Saturday, 29 August 2015
2015 President’s Medal
The President of the ACT Law Society, Martin Hockridge, awarded the 2015 President’s Medal to Ms Janean Richards at the Society’s Annual Dinner on Friday 28 August.
The President’s Medal is an annual award that recognises significant personal and professional contributions to the betterment of law and justice in the community by an ACT solicitor and member of the ACT Law Society.
Janean is Chief Legal Counsel for the Department of Social Services, managing what is one of the largest legislation programs in the federal government, covering social security, child support, family assistance, aged care, disability services, settlement services, multicultural affairs, and childcare. Her first project on taking on the role at DSS was developing the legislation to implement the NDIS.
Janean is a former President of Australian Women Lawyers, the Women Lawyers Association of the ACT, and former Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Council for Women in the ACT. She was awarded the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association Government Lawyer of the Year award in 2014. She has served on the Equalising Opportunities in the Law Committee of the ACT Law Society and the Law Council of Australia.
Janean, with her husband David, is a proud supporter of local charity SIDS and Kids ACT, and they have raised more than $200,000 for the charity over the years. Their annual Christmas light display is a Canberra favourite, and together they hold a Guinness Book record for the most lights on a residential property.
Her previous roles in the Commonwealth public sector include Assistant Secretary at the Office of Legal Services Coordination in the Attorney-General’s Department, and General Counsel positions at both the Australian Customs & Border Protection Service and Comcare.
Prior to joining the public service, Janean was a partner at Dibbs Barker Gosling and Deacons. She holds a Masters in Law, Bachelor of Laws (Hons), Bachelor of Arts and Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (ANU).
While President of Australian Women Lawyers and a member of the Law Council of Australia Equalising Opportunities in the Law Committee, Janean instigated and was on the steering group for the “Beyond the Statistical Gap: 2009 Court Appearance Survey”, an important study which showed the disproportionate representation of women in Australian superior courts and in long running and more lucrative trials.
In her 19 years as a lawyer, Janean has achieved excellence in her professional standing as well as being a significant contributor to the legal profession and the ACT community.