ACT Women Lawyers Awards Nominees

The Selection Committee has been busy at work on the very difficult task of determining the winners of the ACT Women Lawyers Awards 2016.  

We would like to congratulate all the nominees, and the firms and organisations where they work, for the honour of having your talent, hard work and achievements recognised.

Congratulations to the following lawyers who have been nominated for an award:

• Jane Alver
• Sarah Avery
• Noor Blumer
• Katharine Boiko
• Prudence Buckland
• Clarissa Campbell
• Claire Carton
• Catherine Coles
• Helen Curtis
• Amy Eager
• Emilie Franklin
• Hannah Griffiths
• Nilanka Goonetillake
• Lauren Haywood
• Liz Huang Hughes-Brown
• Magda Kucharska
• Angela Lauman
• Sarah Lynch
• Katrina Marson
• Lisa Manzoney
• Danielle Mildren
• Rachel Noronha
• Dilani Ponniah
• Margie Rowe
• Tamara Sullivan
• Emily Tighe
• Rebecca Tetlow
• Tharanie Vithanage
• Jessica Wolski
• Jessica Wynd

Congratulations to the following firms and organisations who have lawyers nominated for an award or who are themselves nominated: 

• ACT DPP
• ACT Government Solicitor
• ANU College of Law
• Australian Government Solicitor
• Bucket Orange
• Blumers Lawyers
• Chamberlains
• Clayton Utz
• Department of Employment
• Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• Department of Immigration & Border Protection
• Dobinson Davey Clifford Simpson
• Griffin Legal
• Infinity Legal
• Ken Cush & Associates
• King & Wood Mallesons
• Legal Aid Commission ACT
• McInnes Wilson
• Mazengarb Family Lawyers
• University of Canberra
• Watts McCray Lawyers
• Welcome Legal

We look forward to announcing the winners at the Gala Dinner in just over one week's time!

Women Lawyers Awards Gala Dinner Tickets Sold Out

We have recently sold out our Awards Gala Dinner tickets. Our apologies to members and guests who were unable to purchase a ticket in time. 

We look forward to seeing those attending next week, for what is sure to be a wonderful event. 

Women Lawyers Awards Gala Dinner Tickets On Sale

WLA ACT is pleased to announce tickets for the inaugural Women Lawyers Awards Gala Dinner are now on sale.

Gather your friends and colleagues and join us in celebrating the winners of the inaugural ACT Women Lawyers Awards 2016.

We are delighted that our guest speaker for the evening will be author, journalist and broadcaster Annabel Crabb. 

One of Australia's most popular political commentators, Annabel Crabb is the presenter of Kitchen Cabinet. She has worked extensively in newspapers, radio and television and has appeared on Insiders, The Drum, Gruen Nation, Q&A and as stand-in host for 7:30. She graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws degrees. She is the author of several books, including the 2014 non-fiction bestseller 'The Wife Drought', and won a Walkley Award for her Quarterly Essay 'Stop At Nothing: The Life and Adventures of Malcolm Turnbull'.

The Gala Dinner will include a three course meal and drinks.

Event details

Time and Date: 6.30pm for 7pm, Thursday November 3

Location: Kings Hall, Old Parliament House

Dress: After five

Cost: $90 for members

          $110 for non-members

          $900 for tables of 10

Tickets are available for purchase online. 

There are a limited number of tickets available so we encourage you to get in early.

Annual General Meeting

We remind members that the Women Lawyers Association of the ACT's Annual General Meeting is being held at 5.30pm on 21 September 2016 at the ACT Law Society.

Nomination forms for committee positions are due by 5:00pm on 14 September 2016.

We hope to see you there.

Public Sector Women in Leadership ACT Conference

The Public Sector Women in Leadership ACT conference will be held in Canberra on 15 and 16 November 2016 and may be of interest to some of you.

You can access the event website here: https://www.criterionconferences.com/event/wilact/<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/krZEBOcvN6Rsn?domain=criterionconferences.com>

We are pleased to let you know that we have secured a special discount of $100 off the registration price for any registrant who is a WLA ACT member.  The offer code CC*WLA is now available for our members to use to receive the discount.

