Presenters

Leanne Mcdonald, Special Counsel, Kennedy Spanner Lawyers
Leanne is a lawyer specialising in personal injuries and has had the privilege of acting on behalf of injured people in a career spanning over 20 years. She is a advocate for survivors of sexual abuse. As part of the legal team fighting to find the truth about the murder of Annette Mason, Leanne was a winner of the Australian Lawyers Alliance 2019 Queensland Civil Justice Award. In 2025 she was awarded the WLAQ Regional Woman Lawyer of the Year. Leanne was a finalist in the Australian Law Awards Special Counsel of the Year for 2019 and a finalist in the Women in Law Awards 2019 Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year. She is past chair of the Child Protection Practitioners Association of Queensland, past Chair of the Australian Lawyers Alliance National Abuse Law Special Interest Group and past Vice President of the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland. She is an NMAS accredited mediator and a member of the Resolution Institute.


Hayley Aldrich, Partner, Carroll & O'Dea Lawyers
Hayley is a passionate lawyer with experience in litigation and compensation law. She has developed a practice with significant focus on representing and securing access to justice for members of the Stolen Generations, and others who have suffered as a result of sexual, physical and emotional/mental abuse as children. She is one of the most respected experts in this field, in part due to her dedication in developing and running a trauma informed practice. For Hayley, this work truly makes a difference to people, and goes beyond individual clients receiving compensation. As part of the settlement process, abuse victims receive a personal apology from the defendant institution or department, which means a lot to them. Hayley’s practice also includes acting for people in a range of personal injury matters, general litigation and international torts. She regularly appears in the District Court of NSW, the Supreme Court of NSW and the Personal Injury Commission. She has provided advice to clients in the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) appeals, SafeWork NSW Investigations, Victims Compensation applications for the Stolen Generations Reparations Scheme, applications for the National Redress Scheme, Applications in the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), applications in various states Civil and Administrative Tribunals, Coronial proceedings, and to witnesses appearing at the NSW Parliament General Purpose Standing Committee’s Injury into Stolen Generations Reparations, and the witnesses appearing at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses of Child Sexual Abuse.