Profile
Year of Call:
2020Overview
Salwa has a diverse public and commercial law practice. She has particular experience in regulatory and law enforcement work and appearing in commissions and inquiries. She was recently Counsel Assisting in the Robodebt Royal Commission.
Prior to her call to the Bar, Salwa was a Senior Lawyer at the Australian Government Solicitor where her practice focused on Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Australian Securities and Investments Commission regulatory litigation and investigations. She has also worked as an Associate at White & Case LLP (London) doing litigation and white collar crime work, a Lawyer at MinterEllison, and an Associate to the Hon. Chief Justice Patrick Keane AC in the Federal Court of Australia.
She holds a BA/LLB (Hons) from the University of Queensland (UQ) and an LLM (Public Law) from the London School of Economics for which she was awarded the Stanley De Smith Prize for the best performance in the Public Law LLM specialism. She has worked as a sessional academic at UQ having lectured and tutored in a range of subjects including public law, corporate law, civil procedure and evidence.
Experience
Experience as junior counsel includes:
Regulatory and law enforcement work
> Acting and appearing for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in regulatory proceedings resulting in the award of a AUD5 m civil penalty against activewear company Lorna Jane.
> Acting and appearing for a respondent company and individuals in an ACCC investigation and proceedings in respect of alleged cartel conduct.
> Appearing for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) in civil proceedings commenced by Clive Palmer and Palmer Leisure Coolum Pty Ltd related to white collar criminal prosecutions.
> Acting and appearing for Australian Federal Police (AFP), including in respect of proceeds of crime litigation.
> Appearing (unled) for the Commonwealth Attorney-General as amicus curiae in criminal proceedings.
> Advising (led and unled) Commonwealth and State regulators, law enforcement agencies and respondents in the course of regulatory investigations.
Commissions and inquiries
> Acting as Counsel Assisting in the Robodebt Royal Commission.
> Appearing for witnesses in the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
> Engaged as Legal Editor at the Commission of Inquiry into Paradise Dam.
Commercial Law
> Acting for plaintiffs in a complex multiparty insurance claim in respect of LNG contract works in central Queensland.
> Acting and appearing in oppression proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia under the Corporations Act 2001.
> Acting and appearing in various contract claims in the Supreme Court of Queensland.
Native Title
> Acting for the State of Queensland in a North Queensland native title proceeding affecting various pastoral interests.
> Acting for the State of Queensland in complex native title proceedings involving overlapping claims and the intersection of the interests of multiple States.
> Advising (led and unled) the State of Queensland and Native Title Representative Bodies.
Judicial review
> Acting and appearing in a Supreme Court judicial review proceeding of a decision of the Land Court.
> Acting and appearing in a Supreme Court judicial review proceeding of government decision making under the Planning Act 2016.
> Advising Commonwealth, State and private clients on judicial review of government decision-making.
Defence work
> Advising and appearing in judicial review, termination, discrimination and human rights matters briefed for and against Defence.
Appointments
2017 Brigidine College Indooroopilly - Board Director
2019 Australian Association of Constitutional Law, Queensland Chapter - Committee Member
Member
Bar Association of Queensland
Australian Association of Constitutional Law
LawRight
Career
2020 Barrister, Queensland
2016-20 Lawyer/Senior Lawyer, Australian Government Solicitor (Brisbane)
2015-16 Associate, White & Case LLP (London)
2013-14 Lawyer, MinterEllison (Brisbane)
2012 Associate to the Hon. Chief Justice Patrick Keane AC in the Federal Court of Australia
Education
2014-15 LLM (Public Law) (Dist), London School of Economics
2006-12 BA/LLB (Hons), University of Queensland
Awards
2017 Australian Government Solicitor Award for outstanding service to Commonwealth clients
2014-15 Stanley De Smith Prize for the best performance in Public Law in the LLM (London School of Economics)
