Staff

Leadership Team

Angus Francis Executive Director and Principal Solicitor Our new Executive Director/Principal Solicitor is Angus Francis. Angus first started at the then South Brisbane Immigration and Community Legal Service (now RAILS) as a volunteer law student over 30 years ago. He has continued to research, teach and practice in immigration and refugee law since that time and served for several years as RAILS’s Principal Solicitor. For the past six years he has run his own immigration and refugee law practice. He is Chair of the Queensland Law Society Migration Law Advisory Committee and holds a doctorate in international refugee law from the Australian National University.

Ben Carrick Legal Practice Director Bernie has practiced in refugee law since 2010. He has worked for community legal centres in Perth and Melbourne then spent two years in Nauru leading a team of lawyers contracted to assist asylum seekers with their refugee status determinations and judicial review matters. He joined RAILS in October 2020. Bernie has a BA LLB (Hons), and a LLM and PhD from Melbourne Law School. He teaches statutory interpretation, constitutional law and administrative law in his free time. He enjoys the complexity and continually changing nature of the law around protection visas and judicial review, as well as finding legal, community and institutional work-arounds for vulnerable people.	Neha Vaidyanathan Legal Practice Director Neha joined RAILS as a law student volunteer in 2005. In 2009 she was admitted as a solicitor of the Queensland Supreme Court and has since enjoyed a diverse and human rights focused legal career at community legal centres, including working at RAILS as a solicitor in 2009-10 and 2013-14. Neha joined RAILS as a long-term employee from July 2017 as UAS Coordinator, moving internally in September 2020 to focus on integrity cancellations work. Neha also provides advices and representation to protection visa applicants. Prior to this, Neha worked at Queensland Advocacy Inc (QAI), advising and representing vulnerable clients with mental illness and/or intellectual disabilities. She has many years of experience in refugee and migration law, having worked in community legal centres in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Neha has visited immigration detention centres throughout Australia to provide legal representation to people seeking asylum. She has also provided successful representation at review hearings before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. One of her proudest achievements at RAILS was working as UAS Coordinator to bring together the community and legal sectors in QLD to provide clerical support and pro bono legal assistance to asylum seekers seeking judicial review in the Federal Circuit Court.

Susan Hogarth Legal Practice Director Susan's first professional career was in primary teaching. She taught in regional Queensland and Brisbane as well as in England, Thailand and Vanuatu. Susan studied law while raising her three young children and has been connected to RAILS since 2013. Upon admission into practice in 2016, she became a caseworker and the coordinator of the Primary Application Information Service (PAIS) program. She now represents clients in their protection and partner visa applications. Susan is committed to social justice and is passionate about working in the community legal sector.	Cristina Prieto Salvador Operations Manager Cristina has a dual degree of Law and Business Management from Spain. She has worked for both private law firms and community legal centers in Australia and in Spain. She joined our team in October 2018 as a volunteer and became Operations Manager in July 2020.

Leadership Team

Angus Francis Executive Director and Principal Solicitor

Angus Francis

Executive Director and Principal Solicitor

Our new Executive Director/Principal Solicitor is Angus Francis. Angus first started at the then South Brisbane Immigration and Community Legal Service (now RAILS) as a volunteer law student over 30 years ago. He has continued to research, teach and practice in immigration and refugee law since that time and served for several years as RAILS’s Principal Solicitor. For the past six years he has run his own immigration and refugee law practice. He is Chair of the Queensland Law Society Migration Law Advisory Committee and holds a doctorate in international refugee law from the Australian National University.

Ben Carrick

Legal Practice Director

Bernie has practiced in refugee law since 2010. He has worked for community legal centres in Perth and Melbourne then spent two years in Nauru leading a team of lawyers contracted to assist asylum seekers with their refugee status determinations and judicial review matters. He joined RAILS in October 2020.

Bernie has a BA LLB (Hons), and a LLM and PhD from Melbourne Law School. He teaches statutory interpretation, constitutional law and administrative law in his free time.

He enjoys the complexity and continually changing nature of the law around protection visas and judicial review, as well as finding legal, community and institutional work-arounds for vulnerable people.

Neha Vaidyanathan

Legal Practice Director

Neha joined RAILS as a law student volunteer in 2005. In 2009 she was admitted as a solicitor of the Queensland Supreme Court and has since enjoyed a diverse and human rights focused legal career at community legal centres, including working at RAILS as a solicitor in 2009-10 and 2013-14. Neha joined RAILS as a long-term employee from July 2017 as UAS Coordinator, moving internally in September 2020 to focus on integrity cancellations work. Neha also provides advices and representation to protection visa applicants. Prior to this, Neha worked at Queensland Advocacy Inc (QAI), advising and representing vulnerable clients with mental illness and/or intellectual disabilities. She has many years of experience in refugee and migration law, having worked in community legal centres in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Neha has visited immigration detention centres throughout Australia to provide legal representation to people seeking asylum. She has also provided successful representation at review hearings before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

One of her proudest achievements at RAILS was working as UAS Coordinator to bring together the community and legal sectors in QLD to provide clerical support and pro bono legal assistance to asylum seekers seeking judicial review in the Federal Circuit Court.

