Four extra Magistrate positions and six new faces

• Six experienced legal practitioners appointed as magistrates
• Four of the positions are new
• Jakub Lodziak, Mark Schofield, Kellie Walker, Lisa O’Neill, Anna Smith and Lewis Shillito to start immediately

Six highly experienced legal practitioners have been appointed to the bench as the Miles Government further bolsters Queensland’s judicial ranks.

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Yvette D’Ath, today announced the appointees.

The new positions have been created in Brisbane, Southport, Cairns and Mount Isa.

Mr Lodziak has been Acting Public Defender for the past five months.

Mr Lodziak is a highly respected barrister, who has worked across various roles at Legal Aid Queensland since 2005. In 2021, he received an outstanding achievement award for his tireless work providing the highest quality representation to disadvantaged clients in many complex and difficult trials and sentences.

Mr Lodziak’s standing also saw him recently appointed as a member of the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council. 

Mr Schofield has been the Assistant Director of Criminal Law Services with Legal Aid Queensland for the past eight years, having commenced his career at Legal Aid Queensland in 2002.

Mr Schofield has been presiding over matters as an Acting Magistrate for the last four months.

Mr Schofield instigated and successfully managed a joint initiative with Queensland Police involving online court efficiencies which benefited all stakeholders. He was also heavily involved in the implementation of the Queensland’s first Domestic and Family Violence Specialist Court at Southport.

Ms Walker works as a Principal Lawyer at Legal Aid Queensland. 

Ms Walker was originally admitted in New Zealand in 2008, and later admitted in Queensland in 2011, steadily making her way through the ranks at Legal Aid Queensland. 

Ms Walker was named Queensland Regional Practitioner of the Year in 2020 and is vice-president of the North Queensland Law Association.

Ms O’Neill has garnered a wide range of experience since being admitted in 1988.

Ms O’Neill began her career in private law firms, hearing and resolving prisoner complaints with the former Department of Corrections, conducting procedural and final hearings in teacher disciplinary matters, and working as a sessional member with the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

In her more recent roles with the Federal Circuit Family Court of Australia, Ms O’Neill developed an innovative specialist response to family violence.

Ms Smith has been practising law for more than 23 years and was made an Acting Magistrate almost 10 months ago.

She has worked as a Senior Legal Officer for the Crime and Misconduct Commission, a Crown Prosecutor with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, a criminal defence barrister, and was Director/Principal Lawyer of a criminal defence firm for 11 years.

Ms Smith also spent six months as a child protection lawyer in the United Kingdom. 

Mr Shillito graduated with Honours from the University of Tasmania and was admitted as a legal practitioner there in 2007 and as a barrister in Queensland in 2011.

He has been the Director of Criminal Law with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service for the past seven years, while also serving as a member of the Queensland Childrens Court Committee.

A criminal law solicitor with the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency and Queensland Police Service prosecutor earlier in his career, Mr Shillito also spent four years volunteering with the Caxton Legal Centre.

 Magistrate                            Location

Mark Schofield         –          Mt Isa

Kellie Walker             -          Cairns

Jakub Lodziak          -           Southport/Cairns

Lisa O’Neill               -           Brisbane/Southport

Anna Smith               -           Southport/Bowen

Lewis Shillito             -           Brisbane

Quotes attributable to Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and the Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Yvette D’Ath:

“The Miles Government is acutely aware of the significant workload undertaken by the magistracy and the four new positions are reflective of the support for the important role that magistrates play in communities right around the State.

“Queensland’s legal profession is second to none and the new appointees were all outstanding candidates for the respective positions.

“I congratulate each of the six new magistrates on their appointments and wish them well for long and fulfilling tenures.”

ENDS