Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Reference Group Chair and members

Members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Reference Group provide advice that will ensure the Commission engages in culturally appropriate consultation with Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples and that their perspectives inform our work and recommendations.

  • Ms Avelina Tarrago - Chair

    Avelina Tarrago - Chair

    Ms Tarrago is a Wangkamahdla woman from central-west Queensland. She is a barrister with a practice focused on inquests and inquiries, health, regulatory and administrative law jurisdictions. Ms Tarrago previously had a 17 year career in the public service as a Government Legal Officer for the Coroners Court of Queensland, Office of the Health Ombudsman and Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. In 2014, Ms Tarrago completed an Indigenous Fellowship with the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights. In 2023, she was also appointed to the Board of Legal Aid Queensland. She was appointed a Commission Member at the QLRC in 2024.
  • Justice Lincoln Crowley

    The Honourable Justice Lincoln Crowley holds a Bachelor of Laws from James Cook University, a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Queensland University of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Political Science, from the University of New England. He was admitted to practice in Queensland in 1997. His first role after admission was as a solicitor with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, initially in Townsville and then later in Brisbane. After several years he moved to New South Wales, where he worked as a senior solicitor within the New South Wales Crown Solicitor’s Office, and later was called to the Sydney private bar. There he practised in both civil and criminal fields before returning to the public sector as In-House Counsel with the Sydney Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. After several years in that role his Honour returned to Queensland to take up a position as a Principal Crown Prosecutor for the Queensland Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, before finally settling into practise at the Queensland private bar, where he specialised in crime and all areas of public law for many years. In 2018, his Honour became the first Indigenous person appointed as Queen’s Counsel in and for the State of Queensland. On 13 June 2022, Justice Crowley was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland, becoming the first Indigenous judge appointed to a superior court in Australia.
  • Judge Nathan Jarro

    Judge Jarro identifies as Ghangalu on his father's side and Bidjara on his mother's side. In March 2018, Judge Jarro was appointed to the District Court of Queensland. Before joining the bench, his Honour was called to the Bar in 2004 after practising previously as a solicitor for a number of years. From 2022, Judge Jarro has been a member of the University of Queensland Senate.
  • Mr Joshua Creamer

    Mr Creamer is Waanyi and Kalkadoon. He practices as a barrister and is a former Commissioner at the Queensland Law Reform Commission and the former Chair of the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry in Queensland.
  • Mr Adrian Geary

    Mr Geary is a proud Aboriginal descendant of the Bidjara people and currently serves as the Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Programs and Partnerships with the Department of Justice. With 25 years of service in the Queensland Police Service (QPS), Mr Geary concluded his career as Officer in Charge of the Gordonvale Police Station. He was also a key figure in founding the QPS First Nations Network, promoting First Nations leadership and reform. Mr Geary has over 20 years of experience in the Domestic and Family Violence sector and serves as Chair and Community Engagement Director at Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service (QIFVLS), advocating for vulnerable communities.
  • Ms Lala Gutchen

    Ms Gutchen is a proud Meuram woman from Erub Island in the Torres Strait. Ms Gutchen is a cultural knowledge holder, fisherwomen, mother, community organiser, and a strong advocate for the cultural rights of her people and families. Ms Gutchen was a key cultural witness in a historic winning Queensland Land Court case, where she provided evidence for her people about the impact that the carbon emissions from the Waratah Coal’s Galilee Coal Project would have on the Torres Strait Islands, which are threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change and unusual weather patterns. She continues to serve her community as a First Language Programs Facilitator and ailan youth ambassador for the Our Islands Our Home campaign.
  • Ms Kristen Hodge

    Bio coming soon
  • Mr Karl McKenzie

    Mr McKenzie is the Chair of the Townsville Community Justice Group. He is also a Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Adjudicator and holds many other roles on boards and committees like the Queensland Parole Board and the Queensland Chief Magistrates Advisory Committee. Mr McKenzie is a respected Aboriginal Elder with strong ties to the Townsville community.
  • Magistrate Jacqui Payne

    Bio coming soon
  • Prof Boni Robertson

    Professor Robertson is a First Nations woman whose cultural background is aligned with Kabi Kabi and Gorang Gorang People through her matriarchal bloodline. Professor Robertson has a widely recognised and respected career having held senior Executive or leadership positions as a First Nations woman in higher education, within Government and in community-based agencies that align with her passion for human rights, culturally responsive and respectful education and social justice. Throughout her career Professor Robertson has held senior academic, research, advocate and representative positions at the state, national and international level where she has worked to progress the goals and aspirations of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international and national instruments and policy statements pertinent to protecting, promoting and progressing the basic human rights of First Nations People.