Villamanta provides professional experience placements to law students, particularly those from Deakin University. This increases Villamanta’s capacity to assist our clients and to make available through this site information about legal and justice related aspects of disability issues.
Deidre joined the team in 1999 and works full-time. As well as her Executive Officer duties, Deidre is our Principal Solicitor and also does some Legal Casework, Community Legal Education and Policy & Law Reform work.
Sue works part-time and is assisting people to prepare their submissions to the Disability Royal Commission. Sue has been a member of the team since 1993.
Viv works part-time and provides administration support for the team. Viv has worked at Villamanta since 1997.
Darrell is our Accounts Administrator. He works part time and is also responsible for personnels.
Naomi provides legal advice and representation for people who have a disability related justice issue, working on matters within our priority areas including NDIS reviews and appeals. She also is an active participant in human rights law and policy reform activities.
Kate provides legal advice, casework and subsequent court and tribunal representation to people who have a disability related legal or justice issue. She is admitted in both Victoria and England and Wales and has practiced in both jurisdictions. Kate has a great interest in policy and law reform and human rights law.
Steve joined the team at Villamanta in 2017 and works full-time. Steve is Villamanta’s legal advocate for matters relating to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Steve also provides legal advice, casework and representation for people who have an intellectual disability related legal and justice issue at various courts and tribunals.
Mae provides legal advice, casework and subsequent court and tribunal representation to people who have a disability related legal or justice issue. Mae has experience in the community sector and has a great interest in disability justice issues and human rights law.
Elise joined Villamanta in 2019 while completing her legal studies. Now a lawyer, Elise provides legal advice, casework and subsequent court and tribunal representation for people with disability related justice issues. She has done a lot of work for NDIS access matters and she is very passionate about human rights.
Sharnee is a paralegal, providing administrative support to our legal team and answering calls to our Telephone Advice Service
Bianca assists clients with preparing submissions to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
Baxter assists clients with preparing submissions to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. He is passionate about helping to secure a brighter future for human rights in Australia.
Our student assistants
Our volunteers
Villamanta is assisted greatly by its volunteer workers and by lawyers in private practice who provide our clients and ourselves with pro bono advice and support. They are an important part of Villamanta’s operation; without them, our ability to assist our clients would be significantly diminished.
