Director and Principal
Ana grew up in Bairnsdale. She has a Bachelor of Arts/Laws from the Australian National University in Canberra. She was admitted as a barrister and solicitor to the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2000 and is registered on the High Court of Australia register.
Ana worked for 8 years with Victoria Legal Aid in Bairnsdale before opening Seawater Legal in 2018. In addition to assisting clients from Gippsland, wider Victoria and interstate with family law property, parenting, mediation and divorce, she is qualified as an Independent Children’s Lawyer — working in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia in matters where she is appointed by the Court to assist in determining the child’s best interests.
She has a broad background having worked in private practice in family law in Melbourne, volunteered at the Footscray Legal Service, worked on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait and as a senior lawyer with Victoria Legal Aid in the Gippsland Office from 2010 until 2018. She has worked extensively across the family law, family violence, personal safety and child protection jurisdictions. She is passionate about keeping the child’s best interests at the forefront of all family law negotiations and, where possible, in resolving a matter without resorting to litigation. She is also committed to pursuing equitable outcomes for parties in property settlements via Consent Orders, Financial Agreements and where necessary, through litigation. In matters which cannot be resolved out of court, Ana appears regularly for clients in the Children’s Court of Victoria, Magistrates Court of Victoria and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
Ana has strong ties to the Gippsland community having grown up in the region and remains involved through her work and her children’s activities.
Education
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Arts/Law
Qualifications & Affiliations
Member: Victoria Legal Aid Panel of Practitioners - Independent Children’s Lawyer
Member of the Law Institute of Victoria
Member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia
Member: Victorian Women’s Lawyers and Australian Women’s Lawyers
Admissions
Barrister/Solicitor to the Supreme Court of Victoria 2000
Barrister/Solicitor to the High Court of Australia 2000