Tilé and Olly Meets: Fiona Yeang

In this episode, we meet with Fiona Yeang, a lawyer specialising in construction, engineering and infrastructure projects, and an advocate for disability access and inclusion. Fiona shares with us her experience and journey of overcoming a significant loss in her life, so we provide a gentle content note and trigger warning for our listeners who may wish to take care when tuning in. While the subject matter is a sad one, Fiona brings sincerity, gentleness and pragmatism to the conversation—qualities shaped by her life being English, living with a disability, being a mother, and a lawyer with over 40 years of practice experience.

She started her career at the Bar in London in 1984, then moved in-house to a construction industry trade association, subsequently joining a major UK law firm and becoming a solicitor. She worked in London, on construction and infrastructure projects, until 2000, when she relocated to Queensland to join a major Australian law firm. In 2006 she set up her own practice, Yeang Lawyers. She is a legal consultant for Peerpoint by A&O Shearman, through which she periodically takes on secondments to in-house legal teams. For the last 10 years she has also been a sessional academic at QUT, teaching a construction law unit for undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students. She has been disabled since birth, and is an ambulatory wheelchair user (she either uses a wheelchair or walks with a mobility aid). Fiona is a founding member of the Queensland Law Society’s Disability and Accessibility Network.

If you are looking for some support as a result of some of the topics covered this season, please see a few options listed below:

Lifeline: 13 11 14 (phone) or text 0477 13 11 14. 24/7 phone and text support for anyone in Australia.

1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732. 24/7 support for sexual assault, domestic and family violence.

13YARN: 13 92 76. 24/7 crisis support service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.