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Thursday, 11 September 2014

Rachel Lee is still a student but she has already had an impact on issues as diverse as protection of children, homelessness, gender bias and equal opportunity.

The Law/Arts student was recently named 2014 Law Student of the Year as part of Lawyer's Weekly Australian Law Awards.

She is currently working on her Law Honours thesis, which examines the application of child pornography laws to children under the age of 18 as a penalty for sending peers sexually explicit messages, or ‘sexting'. She is looking in particular at how the law could be reformed to better engage and protect children.

The award recognises the academic, community and legal achievements of undergraduates. Nominees are judged on their academic achievements, relevant work experience, extracurricular activities, participation in university and campus life, and any contributions they have made to community and/or not-for-profit organisations.

Rachel, who is a UWA Fogarty Foundation Scholar,  was Chair of the UWA Student Guild in 2011, which involved introducing various reforms to the Guild statute book and leading Guild Council meetings.

That same year she did an intensive human rights law unit in Geneva, Switzerland.

"In 2012 I was the Equity and Social Justice Vice President for the UWA Blackstone Law Society and my portfolio won the Australian Law Students' Association award for best Community Initiative," Rachel said.

In 2013 she studied abroad at Boston College, USA, for six months, completing a course in civil liberties, then concentrated on international law at Aarhus University, Denmark, for six months.

"In 2013 I assisted Women Lawyers of WA with part of a chapter for the 2014 Chief Justice's Gender Bias Taskforce Review. The part I authored examines potential gender bias against Muslim women in criminal identification laws that create a power to request removal of a face covering."

Her work experience  has included clerkships at top tier commercial and criminal firms, a term as a paralegal and internships in the WA Office of the Auditor-General and at the WA Equal Opportunity Commission, where she designed an assessment tool to analyse the indirect impact of new government policies on ethnic minorities and Aboriginal people.

"In 2013 I was elected to the Management Committee of Street Law Inc , a legal services provider to homeless people. In this role I have worked on Street Law's human resources management and have led the effort to get law students involved with Street Law as volunteers," she said.

Next year, after graduation, Rachel has a position at international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills , and she hopes to continue working with Street Law, expanding the organisation's reach into regional areas and enhancing its engagement with young people at risk.

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