JILL BROUWER (’14)

Jill’s career the ultimate ‘ice breaker’

It goes without saying that Jill Brouwer (’14) has lived a life of discovery since leaving St Mary’s. After graduating as Proxime Accessit, winning the Year 12 Marine Science prize and earning a General Exhibition following her WACE exams, Jill elected to study a Bachelor of Science at the University of Western Australia, majoring in Chemistry and Marine Science.

She was successful in applying for an internship with CSIRO Hobart and spent the summer of 2018/2019 working with the acoustics team on their vessel, the RV Investigator. During that internship, Jill identified her passion for Oceanography and decided to leave an honours project in favour of volunteering on the RV Falkor, a vessel operated by the Schmidt Ocean Institute, during the summer of 2019/20.

While on board the Falkor, Jill applied to University of Tasmania’s Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) in the hope of completing an honours project with a specific oceanographic focus. Upon being offered a place, she promptly moved to Hobart, where she graduated from IMAS at the end of 2020 as its top student.

In 2021, Jill secured a role as an acoustics officer with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Jill was on board when Australia’s new icebreaker, the RSV Nuyina, made its maiden voyage to Antarctica in December 2021.

Despite working full time, Jill continued to work on and refine her honours project findings with her IMAS honours project supervisor, and on 16 June 2022 her paper, Altimetric observation of wave attenuation through the Antarctic marginal ice zone using ICESat-2, was accepted and published in The Cryosphere science journal.

Jill continues to work with the AAD as an acoustics officer, a role that she is extremely passionate about. Working on the RSV Nuyina provides her with a unique opportunity, as the icebreaker boasts a ‘quiet stealth mode’, which enables the scientific equipment that she works with to make more accurate readings due to a reduction in the vessel’s motor operation noise. Jill is also excited about contributing to a global oceanography project that is dedicated to mapping the Earth’s entire ocean floor by 2030.

Senior Counsel appointment for Old Girl

On 26 October 2022, the Hon Justice Peter Quinlan announced the appointment of seven Senior Counsels for 2022, one of whom was St Mary’s Old Girl Rachael Young (’00). Appointment as Senior Counsel is based on eminence in the practice of law, especially in advocacy, unquestioned integrity, availability and independence. A committee advises the Chief Justice on applications for appointment.

The Committee, chaired by Chief Justice Quinlan, comprised the President of the Court of Appeal (the Hon Justice Buss), the Senior Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court (the Hon Justice Kenneth Martin), the President of the State Administrative Tribunal (the Hon Justice Pritchard), a judge of the Federal Court (the Hon Justice Banks-Smith), the Chief Judge of the Family Court (the Hon Justice Sutherland) and the Chief Judge of the District Court (Chief Judge Wager). The consultation process conducted by the Chief Justice incorporated the opinions of more than 100 members of the legal profession and the judiciary.

Rachael was admitted to practise in Western Australia in 2008 and has practised as an independent barrister since 2017 from Fourth Floor Chambers. She was previously Assistant State Solicitor at the State Solicitors Office and served as an assistant to prosecutors at the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials in 2012. Rachael practises extensively in commercial litigation, together with administrative and constitutional law and civil matters generally. She also conducts an extensive pro bono practice. Additionally, Rachael teaches advocacy at the Australian Bar Association's Essential Trial Advocacy Course and is a mentor for young lawyers and law students as part of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association.

Sophia’s full circle experience

Sophia Drazevic (’15) was recently reminded of a seminal moment in her St Mary’s schooling journey while realising her dream of becoming a lawyer. Sophia’s full-circle story started in 2013 when she was contemplating options for her Year 10 work experience placement.

“I had a keen interest in law and believed that undertaking my work experience in an international law firm would provide an excellent first step towards a future career. I typed a letter and posted it to the human resources department of King & Wood Mallesons. A representative of their human resources team contacted me and said that although they had never taken on a work experience student before, the firm could arrange to provide me with a similar experience to a new law clerk,” Sophia said.

The partner overseeing Sophia’s placement was Mr Michael Lundberg, a leading commercial litigator and arbitration lawyer who, in September 2022 was appointed as Western Australia’s first Aboriginal Supreme Court judge. Much to her surprise, Sophia was invited to sit in on several client meetings and was provided with the opportunity to review and summarise legislation and cases.

“His Honour Justice Lundberg spoke to me in depth about being a lawyer. Having access to his experience and wealth of knowledge was invaluable. I got to see first hand the structure of a law firm and the way that graduates, associates and partners worked together collaboratively. I just loved it. I came back from the experience so sure that law was I wanted to do,” Sophia said.

Nine years later, Sophia happened to spot a familiar face, His Honour Justice Lundberg, while attending her Admissions Ceremony at the Supreme Court Gardens of Western Australia on 4 November 2022.

“At your Admissions Ceremony, a lawyer moves your admission, and mine was one of my mentors, Barrister John Fickling. It was fortuitous that the moving council for a fellow graduate at the same ceremony was none other than His Honour Justice Lundberg. After the ceremony we all moved out to the gardens and I had the opportunity to speak with him. I said, ‘Hi, it’s so lovely to see you. You probably don’t remember me…’. At that point he jumped in and said that he remembered me and that it was so wonderful that I had achieved what I set out to do following my placement at King & Wood Mallesons. It was a very meaningful moment for me.”

Having spent more than two years working as a legal researcher for Tax Barrister John Fickling, Sophia began a new position on 19 December 2022 at the District Court of Western Australia as Usher to Her Honour Judge Whitby.