Raising the Bar
The human rights lawyer from small-town Australia improving access to law
Acclaimed human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson has represented Julian Assange and Amber Heard in some of the most high-profile legal cases of the last decade, and is now working to improve access to law.
Growing up in a low-income family in a rural town in Australia, Jennifer Robinson’s teachers told her to be more realistic with her career aspirations. Now, she is a successful human rights lawyer, and continues to fight for Julian Assange against his extradition and prosecution in the US. ‘Acting for Assange has meant she has faced a certain degree of hostility’, says Geoffrey Robertson QC. She started her career working with those fighting for independence in West Papua: ‘I was 21 and suddenly I was dealing with investigating rape and torture and human rights abuse’. Now she has started the Acacia awards foundation: ‘I want to encourage kids to know they can do whatever they want from a public education’.
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