Chief Justice Perese graduated with LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1989. His study continued in the mid-1990s when he was awarded a Harkness Fellowship in 1995 and studied at Columbia University Law School in New York, gaining an LLM from Columbia in 1996 with a Certificate of Achievement with Honours in Foreign and International Law.

 

He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in June 1990 and began his legal career with the Crown Law Office in Wellington. He later moved to Auckland to work in law firms until he became a barrister sole. 

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His current areas of practice encompass and not restricted to judicial review, human rights, immigration, employment, properties securities, commercial litigation, company insolvency, property, land, trust law, charitable trusts, professional negligence, and criminal law litigation. 

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Chief Justice Perese was admitted to the bar in Samoa in 1999, and has been admitted on a case by case basis in the Cook Islands. 

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He was member of the Human Rights Review Tribunal from 2003-2009. He was a member of the Auckland Crown Solicitor Prosecution Panel and was also Chair of the Cabinet of New Zealand appointed Board of the National Pacific Radio Trust, and he was the President of the Pacific Lawyers Society from 2000-2002. 

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Satiu Perese is a matai of Salimu, Fagaloa. 

The Honourable Helen Bowskill was sworn in as Chief Justice of Queensland on 22 March 2022, having served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland from 10 July 2017, and as the Senior Administrator of the Supreme Court of Queensland from 24 August 2021.

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The Chief Justice previously served as a Judge of the District Court of Queensland from 10 November 2014, and in that capacity was sitting as a Judge of the Children's Court of Queensland and the Planning and Environment Court. 

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Justice Bowskill holds the degree of Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) from the Queensland University of Technology, and was awarded the University Medal in 1995.

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Justice Bowskill served as the Associate to the Honourable Justice Drummond of the Federal Court of Australia in 1996, and completed articles of clerkship with Minter Ellison 1997. 

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The Chief Justice was admitted as a solicitor in January 1998, and as a barrister in July 1998. She commenced practice at the private Bar in Bar in July 1998.

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Justice Bowskill took silk in November 2013. As a barrister, she practiced widely in public, administrative and commercial law areas, with a particular focus on native title. Her Honour is the Chair of the Judicial Council on Diversity and Inclusion. 

Justice Morrison graduated from The University of Queensland in 1977 with a Bachelor of Laws.

In 1976, he was admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland before being appointed Queen's Counsel in 1989.

At the Bar, Justice Morrison practiced in general commercial and civil, contracts, equity and trusts, real property, corporations' law, competition law, trade practices, insurance, banking, insolvency, professional negligence, mining and compensation.

Justice Morrison had extensive trial and appellate experience, appearing as lead counsel in various courts, including the High Court, Queensland Court of Appeal, Full Court of the Federal Court, Full Bench of the Industrial Relations Commission (New South Wales), Federal Court, and Supreme Courts of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Justice Morrison appeared at the inquiries into the multiple fatalities in accidents at the Moura No. 4 underground mine (1986) and the Moura No. 2 underground mine (1997).

Justice Morrison was appointed a judge of the Queensland Court of Appeal in 2013.

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In 2023 Justice Morrison was appointed to the Court of Appeal of Tonga, and first sat there in its March 2023 sittings.

Justice Lesatele Rapi Vaai is a former President of the Samoa Law Society and has been sworn in as an Acting Magistrate several times since 1986 before the District Court was established. 

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He was appointed Judge of the District Court of Samoa in 1996 and became a permanent Judge of the Supreme Court of Samoa in 2000. 

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Justice Vaai took a short leave of absence from the Judiciary of Samoa in 2017 and became a Judge of the Supreme Court of Nauru in 2018 to 2020. 

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He became and Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of Samoa in November 2020 and currently serves as the President of the Land and Titles Court of Samoa since he was sworn in on 2 November 2022. 

A graduate of the University of Waikato and University of New South Wales, Justice Tuatagaloa was the first woman to be sworn in as a judge in Samoa.

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In 2011, as a District Court Judge and in August 2015 to the Supreme Court of Samoa. She also presides over the Samoa Alcohol and Drugs Court that was launched in February 2016. Justice Tuatagaloa was also selected as a New Zealand Prime Minister’s Fellow in 2019.

Justice Hament Dhanji was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of NSW on 20 September 2021.

