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Emma Fitch
BA/LLB (1st Class Hons) GDLP (UC) LLM (ANU)

Emma Fitch

Solicitor

Expertise

Emma is a non-Indigenous lawyer at Terri Janke and Company. She has expertise in water, legal policy, legislative development and governance with federal, state and local governments and not-for-profits. Her areas of specialty include First Nations rights, natural resource management, environmental law, water law and policy, law enforcement, family violence and the community sector. Emma is passionate about supporting First Nations people and organisations to achieve their goals, around land, sea and freshwater Country.

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Experience

Emma was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory in August 2016, after graduating from the University of Canberra with a double Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours. Emma completed her Masters in International Law in 2020 from the Australian National University, graduating with Commendation, specialising in First Nations governance and water law. She grew up on Ngunnawal Country (Canberra) and came to TJC on Gadigal Country (Sydney) after working for a decade in the public sector, universities and not-for-profits. Emma is also a published writer and has written articles in a range of peer-reviewed journals and publications, relating to her passions including free and informed consent for First Nations communities, and women and the law.

Recent Projects

· Drafting clauses in contracts to strengthen the rights of First Nations people to their heritage;

· Writing reports, protocols and policies for a range of organisations across the government, development, environmental, community, health and university sectors;

· Reforming organisational governance to better reflect First Nations issues, needs and voices;

· Strategic planning to strengthen organisations, including through resource management and economic development;

· Stakeholder engagement with First Nations organisations and the community sector to incorporate feedback into legislation and policy.

Community

Emma is former Board Director and Co-Vice President of YWCA Canberra, and a former Board Director of the Ginninderra Catchment Group. Emma loves all things water, professionally and personally. Following on from her legal policy work around freshwater and the Murray-Darling Basin, including a Jawun secondment to the Ngarrindjeri Nation (South Australia), Emma’s passion for water extended to the marine space. Emma has recently finished her studies in marine habitat conservation and restoration in 2020, with a focus on community-led conservation projects. On the weekends you can find her freediving, swimming and exploring in her 4WD, and hanging with her camp dog, who is originally from Yawuru Country (Broome).

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