Law graduate Emily Williams represents Australia as foreign diplomat

Words: Caitlin Lea
Published: 24 March 2025

When most people think about studying law, the obvious career outcome is usually as a lawyer, solicitor, and perhaps one day a judge or a magistrate.

For Southern Cross graduate Emily Williams, her path has led somewhere quite different. To the Australian Consulate, and around the world, to be exact.

In the lead up to graduating from Southern Cross University with a Bachelor of Social Science, Bachelor of Laws in 2020, Emily decided to apply for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) graduate program.

She was one of approximately 40 people selected for the program, among thousands of applicants.

“After a long and competitive recruitment process, I spent nearly two years in the DFAT graduate program in Canberra where I completed rotations in commercial law, the COVID response team, and in the Afghanistan crisis response,” Emily said.

“When Kabul fell in 2021, I was tasked with calling Australians to make sure they got to the airport to board an emergency flight out of the country,” she said.

Emily said that her legal skills were essential during the crisis response.

“I assisted the Australian crisis team by assessing applications for local staff who'd helped the Australian Embassy in Kabul as part of the Afghan Locally Engaged Employee program. It was my responsibility to carefully interpret Administrative Law to ensure each application was reviewed properly,” Emily said.

“That experience was instrumental in my career. DFAT were looking for a graduate with a law degree to be part of the crisis team and I just happened to be able to jump in and assist,” she said.

Emily completed her practical legal training as part of DFAT’s commercial law team.

“My law degree was invaluable as I was giving legal advice to Australian officials on Federal Government projects, focussing on development aid funding and partner government arrangements. I would review and amend contracts to ensure they were fit for purpose and in line with Australian policy,” she said.

Graduating from the program early, Emily was posted to the Australian Embassy in Serbia where she worked as Third Secretary for five months, assisting in consular and passport matters. Emily assisted with advising on complex consular cases, performing notarial work for clients and administrative tasks in the Embassy.

Emily’s career as a diplomat continued to progress, with her next position as a Policy Officer for Thailand and Laos in DFAT’s Office of Southeast Asia. In this role she assisted as a policy officer for Australia-Laos relations, providing foreign policy advice, managing engagement and facilitating Laotian delegations to Australia.

“I assisted with writing briefs and tweets for Australian Ministers, and if we had any officials from Laos coming to Australia, I would coordinate their visit,” Emily said.

In April 2024, Emily was posted to her current position as Vice Consul at the Australian Consulate in Noumea, New Caledonia.

During her first week in office, New Caledonia experienced a civil crisis with violent protests and riots in response to a controversial voting reform.

Outside of an emergency response, Emily’s role as Vice Consul involves providing services to Australians visiting or living in New Caledonia relating to consular assistance, passports, crisis preparedness and facilitating communication with local authorities.

“I am interpreting policy and legislation every day in my role, and I also need strong analytical and writing skills, so having a law degree under my belt has been really helpful,” Emily said.

“I have also had the opportunity to travel to the smaller islands and connect with the Indigenous Elders (in New Caledonia called Grand Chiefs), which is really valuable to me. I am Torres Strait Islander and there are connections between our culture and Melanesian culture, so it’s been nice to reconnect with that side of myself.”

Another part of the role which Emily enjoys is community outreach and managing the Direct Aid Program (DAP) for the French island territories of Wallis and Futuna in the South Pacific. This is a small grants program funded from Australia's aid budget.

“A highlight for me was visiting the Women’s Shelter that the Australian Government has funded for the last three years. I had the opportunity to hear some of the women’s stories and see how the program I have been managing has had a direct impact on their lives,” Emily said.

One of the greatest moments in Emily’s career so far was representing Australia at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York in 2024.

Emily Williams at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York

“We went with our First Nations Ambassador Justin Mohamed, and I assisted with his briefing. I also represented Australia at official UN events,” she said.

During her time at Southern Cross University, Emily made the most of every opportunity available to her, from mentoring first year law students as part of the Uni Mentor program, to volunteering as an Indigenous Officer with Southern Cross University Law Society and travelling to Darwin to participate in a legal conference for First Nations lawyers, hosted by the New South Wales Bar Association.

While studying, Emily was encouraged to apply for a number of scholarships which not only assisted in supporting her financially but enriched her experience at university.

“I received three scholarships from Southern Cross. One was the Miles Booker Award for Indigenous lawyers wishing to practice criminal law. This coincided with my time volunteering in a legal capacity at the Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre,” Emily said.

“I was also honoured to receive the Uncle Greg Harrington Recognition of Achievement Award which is awarded to Indigenous students achieving grades of a credit or higher,” she said.

A highlight of Emily’s study experience was receiving a New Colombo Plan Mobility Grant, which gave her the opportunity to travel to Sumatra for four weeks to work on a conservation program with the local community.

“Another great memory for me was travelling to the Czech Republic on an international law exchange, through the University’s Study Abroad program. We visited the United Nations headquarters in Vienna and their Refugee Centre in Hungary,” Emily said.

Emily believes that the international and extracurricular experiences she had while she was at Southern Cross University, along with her double degree in law and social sciences, is what gave her an edge as an applicant for the DFAT graduate program.

“I chose to study at Southern Cross because I wanted a university that was going to support me to flourish in my own way and not put me in a box. The more I studied there the more I realised it was supporting me as a person. And that’s ultimately what led me to my career as a diplomat.”

*All views, comments and suggestions expressed in testimony by Emily are made in a strict personal capacity.