Every Australian should have access to the opportunities and choices they need to lead full and healthy lives.

Committed to playing a key role in Indigenous justice is this week’s guest, Thelma Schwartz.

This week’s guest Thelma Schwartz is the Principal Legal Officer of QIFVLS, an Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisation providing legal and non-legal support services to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander survivors of family violence and/or sexual assault. Thelma identifies as of Torres Strait Islander heritage alongside her German, Samoan and Papua New Guinean heritage.

Thelma has extensive practice experiences working with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, in the provision of legal services in regional, rural, and remote Queensland in her representation of adults and youths from both a victim and defendant legal practice perspective across multiple courts.

In 2018, Thelma was awarded the Regional Woman Lawyer of the Year by the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland. She was also an award finalist in the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards in 2019 and 2020 in the categories of Indigenous Lawyer of the Year, Not-for-Profit Lawyer of the Year and the Women in Law Excellence Award in 2019.

Stay tuned as Thelma takes us through her experience working in the justice system as an Indigenous woman, and what she believes are the services and support needed for our Aboriginal and Indigenous communities.