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Justice Dhanji graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts degrees before beginning his career as a solicitor for Legal Aid NSW.

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He was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1990 and practiced as a solicitor at the Legal Aid Commission of NSW before being called to the Bar in 1997. He took silk in 2010.

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He was a barrister in private practice at Forbes Chambers engaged predominantly in criminal defence work. In addition to first instance work across the range of criminal matters including complex corporate crime matters he had a substantial appellate practice. He appeared as lead counsel in a number of important cases in the High Court and appeared in approximately 350 cases in the Court of Criminal Appeal.

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In addition to his defence work Justice Dhanji also conducted prosecutions on behalf of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, appeared as counsel assisting the coroner and represented clients before the Police Integrity Commission and the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

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Since 2022, Justice Dhanji has been a Member of the Judicial Council on Diversity and Inclusion.

Judge Talasa Saaga is the Principal Family Violence and Family Court Judge of Samoa. She was appointed as a District Court Judge in 2016 and 2020 as the Senior District Court Judge

 

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Saaga served as an active member and Chairperson of the Continuing Legal Education for the Samoan Law Society.

Chief Magistrate, Judge Brassington is a graduate of The University of Queensland-Bachelor of Laws (1990) and was admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1992.

Prior to appointment as a magistrate, Her Honour worked with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and with the Department of Justice and Attorney-General.

Her Honour was appointed a magistrate of the Magistrates Court of Queensland in 2005 and has served in Southport, Innisfail and as the Regional Coordinating Magistrate in Cairns.

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In 2019 Chief Magistrate, Judge Brassington was appointed Deputy Chief Magistrate in Brisbane, fulfilling the role of Brisbane Coordinator until 2021, where Her Honour served as the Regional Coordinator of Queensland for a year before returning to the role of Brisbane Coordinator in 2022.

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In 2022 Her Honour was appointed as a Judge of the District Court of Queensland and Chief Magistrate of Queensland.

Katie is currently the National Judicial Registrar (Native Title) with the Federal Court of Australia, managing both the native title practice area and conducting mediation and case management of complex matters. She has worked in Indigenous legal, policy and service delivery roles in four different states of Australia over a 25 year period.

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Katie is also a board member for the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation and Reconciliation Queensland and is committed to working with First Nations people towards land justice and self-determination.

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To ensure currency with emerging interfaces between climate change, resource law and native title, Katie has embarked upon further studies toward an LLM (Sustainable Development).

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In her personal capacity, Katie has a long association with the Pacific Island community and has assisted with the Court sponsored Pacific Judicial Strengthening Initiative and mentored several Pacific Islander law students and graduates.

Su’a is an experienced barrister and solicitor who has served in the legal profession in Samoa
and abroad for more than 25 years.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from Auckland University in 1998.

Su’a began her legal career with the Office of the Attorney General in Samoa before moving to
New Zealand where she worked in private practice for Australasian law firm DLA Phillips Fox.

She also worked in the public sector where she held senior legal roles including with the New
Zealand Police and as a Senior Legal Adviser for the New Zealand Commerce Commission.

In 2013, she returned to Samoa where she and her husband Travis Lamb established Wallwork
Lamb Lawyers.

In 2016, Su’a was appointed as Sweden’s Honorary Consul to Samoa. In March 2017, she was
elected as President of the Samoa Law Society and since then has also served as Vice President.

Su’a was sworn in as interim Attorney General in September 2019 and was then appointed to the
role in December 2022.

In 2022, Su’a was also named one of Samoa Observer’s People of the Year. Su’a has two
daughters and is a high chief (matai) from Gagaifolevao, Lefaga.

Alex Su'a is a very proud fa'afafine who has been brought up in a mixture of EFKS and Catholic due to Alex's parents’ denominational background at Moata’a and Samusu, Aleipata.

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Alex is a lawyer by profession with a law degree from the University of the South Pacific since 2004. Alex has since then been practising as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Samoa to date.

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Alex is currently a partner of the legal practice of Stowers & Su’a Lawyers of
which my main areas of practice are civil litigation and criminal defence.

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Alex has always been involved in civil society particularly on the areas of our fa’afafine, fa’atama and SOGIE communities, human rights advocacy since 2004.

