Meet the EDO

History

The Western Australian EDO is part of a national network of EDOs servicing each Australian State and Territory. Australia's first EDO was established in New South Wales in 1986. In the early 1990s EDOs were established in Victoria and Queensland.

A group of concerned lawyers joined forces with the Conservation Council of Western Australia Inc to form the Western Australian EDO in late 1995. Funding was obtained from the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department, and the EDO commenced full time operation in March 1996. The first employees of the EDO were a full-time solicitor (Michael Bennett) and part-time Coordinator (Margaret Robertson). The first Convenor of the EDO was Justice Michael Barker, President of the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia.

Like EDOs in other States, the Western Australian EDO operates independently from government.

For more information on our activities, view our Annual Reports or browse our newsletters.

Highlights

With the help of our members, donors and volunteers, the EDO has been able to argue a number of important environmental issues before the courts. Here are just some of the highlights of cases the EDO has been involved with:

Staff

Josie Walker (Principal Solicitor)

Josie started work as the Principal solicitor of EDOWA in January 2009. Her previous experience includes working as a litigation solicitor at the Environmental Defender’s Office of NSW and a tipstaff (judge’s research assistant) at the NSW Land and Environment Court.

Josie’s special interests include protection of biodiversity and promoting the principles of ecologically sustainable development in environmental decision-making. In 2007 Josie was involved in the landmark case on ecologically sustainable development and climate change, Walker v the Minister for Planning.

Jessica Smith (Outreach Solicitor)

Jessica Smith started work as the Outreach Solicitor at EDO WA in February 2010. Prior to this, Jessica worked as a lawyer at Clayton Utz for three years, specialising in environmental and planning law, and energy and resources law. Jessica is a co-editor and chapter author of Climate Change Law and Policy in Australia, an online LexisNexis publication. Jessica recently co-authored a paper entitled "Developing a Regulatory Regime for Carbon Geosequestration in Australia", which was presented at the 2008 National Environmental Law Association Conference and published by Thomson Reuters in Climate Change Law: Comparative, Contractual and Regulatory Considerations.

Claudia Maw (Office Coordinator)

Claudia came to the EDO as a volunteer in December 2009, after completing an overseas practitioners' course at the University of Notre Dame Australia. She is currently studying at the College of Law, and works as the EDO's coordinator two days each week.

EDO Rules

The rules for the Environmental Defender's Office WA (Inc) incorporating all amendments made up to and including 14/10/2003 is provided here as an Acrobat document.

EDO Management Committee

The EDO is an incorporated association. Its affairs are overseen by a Management Committee which is elected annually by EDO members. The current Management Committee includes conservationists, community representatives and practising lawyers.