local support, assistance and community involvement.

Associate Professor and Director of Clinical and Internship Courses at ANU College of Law and Barrister

Anthony Hopkins is an Associate Professor and the Director of Clinical and Internship Courses at the ANU College of Law, as well as a practicing criminal defence barrister. He began his career as a criminal defence lawyer in Alice Springs at the Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service. Anthony teaches criminal law, evidence law and clinical courses in the ACT prison and with the Aboriginal Legal Service. Anthony’s research is focused on colonialism, inequality and marginalisation as they shape, intersect with and are compounded by the criminal justice system.

This work begins with recognising the importance of listening to and understanding the experiences of those caught in that system. Anthony has a particular focus on decarceration and reforms designed to reduce criminal justice system involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. More recently he has focused on exploring the links between therapeutic jurisprudence, equality and compassion, where compassion is understood as the foundation that motivates and enables turning towards those who are caught in the criminal justice system and as a guiding principle for system redesign.

Fourth year ANU Arts/Laws (Hons) student

Judy Harrison has been a practicing lawyer for over 30 years. Judy researches in the areas of law and organising, critical lawyering theory and minority justice issues. Applying immersive, collaborative and reflexive research methodologies, Judy’s research has helped develop regional, national and international networks and linkages especially in the areas of legal and collaborative responses to domestic and family violence, family law and the safety of women and children and women’s legal equality. Judy’s research has helped instigate law reform, new national programs, new national and international service standards, new services and coalitions of influence.

Currently focusing on remote lawyering, criminal lawyering and historical injustice, Judy is working with local people and community groups and with networks which encompass Indigenous studies, genocide, human rights, reparations, and political and social change.

Judy appears on her own behalf and with clients in state and national television programs and she regularly briefs parliamentarians and the media. Through regional, national and international - government and non-government consultancies, Judy’s research has helped strengthen legal services for Indigenous peoples, criminal and civil justice responses to domestic family violence and community based safety options for Indigenous women.