15 Nov 2017
Tamara Kenny completed her HSC in 2012 at Narooma High School and is currently finalising her fifth year of a combined arts/law degree at the University of NSW. She belongs to the Yuin Nation and is from Bodalla.
Tamara with Justice Elizabeth Fullerton accepting her Rising Advocate Award in 2016
Tamara has been selected to participate in the 2018 International Criminal Court Mooting Competition in The Hague in the Netherlands in May with four other students from the University of NSW. They are an all-female team and have worked tirelessly over the past three months to prepare for the qualifying rounds in Australia, where they competed against other Australian universities to make it into international rounds by writing judgements on issues on international law regarding human trafficking.
Tamara will be the first Indigenous student from UNSW to compete in this competition.
Tamara is held in high regard by those who know her as she demonstrates the highest level of integrity and loyalty and exhibits a deep understanding of individual situations. Her quiet, but delightful, sense of humour and enthusiasm for life complements her strong work ethic.
Tamara is passionate about the future, enthusiastically involved in all she undertakes and proud to be a Yuin woman. She has a strong social conscience and is determined that she will make an impact in the future for her community.
In 2015 Tamara was awarded the John Koowarta Reconciliation Law Scholarship. This prestigious national scholarship is available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled in an approved course of study at or through an Australian tertiary institute, which is a prerequisite to admission as a legal practitioner in any Australian jurisdiction.
Tamara has fully embraced life at university and she is a UNSW Nura Gili Student Ambassador motivating high school students to aspire to university education, as well as being a tutor for the Nura Gili Indigenous programs. She is also the indigenous student representative of UNSW's Student Representative Council. She also assists with the Nura Gili Indigenous Winter School program where she hopes to inspire and encourage other Indigenous students to attend university. Tamara was also a volunteer in Walama Muru, a student volunteer program run by Arc at UNSW, in 2014 and 2015.
Tamara was involved in an internship with Qantas for three years and is currently a paralegal in litigation with Gilbert & Tobin law firm at Barangaroo in Sydney.
Tamara sees studying law as a way for her to help people overcome disadvantage - particularly those in Indigenous communities. In accepting her scholarship, Tamara stated, "I believe studying law will equip me with the skills and knowledge that are necessary to understand how the law contributes to help address social justice issues and how it can be utilised to have positive impacts on individuals and communities".
She has regularly competed in the Mooting Competition of Australia's First Peoples and in 2016 she won the Rising Advocate Award from her fellow competitors for her team-player attitude and for embracing the spirit of the competition; recognition that she will develop into a strong representative and advocate for First Nations communities.