Cristina Prieto Salvador Operations Manager

Susan Hogarth

Legal Practice Director

Susan's first professional career was in primary teaching. She taught in regional Queensland and Brisbane as well as in England, Thailand and Vanuatu.

Susan studied law while raising her three young children and has been connected to RAILS since 2013. Upon admission into practice in 2016, she became a caseworker and the coordinator of the Primary Application Information Service (PAIS) program.

She now represents clients in their protection and partner visa applications. Susan is committed to social justice and is passionate about working in the community legal sector.

Cristina Prieto Salvador

Operations Manager

Cristina has a dual degree of Law and Business Management from Spain. She has worked for both private law firms and community legal centers in Australia and in Spain.

She joined our team in October 2018 as a volunteer and became Operations Manager in July 2020.

Legal Team
Amelia Sturton Senior Solicitor

Emma Fell Senior Solicitor Emma holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts. She joined RAILS as a volunteer in 2018, and then became a paralegal in the UAS Team in 2019. In April 2022, Emma was admitted to the legal profession in the Supreme Court of Queensland and moved into a solicitor role at RAILS. Emma is committed to social justice and is passionate about helping her clients to navigate their complex migration processes.	Lara Conlan Senior Solicitor Lara is a Solicitor at RAILS and has worked in refugee law for the last 8 years, both overseas and in Australia. She is based in Victoria and specialises in humanitarian visa streams. She has worked on the evacuation of asylum seekers detained in Nauru and PNG, runs Protection visa matters at the Department of Home Affairs & Administrative Appeals Tribunal (both MRD and General Division), and represents persons escaping family violence who have applied for partner visas. Before coming to RAILS, Lara worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as a Resettlement & Refugee Status Determination Expert in Canberra, Kenya and Rwanda.

Jennifer Nugent Senior Solicitor
Abby Jiang Solicitor Abby’s journey at RAILS started when she did her PLT in April 2019. Upon completing her PLT, Abby stayed at RAILS as a volunteer lawyer after being admitted by the Queensland Supreme Court in December 2019. Abby began working as a caseworker at RAILS in November 2020. Abby is passionate about helping those in need and making a difference. Abby firmly believes in equality and treating everyone with respect regardless of cultural background, gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

Elle Ko Solicitor Elle graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and Business from Griffith University in 2022. Elle’s journey at RAILS began in 2021 through the student clinics. At the end of the student clinics, Elle continued volunteering in the UAS team as a day volunteer. In February 2022, Elle joined the UAS team as a paralegal. Elle is passionate about social justice and human rights.
Emily Humphreys Solicitor Emily is committed to social justice and has a strong passion for serving the refugee and asylum seeker community. She has volunteered with various community legal services and refugee community organisations since 2018, and first became involved at RAILS in June 2021 as part of the Griffith University Student Clinic. Following this, she began working as a paralegal in the UAS team in October 2021 and has since joined the NLAP team. In December 2022, Emily graduated from Griffith University with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts, majoring in International Politics and Security Studies. Emily completed her Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from the College of Law in October 2023.


Grace Gatbonton Prince Registered Migration Agent (MARN 0639454) Grace has worked in the settlement, multicultural, refugee, and migration services for many years in a variety of roles both in government and in the community sector. She has been registered as a migration agent since 2006. In 2011, after several years volunteering for RAILS she became a caseworker in the Refugee Family Reunion team. Grace continues to enjoy the challenges of working with and advocating for refugee and migrant clients and their families.	Latif Murtazawee Solicitor Latif was admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2022. Latif began with RAILS in 2020 as a student volunteer. Since then, he has worked with the organisation as a paralegal, volunteer lawyer and in his current role as solicitor. Latif has had the opportunity to work in many teams at RAILS and currently works with onshore protection visa applicants. Latif is deeply passionate and committed to working with refugees, particularly those from marginalised communities.

Mu Shwe Solicitor Mu first joined RAILS team as a day volunteer in 2018, and then continued on as a paralegal. In early 2022, she began working as a caseworker after being admitted to the legal profession. Mu holds a double degree of Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Business (International Business) from QUT.	Sadia Azizi Solicitor Sadia graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Business (International Business) from QUT in 2020. In October 2021, she was admitted to the legal profession as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Queensland. Prior her admission to the legal profession, Sadia was a Paralegal at the Australian Government Solicitor for several years. After her admission, Sadia worked as a Lawyer (Dispute Resolution) at the Australian Government Solicitor in the Employment and Entitlements Team. Sadia joined RAILS in 2022. Sadia is also involved in social activities and enjoys helping others. Sadia is passionate about access to justice and human rights. She loves travelling and learning new languages
Sadie Burton Solicitor Tim Madigan Solicitor Fay Brewer Solicitor Grace O'Shannessy Paralegal Jessica Troung Paralegal Lavanniya Ganesh Paralegal Nandish Singh Paralegal Rose Ukin Paralegal	Sonia Oki Solicitor Evelyn Sinclair Solicitor Simone Cameron Solicitor Stephanie Towns Solicitor Emily Doyle Paralegal Homa Kosha Paralegal Kano Nawagawa Paralegal Michelle Hua Paralegal

