Youth justice reforms are reshaping how young offenders are sentenced and managed. This practical 3-hour webinar covers the latest changes in detention, bail, sentencing, and penalties, and explores key advocacy challenges, including representing children in the Supreme Court on pre-trial and sentencing issues. Stay informed and ready to protect your young clients’ interests. 

Presenters

Laura Reece, Barrister-At-Law, Halsbury Chambers
Laura Reece worked as an Associate to a judge of the District Court of Queensland in 1996 and 2004 and commenced practice with Legal Aid Queensland in 2005. She was called to the Bar in 2006 and worked for almost ten years as an in-house barrister before commencing private practice in 2017. She has appeared for defendants in criminal courts all over Queensland, including travelling to regional and remote communities. Those experiences, particularly in Central and Far North Queensland, have exposed her to many of the issues of contemporary Indigenous justice, both for defendants and complainants. Laura is an experienced trial and appellate advocate. She has a keen interest in anti-discrimination and sexual harassment law and has significant experience in mental health law. Having come to the law as a means to pursue her commitment to social justice, she has a career-long involvement in policy work and law reform. Laura is a member of the Criminal Law and Human Rights committees of the Bar Association. In that capacity she has drafted or contributed to submissions on most of the major issues in criminal law reform over the past decade.


Kerala Drew, Barrister, Holmes Chambers
Kerala commenced at the private bar having practised as a solicitor in criminal, family, domestic violence and child protection law. Kerala accepts briefs in all stages of criminal and family law matters, and across all jurisdictions. Kerala moved to Australia having achieved a First Class Honours Degree from Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining the private bar, Kerala began her legal career at a busy private defence firm in Redcliffe, appearing regularly as a duty lawyer, and also instructing Counsel in the Children’s Court of Queensland, and District, and Supreme Courts. Kerala is currently the Vice President of the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland, and is active in promoting diversity throughout the profession. Kerala prides herself on her warm, down to earth nature, and her ability to achieve the very best outcomes for her clients.


Carmen De Marco, Barrister, Higgins Chambers
Carmen practises predominately in criminal, regulatory, and family matters. Before commencing at the private Bar, Carmen practised for eight years as a Federal Prosecutor with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. Her current practice largely involves representing criminal defendants (adults and children) in respect of a range of State and Commonwealth offences including drug offending, violence, sexual assault, and property offences. Carmen routinely conducts matters on behalf of State and Federal government agencies concerning immigration, environmental matters, and criminal prosecutions. She also regularly represents parties involved in parenting and property disputes following separation.


Carolyn Juratowitch, Principal Lawyer, Hub Community Legal
Carolyn has over two decades of experience representing children and young people in the areas of youth justice, child protection, domestic violence, mental health and other areas. Originally having commenced legal work in a private civil litigation practice in Brisbane, Carolyn then moved to NSW where she spent over a decade working for the Children’s Legal Service within the Legal Aid Commission of NSW. This included providing representation services, duty lawyer services, youth hotline legal advice services as well as periods working in the Youth Drug and Alcohol Court and the Juvenile Justice Detention Centre’s Legal Visiting Service. Since moving back to Queensland she obtained a master’s degree in criminology, (just for fun), before commencing work as a youth lawyer at Hub Community Legal with a short secondment to the Youth Advocacy Centre. After having spent over ten years working as a youth lawyer in Queensland, Carolyn became Principal Lawyer of Hub Community Legal in 2023 and now supervises the legal practice of a generalist community legal centre based in the diverse and vibrant community of Inala, Brisbane. Carolyn is passionate about the need for holistic legal services to be provided to children and young people.