Tammy Solonec
Class of 1992
Class of 1992
Human Rights Lawyer
Tammy is a proud Nigena woman from Derby, in the Kimberley of Western Australia.
She came to study at Mount Lawley Senior High School in Year 11 and 12.
After leaving school, Tammy took 12 years studying part time while raising her children to complete her law degree at UWA.
Within five years of becoming a lawyer, Tammy was awarded Young Lawyer of the Year and Lawyer of the Year.
In her career, she has worked as the Managing Solicitor of the Law and Advocacy Unit in the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA, Director of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, the Convenor and Executive Assistant of NAIDOC Perth and a convening member of the WA Aboriginal Lawyers Committee and is the Director of Nyikina Yorga Consultancies.
She has advocated for Indigenous peoples on local, state, national and international levels, including at the United Nations
Since then, Tammy has been the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Manager for Amnesty International.
Through this role she has taken the lead on Amnesty International's Indigenous Rights Campaign work, as well as research into Indigenous youth justice and Indigenous incarceration rates.
Tammy also contested the Federal Election for the Labor Party in 2016.
In 2017, Tammy was inducted into the Western Australian Womens Hall of Fame.