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Alex has been the President of the Samoa Fa’afafine Association Inc since 2017 and continues to hold this position to date. Alex is also the in his third term as the President of the Samoa Law Society which he has held since 2020.

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Alex encapsulates the value of family given that his parents have both pass on and he resides with three sisters (whose husbands are all on seasonal scheme work in Australia and New Zealand), eight nieces and nephews at Vaivase-Uta in Samoa. They are the source of Alex's joy and happiness in his life.

Amelia Barker is the Director of Guardianship at the Office of the Public Guardian overseeing the delivery of guardianship services to around 3,500 adults across the state for whom the Public Guardian has been appointed as substitute decision-maker for personal and/or health care decisions. Amelia oversees the delivery of these services spread across six regions in Brisbane, Greater Brisbane, Ipswich, Central Queensland, Townsville and Cairns. The Guardianship program also encompasses the Health Care Team and the Queensland Civil and Administrative Pre-Advocacy Team.

Amelia has also acted as Deputy Public Guardian on a number of occasions, where she managed the organisational performance of two OPG service delivery business units including Guardianship, Legal Services and Investigations. Additionally, Amelia supported the Public Guardian in leading OPG with over 300 staff, including a remote workforce of community visitors and administering a $25 million budget.

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Nadja Alexander has been engaged in diverse dispute resolution settings in more than 40 countries as scholar, policy-adviser, trainer and practitioner. She is a member of mediation panels in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia and has trained thousands of mediators over the years.

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An award-winning author and educator, Nadja is recognized as a global thought leader in the field of mediation (Who’s Who Legal).  

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Nadja is Professor of Law and Director of the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy at Singapore Management University. She holds honorary appointments in Australia and the United States.

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Nadja is a member of the International Advisory Board of the UN Office of the Ombudsman and the APEC lead academic working group for Online Dispute Resolution. Her expertise has directly contributed to the design and drafting of dispute resolution legislation across civil and common law jurisdictions. During 2011 and 2014, Nadja contributed to developing mediation systems and
practices in Samoa.

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Her books include: Global Trends in Mediation, International and Comparative Mediation: Legal Perspectives, The Singapore Convention on Mediation: A Commentary, and The Hong Kong Mediation Manual.

Toli’s legal career spans over a period of 20 years. After graduating from the law school at Victoria University, Wellington in 2000, she commenced work in a private family law practice, later moving into criminal law working with high profile criminal defence attorney, Greg King. She also has extensive public sector experience having worked as a childcare and protection legal adviser in the United Kingdom and as a senior solicitor for the Ministry of Business Innovation and

Employment (New Zealand).

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A daughter of Samoan immigrants from the villages of Lēpa and Matāfagatele Moata’a, Toli has also used her legal skills and Pasifika knowledge in various roles involving Pasifika engagement including private secretary for the Minister for Pacific Peoples, secretariat for the Advisory Group for the Minister for Pacific Peoples, member of the Senior Pacific Advisors Group for the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, member of the Government Legal Network’s Increasing Māori and Pāsifika Lawyers in Government project, member of the Practitioner/Student Advisory Panel for “Foloa na ibe – Improving Pasifika Legal Education in Aotearoa Report”.

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She is currently the Director of the Te Kura Kaiwhakawā Pacific Justice Sector Programme, a Government of New Zealand initiative providing development opportunities, resources and support for judges, other judicial officers and court staff across 15 Pacific nations. The programme is aimed at improving access to high-quality justice, particularly to those who belong to vulnerable groups in society.

Daniel Hobson is the Head of APAC for vLex. vLex is a longstanding publisher and technology provider in the legal community with over 2 million practitioners using vLex's various services around the world.

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Daniel's work has a particular focus on South Pacific Islands where he works closely with Law Societies, Governments and organisations like the Commonwealth Lawyers Association to drive efficient and comprehensive access to the law. 

As Head of Litigation and Climate Lead in the Pasifika Program for EDO, the largest environmental law organisation in Australia Pacific, Fleur is a legal practitioner with a passion for the environment.

 

The past 18 years have seen Fleur flourish in roles ranging from Federal Court of Australia judge's associate to 'big law' private practice solicitor and prestigious Barristers’ Chambers before switching to a dedicated career as an environmental lawyer after a year as a visiting attorney at Earthjustice.

 

Fleur has also previously assisted Samoa’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on projects and more recently, has lectured at UNSW and University of Sydney law schools.

