October 7, 2021
South Burnett solicitor – and former Olympian – Fiona Albert has secured one of just five Jack Cranstoun Scholarships awarded to young Queenslanders.
Fiona, who joined JA Carroll Solicitors in February this year, has been awarded $16,700 to attend mediation training.
The course, run by the Department of Justice & Attorney-General, will enable Fiona to become a nationally accredited mediator.
Fiona graduated from the University of Queensland in 2014, the same year she was named Australian University Sport Female Athlete of the Year.
She admits her mind wasn’t fully on a career in law at the time – she was in training to compete in the Women’s Rowing Eight at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The team came fourth in Heat 1 of the competition and narrowly missed out on a place in the final in the repêchage.
Back in Australia, Fiona was admitted as a solicitor in 2017 and then tried to combine full-time legal work with full-time rowing training.
“There was not a lot of sleep and a lot of coffee,” she joked.
But in 2019, she was forced to officially retire from rowing after she “blew” her back.
Fiona was working as a Judge’s Associate in a County Court in Melbourne when the pandemic struck in 2020.
“My judge retired and I wanted to come back to Queensland,” she said.
Although she did not grow up in the South Burnett, Fiona’s family connections go back more than a century so she thought of the South Burnett as home.
Fiona managed – with a massive dose of good luck – to strike a time when the borders were still open and there was no quarantine requirement.
At JA Carroll she does “a bit of everything” but mainly family and criminal law and estate work, working in Murgon and Kingaroy.
“I am really enjoying being at this practice. I am getting really good experience,” she said.
Fiona was presented with the scholarship prize at a ceremony in the Supreme Court Library in Brisbane on September 28.
Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said the Jack Cranstoun Scholarship was a valuable opportunity for the five recipients to sharpen their skills in the art of mediation and dispute resolution.
“Jack was a much-loved and talented mediator with the Department of Justice and Attorney-General who sadly lost his life in 2014,” Ms Fentiman said.
“Mr Cranstoun’s colleagues recognised that offering these opportunities to young people in his name would be a fitting tribute for someone who was a bright and talented problem solver in his own right.
“Mediators provide an invaluable service to the community, helping people resolve their differences without the need to go to court.
“Applicants for the scholarship were assessed for merit and interviewed by a panel regarding relevant criteria as well as their passion for mediation.
“Our award winners will be trained by experienced mediators from Queensland’s Dispute Resolution Branch and will have the opportunity to be assessed for National Mediator Accreditation.”
