Tilé and Olly Meets: Farzana Choudhury

Farzana Choudhury is a human rights lawyer, specialising in disability discrimination and homelessness law. Farzana is the Disability Law Supervising Solicitor at Canberra Community Law (CCL) and was previously the Program Manager and Senior Solicitor with CCL's Street Law program which provides free legal assistance to people experiencing homelessness. Farzana has channelled her passion for social justice through various initiatives, including establishing a legal education and advice clinic for women in prison, setting up a mental health justice clinic and investigating the application of poverty discrimination law frameworks as a 2019 Churchill Fellow.

At the time we met with Farzana in June 2023, she was the President of the ACT Law Society, and very recently became the Immediate Past President. She is the first community lawyer to have held these positions. Farzana is also a member of the Law Council of Australia's Access to Justice Committee and the ACT Law Society's Access to Justice and Inclusion Committee. In 2019, Farzana was named ACT Young Lawyer of the Year, in recognition of her professional and community engagement to support people facing barriers.

During our meeting, Farzana tells us about the 'Just Hearing' performance, put on by Rebus Theatre, Canberra Community Law and Canberra Legal Aid. Fortunately, there is an upcoming public performance on 20 October 2023 and you can purchase tickets here.

We also discuss the social scripts by Canberra Community Law and Autism Spectrum Australia, a resource of social scripts and templates for justice organisations.

Farzana also introduces us to the Canberra Lawyers for Diversity Network, which if you're based in Canberra, we encourage you to join.

Please enjoy our very informatve conversation!