The only lawyer in the family

She grew up in Brisbane with her mother, a doctor who worked in the Queensland Health psychiatric services, and her father, a lecturer in Psychology at the University of Queensland.

“I had no role models in the law, but I loved reading John Mortimer’s Rumpole of the Bailey books and had a desire to become a criminal law barrister. Somewhere along the way I developed an interest in competition and consumer law and things went on from there”.

Her children, however, have taken different paths with her daughter now a medical writer and her son halfway through a Masters of Engineering.

A passion for words 

Kerry completed a Bachelor of Arts (1989) and Bachelor of Laws (Hons) (1992) at the University of Queensland and went on to practise law as a solicitor.

Later, Kerry attained a Masters of Applied Linguistics.

“Language and communication is a real love of mine, both learning other languages and also understanding how we express ideas and understand each other.”

“My studies in linguistics have been enormously helpful in the practice of law. I also had some wonderful early mentors in my legal career who taught me how to communicate complex legal ideas in language that is easy to understand.”

A journey to the energy industry 

Having previously worked for King & Wood Mallesons and then Ashurst, she has spent many years as in-house counsel, including at Telstra, Queensland Rail, Energy Queensland, and now CleanCo.

“Since starting to work in the energy industry in 2016 I have developed an expertise in energy regulatory law,

“Energy is a dynamic area to be involved in at the moment. It is obviously a very highly regulated industry, but one which needs to be innovative and flexible, to keep up with changes in technology, consumer requirements, and climate and sustainability imperatives.”

Other areas of law in which Kerry practises include privacy, security of critical infrastructure and cyber security law, and general commercial and compliance law.

Loving her role at CleanCo

Kerry says that working for CleanCo brings with it the satisfaction of working towards a worthy goal.

“I have been able to become involved in the work that CleanCo is doing to integrate sustainability into its strategy and operations. I’ve also been really impressed by the CleanCo values that I see demonstrated every day in different ways and I like how closely those align with some of my values – particularly being genuine, and curious!”

“I have also been pleased to see how seriously CleanCo takes its responsibilities towards, and relationships with, the Traditional Owners in the areas in which CleanCo operates. There is so much engagement there, and so much interest at CleanCo in making sure that we foster ongoing practical and positive relationships,

“CleanCo has given me the opportunity to find out more about our indigenous history. Recently I was privileged to be able to attend a two-day Cultural Agility Workshop at CleanCo, where we learned about the history of interactions between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from colonial times until now, about being intentional and having more respectful interactions, how to contribute meaningfully to the Path to Treaty and taking practical steps in the work that we do,

“This was an incredible experience of learning for us all.”