Creating Ripples within Community: Pro Bono and Volunteer Legal Assistance within Women’s Legal Service (SA)

Published on 30 November 2022 by Caitlin Weatherby-Fell This article showcases the work and volunteers of the Top End Women's Legal Service, including its pro bono advice clinic.

In 1996, the Top End Women’s Legal Service (‘TEWLS’) was established as one of a network of specialist women’s legal services, the key recommendation of a series of reports by the Australian Law Reform Commission (‘ALRC’) to address “the failure of justice for women in Australia”. Following the ALRC reports’ release, a group of women in Darwin met and agreed to work together, establishing a structure that would allow different communities to participate and contribute to an organisation in ways appropriate and accessible to them, while existing within the one women’s legal service.

Caitlin Weatherby-Fell is the Chief Executive Officer of the Top End Women’s Legal Service (TEWLS), a specialist women’s legal service focused on the advancement of women’s rights. She is admitted to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory and the High Court of Australia and was a TEWLS Senior Lawyer before returning from parental leave in 2021. Caitlin has worked (and volunteered) in both corporate and not-for-profit legal sectors and is an enthusiastic advocate for work-life balance, a joyous result of life in the Top End, as well as a tenacious toddler and a new-found love for distance running.