Fleur’s approach to environmental lawyering intersects indigenous and human rights and customary law, with environmental and climate law.

 

She spearheaded the creation of the Pasifika Program at EDO and oversaw consultancies to develop the EDO's First Nations Program. In 2023, Fleur travelled on the Churchill Fellowship to USA (Turtle Island, Hawaii), Guam, Aotearoa (NZ) and the Cook Islands to research developing an indigenous-led environmental law program or organisation.

 

Fleur is also a cofounder of Pasifika International Lawyers, a network to provide international law pathways and opportunities for Pasifika law students and lawyers, and to ensure that Pasifika international lawyers are drivers of international law development. 

John is the founder and creator of the Pacific Legal Network (PLN), originally building on the contacts he made living in the Pacific to create an integrated and progressive legal network across 12 Pacific jurisdictions.

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PLN remains the only legal network across the Pacific region. At its core is the development and enhancement of local indigenous law firms in the Pacific, providing upskilling opportunities and professional development support for indigenous lawyers living and working in some very challenging jurisdictions.

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John has held various senior management positions during his career, including as National Managing Partner for an ASX listed law firm and as a Board Member and then as the Global Chair for the international legal network IAG Global. In early 2023, John agreed that PLN would be the patron law firm for the Pacific Legal Association of NSW (PLAN).

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Demonstrating his commitment to the Pacific, John actively participates as a manager and adviser on a pro bono basis in various enterprises across the Pacific including for UNICEF, the Pacific Island Food Revolution, Dermatology Pacific, and Tanna Coffee Development Co. John was also instrumental in having the Pacific Legal Network become the only accredited observer law firm to the Green Climate Fund. John was a Board Member for 10 years and for 3 years served as Chairman of the Pacific Islands Business Council.

Ma’ata Solofoni is a dedicated consumer advocate with over 10 years of legal experience with particular expertise in insurance law, Ma’ata leads a team of lawyers in Legal Aid NSW’s Disaster Response Legal Service, a specialist service providing legal assistance to communities impacted by disasters across NSW.

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Legal Aid NSW’s Disaster Response Legal Service is a scalable, flexible partnership model of service delivery that can be rapidly mobilised given the sudden and profound effect that disasters (and their aftermath) can have on people including homelessness or financial harm.

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Ma’ata works closely with government, industry and regulators to raise systemic issues arising from disasters and presents at conferences across Australia on this matter as NSW experienced extensive bushfires in 2019-2020 and extreme floods, particularly throughout northern NSW and QLD in 2021 and 2022. 

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Ma’ata sits on multiple consumer advisory panels such as the Insurance Council of Australia, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

Muliagasisila Dr. Faafetai Faaleava was born in Moto'otua, Samoa and has family ties to the villages of Vaiusu, Lano, Samata-i-Tai, and Fagaloa (Salimu). He is based in California, U.S.A., and works as a psychologist for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. His duties at the prison include individual therapy, suicide risk assessments, inmate housing recommendations, and pre-release screenings.

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Dr. Faaleava has an Associate’s degree in Psychology, Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, Masters in Clinical Psychology and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology.

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Dr Faaleava also has experience conducting various court ordered psychological evaluations including general evaluations, sex offender evaluations, neuropsych evaluations, and competency to stand trial evaluations. 

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Carly is a lawyer, psychologist, empirical researcher and Director of Human Ethos – a psychological consultancy directed to the wellbeing of judges and lawyers.

 

Carly has worked in and around the legal profession and the courts for 20 years, focusing specifically on judicial and lawyer wellbeing since 2015. As part of her combined Master of Psychology (Clinical) and PhD at the University of Melbourne, Carly has conducted Australia’s first empirical and psychologically grounded research into the sources and nature of work-related stress among the Australian judiciary. She has published the research in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks and presented the findings to judicial audiences around the globe.

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In her role as Judicial Wellbeing Advisor to the Judicial College of Victoria, Carly developed Australia’s first Judicial Wellbeing online resource and worked with the Victorian Courts to design and deliver a range of judicial wellbeing programs and resources.

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Mrs Hoglund is a graduate of the Australian National University where she obtained her BA in 1998 and her LLB in 2000. She is admitted to the Supreme Courts of the Australian Capital Territory and Samoa as well as the High Court of New Zealand.

