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Congratulations to Heidi Yates (BA '05, LLB '05, GradDipLegPrac '06), our Alumna of the Year for 2022. 

 

As the Victims of Crime Commissioner, Heidi has improved support and access to services for victims of crime, especially for marginalised communities - including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, LGBTQIA+ families, multicultural communities, people with disabilities, children and more. The systemic changes she has enacted since 2018 has seen a 145% increase in victims accessing case-coordination, and a 361% increase in applications for financial assistance.

 

Among her milestones include her establishing the ACT's ground-breaking Intermediary Program and the ACT's first collaborative, high-risk family violence initiative: the 'Family Violence Safety Action Pilot'. She has also worked with the Good Process Law Reform Group (LGBTIQ+) for a decade now, undertaking work on Civil Unions, Marriage equality, Intersex rights from birth and Transgender legal name-change rights for young people. 

 

Heidi has also remained an incredibly active member of the ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃcommunity - she was a course convenor, tutor and marker at ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃCollege of Law, she convened the ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃCommunity Law Clinical Program, and was instrumental in the launch of the ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃOn-Campus Safety Policy, the sustaining of the ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃLaw Handbook, and the establishment of the Law Reform Advisory Council.

 

Heidi continues to amplify the voices and uphold the rights of marginalised communities calling for justice, in the ACT and beyond.