Toowoomba lawyer wins award for bringing legal services to regional and remote communities

The Principal Lawyer at Legal Aid Queensland, Toowoomba was today presented with the Australian Lawyers Alliance’s (ALA) Queensland Civil Justice Award recognising her personal commitment to helping people in regional and remote communities to access justice.

The annual ALA Civil Justice Award recognises individuals or organisations who have displayed an outstanding commitment to the pursuit of justice.

“Kyna Morice is a very deserving winner of our Civil Justice Award,” said ALA State President, Ms Sarah Grace. “She has gone beyond her role at Legal Aid Queensland to initiate and develop new programs to help ensure people who live outside the cities can receive legal assistance when they need it.

“Last year Kyna set up a pilot legal advice clinic through the Murilla Community Centre in Miles – a town of less than 2000 people in the Western Downs region. This has been a success and the plan for this year is to maintain this service and grow the clinics to other regions.

“This service stems from Kyna’s desire to ensure that all people are able to access legal assistance in difficult and stressful times, irrespective of where they live.”

In addition to this pilot program, Ms Morice is actively involving in delivering community legal education to give people living in regional and remote areas the knowledge, advice and confidence to speak up for themselves in legal matters.

“Kyna is an outstanding example to the Australian legal profession. She has genuine passion for her work and an altruistic motivation for her pursuits,” said Ms Grace. “We are pleased and proud to present her with this award.”

Previous winners of the Queensland Civil Justice Award include law firm founder Kerry Splatt, Braveheart founder Hetty Johnson AM, patient advocate Beryl Crosby, Sisters Inside CEO Debbie Kilroy and human rights barrister Stephen Keim SC.

Ms Morice was announced as the recipient of this award today at the ALA Queensland Conference on the Gold Coast.

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