She has had over 20 years of legal experience, primarily in Samoan law but over 6 years in New Zealand law. She worked for 2 years as a State Solicitor in Samoa's Attorney General's Office from 2000 to 2002  but since that time has served in the private sector. She was the Secretary of the Samoa Law Society from 2005 to 2007.

 

With her husband Tauaovao Henry Hoglund and her cousin Iliolemalae Posesione Toma, she established Vaai, Hoglund & Toma in September 2020 with 2 branches in Apia and Auckland, the latter officially becoming a New Zealand law practice in May 2021.

 

As a lawyer working in both the Samoan and New Zealand jurisdictions, she knows that she is in a very privileged space. Based in Auckland, her areas of practice are conveyancing, immigration as well as Samoan family law, specifically adoptions.

 

She tries to maintain a life/work balance by focusing on her 5 children, being involved in their school activities including sports where she has become an expert cheerleader at netball, basketball and rugby games as well as volunteer parent basketball coach. Being a parishioner at her local Catholic church also keeps her grounded. Her parents have been the driving forces in her life and she believes that in order to be kind to others, you must also be kind to yourself.

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Jennifer Samuta (nee McComber) is an Australian legal practitioner, specialising in immigration law. She practices in the niche area of visa cancellations and other complex immigration matters.

 

She represents clients in their visa applications to the Commonwealth Department of Home Affairs (Australian Federal Government Department), regularly appears as a solicitor advocate in merits review proceedings at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (which presides over the independent merits review of a wide range of administrative decisions made by the Australian Government) as well as instructs counsel in the Federal Court and Federal Circuit Court in judicial review proceedings.

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On the ground, Jennifer advises and assists clients with their visa applications for temporary or permanent migration to Australia and various complex immigration-legal matters (e.g. possible visa cancellation and deportation matters). She is also an advocate for key immigration-related policies affecting Pacific Islanders living in Australia.

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Lana has a 13-year track record in the legal field. She has cultivated her expertise in both New Zealand and Australia, making her a seasoned practitioner across two jurisdictions.

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Lana is not only a seasoned lawyer but also an embodiment of cultural diversity, proudly representing her Maori and Samoan heritage. Her multicultural background grants her a unique perspective, enriching her legal practice with a profound understanding of her different culture and traditions. Lana was bestowed with her grandmother’s title Tuaopepe in 2019; and she carries the name and honour with pride.

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Lana’s personal and professional experiences have led her to her current area of practice in the realm of Wills and Estate law or as she prefers to term it, Legal Planning. Lana says, ‘I want to help people leave a legacy of love. There is so much more to a person than the assets they leave behind. Having your legal documents in order will help your loved ones navigate the grief journey of losing you to incapacity or death, a little easier’.

Lana loves to connect and collaborate with other Pasefika lawyers. As a small business owner, she understands the power of the collective.

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Feel free to reach out to Lana via the Lavenia Law website www.lavenialaw.com.au or email lana@lavenialaw.com.au. You can also check her out on Instagram @lavenialaw. Lana prides herself on being friendly and approachable so don’t be shy to reach out.

Vai graduated from Victoria University Wellington with a Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Arts. 

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Vai has over 10 years’ experience working within community legal services and non-profit environments and is a registered practitioner in both the High Court of New Zealand and Supreme Court of Queensland Australia.

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Vai has worked particularly with clients who are culturally or linguistically diverse or have complex legal and social issues.  She has focused on advising disadvantaged or low-income earning individuals in the areas of civil, family, criminal (Youth) and domestic violence. 

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She currently works as a lawyer at Youth Advocacy Centre and is also a member of the Pasifika Lawyers Association of Queensland Management Committee.  

Lemalu Moevao Faimalie describes herself has having the privilege of being Samoan and raised in the beautiful land of New Zealand.

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She has practiced for over 15 years in the area of Family Law.

The experience that Lemalu has acquired over the years as a practitioner has enabled her to step into her calling as a tamaita’i Samoa grounded in her identity in Christ.

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Lemalu considers it her calling to meet the needs of God’s kingdom inclusive of the needs that we encounter in the legal community.

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Lemalu is looking forward to meeting likeminded practitioners as well as fellow indigenous persons.

