May 3, 2022 1:00pm - May 3, 2022 2:00pm
Topic:
‘Walama List and Cultural Healing’
About the speaker:
Judge Dina Yehia SC graduated with a Bachelor of Arts/Law from the University of NSW and subsequently completed a Masters in International Criminal Law at Sydney University. Her Honour was admitted as a solicitor in 1989 and worked with the Western Aboriginal Legal Service from December 1989 until September 1996. In that capacity, her Honour appeared for thousands of Aboriginal people in towns such as Bourke, Brewarrina, Wilcannia and Broken Hill.
Her Honour worked as a Solicitor Advocate with the Legal Aid Commission and was called to the Bar in 1999. Her Honour was then appointed a Public Defender. Her Honour took silk in 2009 and became the first female Deputy Senior Public Defender in 2013. Her Honour’s practice in the Supreme Court included murder trials and the year-long terrorism trial at Parramatta in 2009. In 2013, her Honour appeared as lead counsel in the High Court case of The Queen v Bugmy and in the Special Leave application in Honeysett.
Her Honour was appointed a Judge of the District Court in May 2014. Her Honour is the Chairperson of the Walama Court Working Group, which has been working to establish an Indigenous sentencing court as part of the NSW District Court. The Walama List commenced operating in the District Court on 31 January 2022.
Her Honour is also the Chairperson of Diverse Women in Law, an Organisation which has been formed to mentor women of diverse backgrounds in the profession. In that she has mentored many women in the law and commenced the Court Observation Program which provides an opportunity for a woman from a diverse background, studying law, to spend a day with a Judge in either the Supreme or District Court, observing proceedings and generally engaging with the Judge and her/his staff.
Her Honour is a Council member of the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration and the National Judicial College of Australia. Her Honour is also the Chair of the Ngara Yura Committee. The Ngara Yura Program aims to increase awareness among Judicial Officers about First Nations social and cultural issues.
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