Intellectual property lawyer Terri Janke has been named Indigenous Lawyer of the Year, while Peter Dawson landed the Indigenous Professional of the Year Award and Indigenous Law Student Prize, reports Australian publication The New Lawyer.
The ceremony -- which took place at the University of Notre Dame in Perth earlier this month -- saw Law Council of Australia president Catherine Gale describe the recipients as ‘outstanding role models’.
Ms Janke became the first female to win the award after launching her own law firm in 2000 and taking part in several landmark cases on indigenous copyright and traditional knowledge rights.
Mr Dawson, a law student from the University of Western Australia, was recognised for his academic and other achievements, which include contributing to projects by the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee, Generation One and the Australian Human Rights Commission.
‘[He] has proved himself to be a law student of tremendous talent and has also made significant contributions, outside of the classroom, to the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Western Australia and nationally,’ Ms Gale said.