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Our People
The Aged Care Justice Board comprises leaders from the legal and healthcare sectors who share a commitment to improving aged care and advancing the rights of older Australians.
The Community Lawyer provides direct legal advice and initial legal support to people experiencing legal issues in aged care nationally, including elder abuse, quality of care, service agreements and fees, restrictive practices, guardianship, and complaints to the regulator.
Our national Legal Referral Panel consists of lawyers with expertise in aged care law who provide complainants with a free initial legal consultation.
Our Volunteer Legal Committee of experienced solicitors provides strategic guidance and specialist legal insight. Voluntary law students from universities across Australia contribute to legal research, administration and organisational initiatives.
Our Co-Patrons
The Honourable Tony Pagone KC
Co-Patron
The Honourable Tony Pagone KC was a former Federal Court Judge and Chair of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen
AM KC
Co-Patron
Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen AM KC practised at the Victorian Bar for 35 years, focusing on the protection of human rights, including native title claims.
Our Team
Aged Care Justice is a not-for-profit group of volunteers incorporated in Victoria pursuant to the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012. It was established in October 2020, by senior legal and medical professionals.
Sue Williamson
Chair
Sue is a partner with Dentons and is actively involved in volunteering in the palliative care industry.
Victoria Heathcote
Vice Chair
Victoria is a general management professional with experience in program management, research operations, corporate learning, tertiary education, corporate affairs, brand strategy, and innovation practice. Victoria is the chief operating officer of the Consumer Policy Research Centre.
ANASTASIA (Anna) WILLIS
Board Member, CEO
Anna, is currently a sole practitioner, with over 20 years business experience, in a variety of roles for both commercial and community organisations.
Cai Lin Tan
Board Member, Secretary
Cai Lin has legal and corporate advisory experience gained over many years as a senior lawyer in top-tier private practice and as General Counsel of ASX listed companies.
Danielle Hart
Treasurer
Danielle Hart acts as Treasurer of our organization. Danielle has over 20 years of experience as an accountant in Public Practice and is a Director of Marin Accountants.
Elizabeth Barton
Board Member
Elizabeth (Liz) is a registered nurse specialising in aged care, dedicated to driving reform in the aged care sector. Liz leads Aged Care Justice’s alliances team.
Diane (Di) McDonald
Board Member
Di is a business development specialist in healthcare, disability and human resources, having held Managing Director and CEO positions in private and public organisations. She is currently Chair of LACW, Board Member of the Hester Hornbrook Academy and the Cabrini Foundation, and on the Advisory Board of Psychology Melbourne.
Ann O'Connell
Board Member
AOC was formerly a Professor of Law at the University of Melbourne, a Senior Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and an external advisor to the Australian Tax Office. She has written a book: ‘Taxation of Charities and Not-for-profits’ (Lexis Nexis, 2020), for which she was awarded a Doctor of Laws. She also acted as an advisor to the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) in 2015 and 2020, where she co-authored a report on Taxation of Philanthropy that covered 40 countries.
Lucinda Knapp
ACJ Community Lawyer
Lucinda is an experienced solicitor with more than twenty years in the legal sector, including roles in Community Legal Centres, the Aboriginal Legal Service and private practice. She has dedicated much of her career to advocating for vulnerable people facing complex legal and social challenges, including older persons, people with disability, Aboriginal communities and victim-survivors of family violence. Known for her strategic thinking, pragmatism and commitment to achieving practical outcomes for vulnerable clients, Lucinda combines strong advocacy with a down-to-earth approach.
Catherine Henry
Consultant
A specialist health and medical lawyer for over 30 years, has conducted numerous negligence claims against residential aged care facilities and has pursued aged care advocacy. She is the national spokesperson for the Australian Lawyers Alliance on aged care and elder law.
Dr Eileen Webb
Consultant
Dr Eileen Webb is Professor of Law and Ageing in the School of Law at the University of South Australia.
Rodney Lewis
Consultant
Rodney is a full time practising solicitor in elder law and elder abuse with Elderlaw Legal Services, Martin Place, Sydney.
Guy Donovan
Consultant
Guy is a Consultant to Aged Care Justice and the National Pro Bono Manager at law firm, Holding Redlich.
Our Work
Aged Care Justice works to improve access to justice for older Australians and strengthen the legal rights of people receiving aged care.
The legal issues identified through our provision of legal services and referrals to expert lawyers inform our advocacy, legal education and law reform initiatives.
By improving access to legal support, raising awareness of legal rights and advocating for practical reforms, we seek to ensure older Australians receiving aged care are treated with dignity and respect, can exercise choice and autonomy, and receive safe, high-quality care that supports their wellbeing.
Activities:
Delivering Legal Resources
- Public fact sheets on the rights of aged care consumers and the obligations of aged care providers.
- Legal fact sheets to help practitioners identify aged care legal issues and make appropriate referrals.
- Educational videos to improve understanding of legal rights in aged care.
- Legal articles on issues affecting older Australians
- Access our Fact Sheets and Videos click here and Legal Articles click here
Advocating for Law Reform
- Submissions to government inquiries and consultations.
- Engagement with government, policymakers and sector stakeholders.
- Contributions to parliamentary inquiries, including appearances before Senate inquiries.
- Advocating for legislative and policy reform informed by legal issues identified through our legal services.
- To access our Submissions and Senate hearings click here.