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6 new magistrates appointed in Queensland
Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath has named six new magistrates, four of which are newly created positions.
Grace Robbie
Last week, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Yvette D’Ath introduced four new magistrate positions in Brisbane, Cairns, Southport and Mount Isa and appointed six skilled legal professionals to serve as magistrates throughout Queensland magistrates courts.
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This move was described as part of the Miles government’s continued efforts to “bolster Queensland’s judicial ranks”.
The lawyers appointed to serve on the bench include Jakub Lodziak (Southport/Cairns), Mark Schofield (Mt Isa), Kellie Walker (Cairns), Lisa O’Neill (Brisbane/Southport), Anna Smith (Southport/Bowen), and Lewis Shillito (Brisbane). They are scheduled to commence their roles immediately.
Lodziak is a barrister with extensive experience working in various roles at Legal Aid Queensland since 2005. He has served as an acting public defender for the past five months. Additionally, in 2021, Lodziak “received an outstanding achievement award for his tireless work providing the highest quality representation to disadvantaged clients in many complex and difficult trials and sentences”.
In the last eight years, Schofield has served as the assistant director of criminal law services at Legal Aid Queensland, having begun his tenure with Legal Aid Australia in 2002. Additionally, he has been fulfilling the role of an acting magistrate for the past four months and was “heavily involved in the implementation of Queensland’s first Domestic and Family Violence Specialist Court at Southport”.
Walker was first admitted in New Zealand in 2008 and subsequently admitted in Queensland in 2011. Since then, she has steadily advanced through the ranks at Legal Aid Queensland, where she currently works as a principal lawyer for the organisation. Additionally, she serves as the vice president of the North Queensland Law Association.
Since being admitted in 1988, O’Neill has “garnered a wide range of experience” having worked in “private law firms, hearing and resolving prisoner complaints with the former Department of Corrections, conducting procedural and final hearings in teacher disciplinary matters, and working as a sessional member with the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal”.
Smith brings 23 years’ worth of legal experience with her to the role, having worked as a “senior legal officer for the Crime and Misconduct Commission, a Crown prosecutor with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, a criminal defence barrister, and was director/principal lawyer of a criminal defence firm”. She has also been an acting magistrate for the last 10 months.
Shillito was admitted as a legal practitioner in Tasmania in 2007 and later became a barrister in Queensland in 2011. For the past seven years, he has held the position of director of criminal law at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service.
Speaking on the recent appointments, the Honourable A-G D’Ath said: “The Miles government is acutely aware of the significant workload undertaken by the magistracy, and the four new positions are reflective of the support for the important role that magistrates play in communities right around the state.
“Queensland’s legal profession is second to none, and the new appointees were all outstanding candidates for the respective positions.
“I congratulate each of the six new magistrates on their appointments and wish them well for long and fulfilling tenures.”