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Over the years she has been blessed to rub shoulders with phenomenal legal minds. It has saddened her that she has not had the privilege of working with fellow indigenous and Pasifika persons. 

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Lemalu is very proud of the efforts of PCLC in bringing together indigenous and Pasifika persons and the challenge for each persons to fulfil their individual assignment on earth, as we raise the bar in our legal community. 

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Sala Josephine Stowers-Kolo is a private lawyer with legal experience of over 20 years. She is married with 8 children.

 

She is a Partner at Stowers & Su’a Lawyers, a private law firm established in April 2018 and based in central Apia, Samoa. Sala specializes mostly in land and property matters as well as natural resources and environmental law.

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Prior to being a private practitioner, she has worked in government for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and tasked with legal work ranging from land
management, water resources, forestry resources, meteorology and climate change, renewable energy,
biodiversity and conservation to name a few.

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Sala has a law degree from the University of the South Pacific and is an active member of the Commission of Environmental Law (IUCN) and a founding member of Samoa Conservation Society Inc. that recently celebrated their 10th anniversary. She is also involved in a lot of community related work using her vast experience in social and legal issues.

Dominic is a barrister at Lilley Chambers in Brisbane where he practises in the areas of criminal law, domestic and family violence law, coronial inquests and Commissions of Inquiry. He holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy from The University of Queensland, a Juris Doctor from The University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Civil Law from St Anne’s College, The University of Oxford.

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Dominic was a sessional academic at the Australian National University (ANU) from 2014 to 2018 and a volunteer lawyer at the South West Community Legal Centre (Inala) from 2014 to 2020.

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Dominic sits on the Bar Association of Queensland's Equal Opportunity and Diversity Committee and is also Secretary of the Oxford University Society Queensland.

Born in Vietnam, his parents escaped there by boat in 1980 where, after a few days at sea, they were rescued by a Greek ship and taken to a Singaporean refugee camp and then onto Australia.

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Dominic would love to see more cultural diversity at the Bar and wants to inspire more Asian-Australians to become barristers. He looks forward to the day when appearing before an Asian-Australian judge or magistrate becomes the norm.

Reimen is a Queensland barrister and a nationally accredited mediator in Australia. He has a broad generalist practice which includes commercial litigation, administrative law, family law, property law, and human rights. He predominantly focuses on commercial and international disputes.

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Before being called to the Bar, Reimen worked as an associate at Wotton Kearney, a leading international insurance law firm. He also worked as a lawyer at a boutique Brisbane commercial litigation firm, as a Registrar of the Supreme Court of Tonga, at a top-tier national firm, as a judge’s associate and as a legal officer at a UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Cambodia.

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Reimen volunteers with LawRight Inc., the Caxton legal Centre (Brisbane) and Youth Without Borders. He is a member of the Bar Association of Queensland’s human rights committee; he is also a member of the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights Queensland committee and Business & Human Rights subcommittee.

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Reimen’s dedication to pro bono work and diversity advocacy was recognised nationally by the Law Council of Australia when he was awarded the Australian Young Lawyer of the Year Award in 2019.

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Reimen is passionate about diversity and access to justice. Through the Asian Australian Lawyers Association (AALA) he seeks to contribute to the growing dialogue about diversity in the law, and to encourage greater CALD diversity in the senior ranks of the legal profession.

Dirk is a corporate lawyer and Special Counsel with Pacific Legal Network, advising on legal matters across multiple sectors including telecommunications, mergers, and acquisitions, banking and finance, major infrastructure, international development and climate adaptation. 

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Having lived and worked in the pacific for a number of years, Dirk has an in-depth knowledge of the intricate workings of how both public and private sectors operates across multiple Pacific jurisdictions. 

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Dirk brings to the PLN team and the Pacific vast previous career experience, both from being a lawyer and from being an in-house counsel Australia's largest telecommunications network providers. 

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Brenda Milo (nee Siaosi) has specialised in environmental, planning, infrastructure and public/administrative law for 17 years - first in New Zealand and now in Sydney, Australia.

 

Born in Samoa, raised in New Zealand and a resident of western Sydney, Brenda works as a Principal Lawyer and Acting Manager for the NSW Government’s primary environment regulator, the NSW EPA.