This discount is in addition to the current earlybird saving of $400 for registrations before 9 September 2016.

We hope that you can join us! 

Young Lawyers Pay and Conditions Survey

The time has come for our annual Young Lawyers Pay and Conditions survey! 

We are seeking ACT-based lawyers, male or female, with 5 or fewer years of post-admission experience to participate in a joint survey between the Women Lawyers Association (WLA) ACT and the ACT Young Lawyers Committee.

The survey is anonymous and will take 10-15 minutes to complete online.

PLEASE CLICK  HERE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY. 

(or copy and paste this link into your browser http://kwiksurveys.com/s/8PrO2JUh) 

We are also offering a $100 voucher to David Jones to one lucky survey participant. Instructions on how to enter the draw is provided at the conclusion of the survey. 

The purpose of this survey is to collect data about the characteristics of individual lawyers working in the ACT, and the nature of their employment, pay and conditions. The ACT is a small jurisdiction and information about employment, pay and conditions is often unavailable in the public sphere, making it difficult for lawyers, in particular junior lawyers, to find an independent benchmark from which to negotiate their entitlements.

The WLA ACT and the ACT Young Lawyers will collate and publish the findings of the survey with the aim of providing ACT lawyers with an insight into their professional community. We will launch the findings of the survey at an event in October or November 2016 - further details to come. 

Nominations open for ACT Women Lawyers Awards 2016!

We are delighted to announce that nominations for the inaugural ACT Women Lawyers Awards are now open!

We have a great wealth of talented women lawyers in the ACT - it is time to acknowledge and celebrate them. 

Download the nomination pack containing all the information you need to nominate yourself, a colleague or your firm or organisation. Nominations are open to all ACT women lawyers. Nominees and nominators do not need to be WLA ACT members.  

You can also access this information from the awards page on our website.

The winners will be announced at a Gala Dinner on 3 November 2016 at King's Hall, Old Parliament House.  We are delighted that author, journalist and broadcaster Annabel Crabb will join us as guest speaker.

The awards will be judged by an independent selection committee consisting of:

• The Honourable Justice Hilary Penfold, Patron of WLA ACT
• Dr Helen Watchirs OAM, ACT Human Rights Commissioner
• Ms Petra Gartmann, Assistant Secretary - Office of Legal Services Coordination
• Mr Michael Miller, Director of MLC Advice
• WLA ACT President (or nominee)

We are grateful for the generous support of our sponsors to make this event possible.

Major sponsors: Lerida Estate, The College of Law, Rolfe Classic BMW, ANU College of Law, Watts McCray Lawyers and MLC Advice.

Minor sponsors: Duesburys Nexia, Gillian Beaumont Legal and Empower Resolve.

Nominations close 9 September 2016

National Indigenous Legal Conference

The ANU College of Law is hosting its 11th Annual National Indigenous Legal Conference on 5 and 6 September which will include prominent keynote speakers from the legal community to discuss current and emerging indigenous legal issues.

As part of our objective to promote inclusion and diversity more broadly, including in relation to indigenous issues, the WLA ACT is pleased to sponsor a place for one of its members to attend this two day Conference and Gala Dinner.

We encourage applications from any of our members, and particularly from our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members whose applications will be given preference.  If you are interested in applying for this sponsorship (worth $750), please email WLA ACT at contact@wlaact.org.au with the following information by COB on 19 August 2016. 

1. A copy of your CV;
2. A brief statement (of no more than 250 words) of why you would like to attend the conference, along with an explanation of why you would not otherwise be able to attend if not for WLA ACT’s sponsorship; and
3. A note from your employer (if applicable) confirming that you will be available to attend the two day conference should your application be successful.

Applications will be assessed by the Executive Committee and the winner selected based on the materials referred to above.

The winning applicant will be required to write an article for the WLA Newsletter about the Conference.  Attendees will be able to claim CPD points.

For more information on the conference, please visit: https://law.anu.edu.au/conferences/2016-national-indigenous-legal-conference

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.