QUT Indigenous student Cameron Downey has been awarded the First Nations Student Award at the inaugural Queensland Law Society’s Excellence in Law Awards Gala last month.
A proud Ghungalu man from rural Queensland, Cameron is a final-year Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Information Technology (Computer Science) student.
The Queensland Law Society (QLS) award recognises a law student with passion, dedication and positivity, who is focusing on how they can use their legal knowledge to help advance First Nations people and their communities.
The QLS said the award highlighted Cameron’s exceptional results in study and his contribution to improved justice outcomes for First Nations communities.
Cameron said it was a tremendous honour to receive the award.
“The calibre of previous winners and finalists is fantastic and to be considered among them leaves me speechless,” he said.
Cameron is currently a paralegal at Aurizon and a law clerk at YFS Legal, a community legal centre in Logan, where he works on a community legal education program targeted at First Nations people.
Cameron completed his secondary education in Roma, and began his legal studies at the Australian National University before transferring to QUT in 2018.
Since transferring to QUT he has represented the university at the National Indigenous Legal Conference in Perth, the Global Legal Forum in the Netherlands, and was recently awarded the prestigious Law Council of Australia John Koowarta Reconciliation Scholarship.
Cameron said he was also the First Nations Officer with the QUT Law Society, and used his IT skills to help the Teralba Park Stolen Generations Support Group conduct their Sorry Day ceremony online during the height of the COVID pandemic.
Head of the QUT Law School, Professor Sharon Christensen, said Cameron’s award was well-deserved.
“It’s great recognition for all the work Cameron has been doing with the First Nations Community,” Professor Christensen said.
“Cameron has supported the successful transition of First Nations law students into university as a peer mentor and represented and advocated for their interests through his role in the QUT Law Society,” she said.
“He is working with the QUT Law Society to bring together students with the legal profession and the judiciary helping to improve the understanding of Indigenous knowledges and perspectives for all,” she said.
Professor Kieran Tranter, who supervised Cameron in his Vacation Research Experience Scheme (VRES) placement, said Cameron had a bright future.
“He is the sort of future leader that Queensland needs: he’s an intellectual, he is a great communicator and he cares for his people and the future of the state,” he said.
Two other QUT students were finalists for the prize, with Sariah Christensen and Nathan Clews nominated as well.
This is the third consecutive time a QUT student has won the First Nations Student Award: previous recipients are Renee Kyle (2021) and Kat Dorante (2020).
Main image, L to R: Cameron Downey, Chair of the QLS First Nations Consulting Committee, Terry Stedman, and President of the Queensland Law Society, Kara Thomson, at the QLS Excellence in Law Awards Gala 2022.
Photographer: Jon W and Thomas O/Event Photos Australia
Media contact:
Sally Dillon, QUT Media, 07 3138 8666, s.dillon@qut.edu.au
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