 

She oversees the drafting of various state environmental law and regulation reform projects, as well as supervises advices on waste management, recycling, all aspects of licensing (permits/consents), pollution, pesticides, asbestos, contaminated land, forestry, gas/petroleum, koalas, the phase out of single use plastics in NSW, information sharing, privacy, work health and safety, and relationships with other government agencies.

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Talamau John is an admitted lawyer in New Zealand and Samoa, with a Master’s in International Relations from Australia National University (ANU), Canberra, and a founding member of PLAN.

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For over a decade, Talamau worked as a lawyer specialising in criminal trial advocacy, criminal defence and community law centre work. He also accepted instructions on immigration, adoption and traffic law matters.

 

Talamau is an experienced duty solicitor and advocate, having appeared at all levels of court as senior or sole counsel in both NZ and Samoa, including in the Supreme Courts for each.

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The past six years have seen Talamau pivot to integrate personal interests in Asia Pacific geopolitical matters, with carer responsibilities. He enjoys flexible and remote work as a geopolitical analyst (heading a team of internationally based analysts writing weekly on the Asia Pacific for an online Risk Analysis platform) which he balances with full time carer roles for his son (with complex autism and developmental special needs) and parent.

Tile is the coordinating senior lawyer at Caxton Legal Centre’s Older Persons Advocacy and Legal Service, which is the first health justice partnership in Queensland dealing with elder abuse.

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Tile was the most recent outgoing President of PLAQ and currently serves as its Secretary. He has been practising law in Queensland since 2013 and mainly in family, domestic violence and elder law.

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Tile was awarded the Queensland Law Society’s Emerging Leader Award in 2022.

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In 2023 Tile, along with Brisbane lawyer colleague, Olamide Kowalik, launched a podcast: Tile and Olly Meets, exploring and showcasing diversity in the legal profession.

Pulemau Trina graduated with a Bachelor of Justice Studies (Critical Criminology) in 2003 and a Bachelor of Laws in 2010 from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). While working as a public servant, Pulemau obtained her Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from QUT in 2011.

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Pulemau has extensive legal experience in advocacy and litigation, predominately in human rights and legal matters relating to children and young people in the child protection system and adults with impaired capacity.

 

Her extensive public service experience includes appearances in court proceedings before the Childrens Court in Beenleigh, Gold Coast, Ipswich and Far North Queensland, Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Mental Health Review Tribunal, Mental Health Court, Magistrates Court, Queensland Human Rights Commission, and involvement in matters in the District and Supreme Courts.

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Anastacia is a lawyer by profession with professional experiences in legal and policy areas of international/foreign relations, human resource management, maritime administration, international maritime law and international environment law.

 

Anastacia is currently the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) Coordinator at the Secretariat of the
Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) based in Apia, Samoa. SPREP is a regional intergovernmental office made up of 21 Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). In her current role, she leads the coordination of the Noumea Convention and global MEAs managed by SPREP. She also coordinates SPREP’s engagement on Ocean Governance
issues under the Noumea Convention.

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Prior to her current role, Anastacia was the Assistant Chief Executive Officer (ACEO) of the Maritime Policy and Administration in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure of the Government of Samoa. One of her key roles is providing strategic policy advice to the Government of Samoa on maritime administration principally on enforcement and compliance of standards for foreign-going vessels and seafarers under the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Conventions, Protocols and Treaties.

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Judge Malosi holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Wellington, New Zealand. She was admitted to the Bar the same year that legislation to establish the Youth Court came into force (1989) New Zealand.

 

When appointed to the District Court Bench with a Family Warrant in 2002, Judge Malosi became New Zealand's first female judge with Pacific Island heritage (Samoan).

 

On secondment, Judge Malosi served as Samoa's first female Supreme Court Judge of Samoan descent in 2013 and 2014. While there, she established the Family Court and Family Violence Court. 

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Judge Malosi led the establishment of Pasifika Youth Courts in Mangere and Avondale and the Cross-over Court at Manukau (all in Auckland) which deals with people before the Youth
Court who also have care and protection proceedings before
the Family Court in New Zealand. 

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Judge Malosi has spent around 30 years in the Youth Court jurisdiction both as a lawyer and a Judge. 

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In September 2021 she became the National Executive Judge for the District Court and in November of 2022, Judge Malosi became the first female Principal Youth Court Judge and the first Pasifika Head of Bench in New Zealand.