Giving voice to the victims: ANU Arts Law alumna Katrina Marson

 Arts/Law alumna Katrina Marson has been named 2016 ACT Young Lawyer of the Year.

Arts/Law alumna Katrina Marson has been named 2016 ACT Young Lawyer of the Year.

ANU Arts / Law alumna, Katrina Marson, has been named the 2016 ACT Young Lawyer of the Year by the ACT Law Society in recognition of her outstanding professional achievements and community involvement.

Katrina, who tutors in Evidence Law in the ANU College of Law, is currently working on secondment with Legal Aid ACT's criminal practice following three years with the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as a prosecutor, including a year in the family violence unit. 

Through her work with the DPP, Katrina has helped raise awareness of issues around sexual assault and family violence within the criminal justice system, publishing articles on the use of expert evidence about the 'freeze response' in a sexual assault trial in the ACT, and reforms to the legal definition of family violence in ACT Legislation.

Katrina organises the annual ACT DPP Mock Trial during Law Week and outside of work she is heavily involved in the community including as co-founder and director of the Pillow Talk Project, a business venture that delivers training to young people on consent, relationships, and ethical behaviour.

The Award is the latest in a long line of awards for Katrina since she began her studies at ANU in 2008.

Katrina was awarded Student of the Year in the 2013 ANU Alumni Awards for her volunteer work that included setting up ANU Volunteers - ANU V - an organisation that donates hundreds of hours of volunteer work to organisations and events on and off campus.

While a student at ANU, Katrina was also a member of the Governance Committee of the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, an active member of the ANU Gender Institute and volunteered as undergraduate ambassador.

She won the Maree Ayers Prize for Criminal Justice in her final year, the prestigious 2012 Tillyard Prize and was Student Speaker at the ANU Law Graduation Ceremony. 

Katrina graduated from ANU in 2012 with her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (with Honours), completing her Honours thesis on the topic of sexual assault law reform.