Winner of William Ah Ket Scholarship 2019 announced

Wednesday 9 October 2019

Tienyi Long, a legal and governance officer at Glen Eira City Council in Melbourne, was awarded the scholarship for her essay on how equal justice can be achieved for diverse communities in a multifaceted and complex society. Tienyi’s essay examines how the legal profession can become better equipped to respond to diverse clients and the issues they present.

Tienyi received the award from High Court Chief Justice The Honourable Susan Kiefel at an event held this evening in the Great Hall of the High Court in Canberra.

Sydney graduate lawyer Sandra Hu and Melbourne graduate Amy Pereira were named as runners up.

The winner of the scholarship receives $6,000, while the runners up receive $1,000 each.

This year marks the third year of the William Ah Ket Scholarship, an initiative of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association (AALA). The scholarship is named after William Ah Ket, who in 1904 became the first Australian barrister of Chinese origin. It is sponsored by Maddocks, where William Ah Ket was an articled clerk in 1903.

The winning paper was chosen by a panel of legal profession leaders:

• The Honourable Joshua Wilson, Justice of the Family Court of Australia
• The Honourable Helen Murrell, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Australian Capital Territory
• Professor Sally Wheeler OBE, Dean of ANU College of Law
• Patrick Ibbotson, Partner, Maddocks

AALA National President Kingsley Liu congratulated Tienyi on her successful essay.

‘This year saw the highest number of expressions of interest and the highest number of essays submitted in the scholarship’s history,’ Kingsley said.

‘The scope and quality of the essays were outstanding and the judges had an incredibly difficult job of deciding the winner from the shortlisted finalists.’

Maddocks CEO Michelle Dixon said the firm was proud to once again be involved with the William Ah Ket Scholarship.

‘We are very pleased to see the interest in the William Ah Ket Scholarship grow so significantly in its first three years,’ Michelle said.

‘I am especially proud to see young members of the legal profession grapple with these important issues, which says to me that the profession is in good hands.’

More information on William Ah Ket and the scholarship is available on the AALA website.