30/08/2024
Congratulations to all new appointments, in particular to Cairns’ newly appointed Magistrate, Kellie Walker.
APPOINTMENTS | WLAQ congratulates and welcomes Kellie Walker, Lisa O’Neil and Anna Smith to the Magistrates Court.
Ms Walker worked as a Principal Lawyer at Legal Aid Queensland. She was originally admitted in New Zealand in 2008, and later admitted in Queensland in 2011, steadily making her way through the ranks at Legal Aid Queensland. Ms Walker was named Queensland Regional Practitioner of the Year in 2020 and is vice-president of the North Queensland Law Association.
Ms O’Neill has garnered a wide range of experience since being admitted in 1988. She began her career in private law firms, hearing and resolving prisoner complaints with the former Department of Corrections, conducting procedural and final hearings in teacher disciplinary matters, and working as a sessional member with the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. In her more recent roles with the Federal Circuit Family Court of Australia, Ms O’Neill developed an innovative specialist response to family violence.
Ms Smith has been practising law for more than 23 years and was made an Acting Magistrate almost 10 months ago. She has worked as a Senior Legal Officer for the Crime and Misconduct Commission, a Crown Prosecutor with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, a criminal defence barrister, and was Director/Principal Lawyer of a criminal defence firm for 11 years. And Ms Smith also spent six months as a child protection lawyer in the United Kingdom.
