William Kenny

In this role, I was able to work with some of the most experienced and sought after lawyers in Hong Kong. After a career break to complete my Masters, this experience could not have been a better re-entry. This team showed me how to equip and empower, something I've tried to emulate by volunteering in mentoring initiatives. I learned first-hand the benefits of a positive work culture, friendship and mutual support in maintaining a healthy workplace environment and saw how that cultivates great teams and better outcomes for clients. They also taught me a new level of professionalism, processes, expectations and high standards that I find myself still referencing today. Overall my takeaway from this role was in the standards and culture I wanted to set for myself and my teams going forward.

How does the world work outside my bubble of experience? This role gave me a deep understanding of business and the realties companies experience when working across borders. I was able to engage with some of the world's largest and most well known clothing brands, negotiating global supply agreements and navigating complex compliance requirements. I am immensely grateful for this experience and the way it taught me to always ask those extra few questions so that truly understand the business partners' goals and tailor my proposals to help them best achieve their desired outcomes.

How does the law get made? How is the law administered? This role helped me find answers to those questions; it gave me a deep understanding of how the system works and what governments might be trying to achieve by selecting one legislative or administrative approach over another. It taught me how government departments interact with each other. Most importantly though, I was able to learn how to navigate these systems to help constituents have their voice and their experiences heard. In hindsight, I am continually grateful for this opportunity as it now allows me to help others understand, and successfully navigate, the underlying currents of law and government policy.

Looking back, my fortnightly volunteer role for the BMLC's community drop-in legal service taught me how to communicate complex legal ideas in plain language. It's a great example of how you step out to give, and end up getting back more than you imagine. The skill of being able to breakdown legal concepts and processes and explain them to someone unfamiliar with the law is a truly indispensable tool I now use every day.

Major research thesis on the convergence of Evatt, Menzies and Keating traditions in Australian foreign policy and its implications for Australia in the Asian Century.