A NSW lawyer and national aged care advocate, Catherine Henry, has been named as the 2021 Newcastle Local Woman of the Year.
Ms Henry was selected for her enduring commitment to mentoring and elevating women in the legal profession, her tireless advocacy for reform in the aged care sector and decades of support for local organisations and charities.
Among her long list of achievements is a tenure as President of the Newcastle Law Society, her appointment as a national spokesperson on aged care for the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA), and last year was the winner of the ALA’s Civil Justice Award.
State Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp said that Ms Henry could not be looked past.
“Catherine is an absolute powerhouse, and a tireless fighter for every cause she sinks her teeth into,” he said.
“There is a reason that she is being recognised by her profession on a national level, and we are so lucky that she is a Novocastrian.”
Ms Henry said it was an honour to be recognised in a city of wonderful women, and that it is important for businesses and business leaders to support the communities in which they operate.
“The law is an important tool for citizens and community groups to gain justice, to address inequity, and also to hold governments and people with power to account,” she said.
“I have the privilege of being a lawyer so I feel it is important to use my expertise to advocate for people, particularly some of our most vulnerable.”
Some of the issues Ms Henry has championed of late include aged care reform, particularly the need for a new Aged Care Act, abortion law reform, vaginal mesh, and the need for an inquiry into regional and rural healthcare in NSW.
Ms Henry is principal of the Newcastle-based health and relationship law firm, Catherine Henry Lawyers. She is the founder and convenor of the Newcastle Chapter of Women Lawyers NSW; a member of the University of Newcastle Law School Advisory Board and supporter of its Empower program for female students; a member, Hunter Region Reference Group for Potential Elder Abuse; and a founding member of the newly formed Hunter Ageing Planning Alliance.
Her skills in health and medical negligence law were again acknowledged when she and her firm were recognised in the 2020 Doyles Guide for NSW’s top medical negligence compensation lawyers and law firms. It is the fourth year in a row that Ms Henry has had a listing as a Recommended Medical Negligence Compensation Lawyer (Plaintiff). She was one of only four regional NSW lawyers to make this list in 2020. Last year she was named Regional and Suburban Lawyer of the Year in the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards and her firm was a finalist in the Regional and Suburban Law Firm of the Year Award.
Her firm is a signatory to the Law Society’s Equitable Briefing Program and is also a contributing supporter of the National Justice Project – a not-for-profit legal service for the vulnerable and for Indigenous Australians.
Other contributions to the local community include establishing and co-organising an annual public policy lecture in Newcastle and being a founding ambassador for the Newcastle’s Victoria Theatre restoration.
