Women-In-Law Embracing Equity – Claudia Maclean

As we continue to celebrate International Women's Day throughout March, we are thrilled to shine a light on all exceptional female finalists of Smokeball's 2023 Community Hero Awards.

These accomplished women will share their inspiring stories and highlight the influential work they are performing to promote equity and drive change within the legal space.

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Congratulations to our 2023 Community Hero Finalist - Claudia Maclean

In this episode, Smokeball’s General Manager, Bianca Bowron-Cuthill, had the pleasure of interviewing Claudia Maclean, Principal Solicitor of the Women’s Legal Centre ACT, and a deserving runner-up in Smokeball’s 2023 Community Hero Awards.  

Claudia receives this honour for her exceptional contribution to the ACT community through her impactful and tireless work, which has advanced access to justice for women in Canberra and increased the services the centre provides for disadvantaged people.

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Advancing Access to Justice for Women in Canberra

Claudia is passionate about trauma-informed family law practice and is committed to improving legal service delivery design.

Since joining the Centre, she has developed and expanded the practice to meet the legal needs of women in Canberra. This has included developing a family law property litigation and an early intervention Child Protection practice. Claudia has also developed innovative pro bono relationships with law firms to supplement the work of the Centre, and partners with other organisations to deliver intensive support and value to our clients in complicated legal matters.  

Claudia is a representative of the steering committee for the Family Law Pathways Network Canberra, and a committee member of the ACT Law Society’s Family Law Committee and ACT Law Society’s Pro Bono Clearing House Panel. And is also currently chair of the ACT Legal Assistance Forum Child Protection Working Group, which works with stakeholder organisations to advocate for service and law reform in the ACT Care and Protection jurisdiction. Claudia's exceptional contribution to the ACT community  has significantly increased the services the centre is able to provide for socially or economically disadvantaged people in the ACT and advanced access to justice for women in Canberra.

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Listen in as Bianca and Claudia unbundle:

• Claudia’s journey into practising law.  
• The impactful work the Women's Legal Centre ACT performs to help close the access to justice gap for Canberra's most vulnerable women.
• Her experience as a woman-in-law and the key challenges she has seen and encountered first-hand.
• Claudia unpacks what the International Women's Day 2023 theme #EmbraceEquity means to her.  
• Her message to young women pursuing a career in law - it's all about knowing your worth.
• Plus, Claudia speaks about her female role models, sharing an amazing story about her incredible great-grandmother.

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Sit back and enjoy this interview with Claudia Maclean!

Watch this space as we have more inspiring stories to share throughout March.