The state’s legal profession is mourning the loss of former Queensland Law Society Councillor Joan Bennett, who was considered a trailblazer.
Joan was also a founding member of the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland (WLAQ). WLAQ was formed in 1978 by Leneen Forde AC (founding President) and Carmel MacDonald, Veronica McCarthy, Barbara Newton, Fay Silcock, Joan Bennett, Mollie Whitehouse, Una Prentice, Noela L’estrange, Margaret McMurdo and Ros Lian.
Joan Bennett (in a QLS Council photo)
Born in Home Hill in 1942, Joan’s story was recorded as part of the Australian Women’s Archives Project, a collaboration between the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne.
The article, part of the Australian Women Lawyers as Active Citizens exhibition, stated Joan established the first law firm in Brisbane in which one of the founding partners was female.
A WLAQ social media post stated: “WLAQ is sad to report that one of its founding members, Joan Bennett, passed away on Friday 27 September 2024.
“Joan was a true trailblazer. Despite the discrimination and hardship she faced at university, and while a mother to two young children, Joan was admitted as a solicitor in 1969.
“When Joan was refused employment as a solicitor (due to her gender), she decided that her only option was to establish her own law firm. Accordingly, in 1970 she went into partnership with a university colleague, establishing the first law firm in Brisbane to have a female founding partner.
“In later years, Joan established Bennett and Associates, which became one of the largest suburban practices in Brisbane. She also enjoyed a successful solo practice.
“Joan was a founding member of WLAQ in 1978 and remained on the committee for many years. Joan was also an inaugural member of the Zonta Club, a director for the Queensland Law Foundation, a member of the LawAsia Conference 2005, a member of the Legal Practitioner’s Admissions Board, a Queensland Law Society councillor, and Vice-President of the Queensland Law Society’s Southern District Law Association.
“Joan’s funeral will be held at the Chapel at Mt Gravatt Cemetery, on Friday, 11 October at 10am. All WLAQ members are invited to attend.”
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