"𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲."

On the latest episode of People in Legal, David Woolstencroft sat down with Danielle Captain-Webb, a Wiradjuri and Gomeroi woman. She is Solicitor Advocate leading Legal Aid NSW's statewide Coronial Inquest Unit, First Nations Practitioner-in-Residence at The University of Sydney Law School, and the first Aboriginal person elected to the Council of The Law Society of NSW.

Danielle grew up in a farming family where no one had been to university. She had her heart set on joining the police. Then her dad picked up a law application at an Indigenous Careers Expo and kept at her until she applied. She came in through a pre-law bridging program, and the rest is history.

It wasn't easy, though. After law school, the cost of PLT and admission was out of reach for a young working mum. Without support from the Mum Shirl Fund, she wouldn't have been admitted.

That experience drove her to help bring the Indigenous Solicitors Foundation to life. It was first dreamed up more than a decade ago and launched during NAIDOC Week in July, with Danielle as one of its Directors. The Foundation helps First Nations law students and lawyers overcome the financial and cultural barriers to entering and staying in the profession.

Why it matters: after a decade of decline, Indigenous solicitors now make up less than 1% of NSW lawyers. Right now there isn't a single practising female First Nations barrister in the state. Without a pipeline, there's no path to the bench.

If you're a law firm or a supplier to the legal industry, the Foundation is looking for partners and donors. It's a way to make a real difference without building a program of your own.

Learn more about the Indigenous Solicitors Foundation, apply for support, or get involved as a partner or donor here 👇
https://www.lawsociety.com.au/indigenous_solicitors_foundation

All donations go directly to the Foundation. The Law Society of NSW covers all overhead and admin costs.