Bethany Moore

“I am motivated by the fact I can use my legal skills and the resources of the firm to allow for everyone, not just the rich and powerful, to access justice. The law should be about giving people a voice when they have been let down by the systems and institutions that are supposed to serve them. It is about protecting peoples’ rights, and holding people, governments and corporations accountable for their wrongdoing,” says Bethany.

Bethany joined the firm as a class actions paralegal in March 2016. Since being admitted in March 2019, she has worked across numerous sections of the firm including class actions, employment and industrial, and public liability.

In 2021, Bethany completed an Associateship with Murphy J of the Federal Court of Australia, during which time she assisted his Honour with matters across numerous practice areas including class actions, native title, human rights and administrative law.

In 2024, Bethany completed a 2.5-year secondment to a native title representative body in Western Australia, where she worked on a number of strategic litigation cases which included:

• successfully running a test case which set a new precedent for preserving evidence for use in future native title compensation claims – see Karajarri Traditional Lands Association (Aboriginal Corporation) RNTBC v State of Western Australia [2024] FCA 1114;
• commencing a proceeding challenging the policy used by the State of Western Australia to apply the “expedited procedure” to applications for certain types of mining tenure. The expedited procedure has the effect of removing native title parties’ right to negotiate an agreement with a mining company (the highest protection afforded to native title parties under native title legislation); and
• assisting with the mediation of a native title compensation claim in respect of an exploration licence, which claim raised the novel question of who is liable to pay compensation to native title holders where the compensable act is the grant of a mining tenement in Western Australia.

Bethany has seen how well-resourced and well-prepared litigation can empower communities and help correct structural imbalances. Bethany and her colleagues use creative legal thinking to protect and expand the rights and interests of First Nations people.

Before studying law, Bethany worked as an Alcohol and Other Drug Counsellor in regional Queensland.