Robert Lachowicz Education Communication Engagement Rob was a tutor at QUT law school and worked with Legal Aid Queensland before becoming Principal Solicitor at the Youth Legal Service in Perth. Rob joined RAILS many years ago and worked as a caseworker, principal solicitor and director, before moving into community legal education, where he has developed a range of innovative programs. Rob has also worked in Indigenous justice policy for State government, and has been a cross-cultural trainer, film-maker, musician and puppeteer.

Legal Team

Amelia Sturton

Senior Solicitor

Emma Fell

Senior Solicitor

Emma holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts. She joined RAILS as a volunteer in 2018, and then became a paralegal in the UAS Team in 2019. In April 2022, Emma was admitted to the legal profession in the Supreme Court of Queensland and moved into a solicitor role at RAILS.

Emma is committed to social justice and is passionate about helping her clients to navigate their complex migration processes.

Lara Conlan

Senior Solicitor

Lara is a Solicitor at RAILS and has worked in refugee law for the last 8 years, both overseas and in Australia. She is based in Victoria and specialises in humanitarian visa streams. She has worked on the evacuation of asylum seekers detained in Nauru and PNG, runs Protection visa matters at the Department of Home Affairs & Administrative Appeals Tribunal (both MRD and General Division), and represents persons escaping family violence who have applied for partner visas. Before coming to RAILS, Lara worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as a Resettlement & Refugee Status Determination Expert in Canberra, Kenya and Rwanda.

Jennifer Nugent

Senior Solicitor

Abby Jiang

Solicitor

Abby’s journey at RAILS started when she did her PLT in April 2019. Upon completing her PLT, Abby stayed at RAILS as a volunteer lawyer after being admitted by the Queensland Supreme Court in December 2019. Abby began working as a caseworker at RAILS in November 2020.

Abby is passionate about helping those in need and making a difference. Abby firmly believes in equality and treating everyone with respect regardless of cultural background, gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

Elle Ko

Solicitor

Elle graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and Business from Griffith University in 2022. Elle’s journey at RAILS began in 2021 through the student clinics. At the end of the student clinics, Elle continued volunteering in the UAS team as a day volunteer. In February 2022, Elle joined the UAS team as a paralegal. Elle is passionate about social justice and human rights.

Emily Humphreys

Solicitor

Emily is committed to social justice and has a strong passion for serving the refugee and asylum seeker community. She has volunteered with various community legal services and refugee community organisations since 2018, and first became involved at RAILS in June 2021 as part of the Griffith University Student Clinic. Following this, she began working as a paralegal in the UAS team in October 2021 and has since joined the NLAP team.

In December 2022, Emily graduated from Griffith University with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts, majoring in International Politics and Security Studies. Emily completed her Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from the College of Law in October 2023.

Grace Gatbonton Prince

Registered Migration Agent (MARN 0639454)

Grace has worked in the settlement, multicultural, refugee, and migration services for many years in a variety of roles both in government and in the community sector. She has been registered as a migration agent since 2006.

In 2011, after several years volunteering for RAILS she became a caseworker in the Refugee Family Reunion team. Grace continues to enjoy the challenges of working with and advocating for refugee and migrant clients and their families.

Latif Murtazawee

Solicitor

Latif was admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2022. Latif began with RAILS in 2020 as a student volunteer. Since then, he has worked with the organisation as a paralegal, volunteer lawyer and in his current role as solicitor. Latif has had the opportunity to work in many teams at RAILS and currently works with onshore protection visa applicants. Latif is deeply passionate and committed to working with refugees, particularly those from marginalised communities.

Mu Shwe

Solicitor

Mu first joined RAILS team as a day volunteer in 2018, and then continued on as a paralegal. In early 2022, she began working as a caseworker after being admitted to the legal profession. Mu holds a double degree of Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Business (International Business) from QUT.

Sadia Azizi

Solicitor

Paralegal

Robert Lachowicz

Education Communication Engagement

Rob was a tutor at QUT law school and worked with Legal Aid Queensland before becoming Principal Solicitor at the Youth Legal Service in Perth. Rob joined RAILS many years ago and worked as a caseworker, principal solicitor and director, before moving into community legal education, where he has developed a range of innovative programs. Rob has also worked in Indigenous justice policy for State government, and has been a cross-cultural trainer, film-maker, musician and puppeteer.

Our solicitors and migration agents are bound by the Code of Conduct for Registered Migration Agents.

Operations Team
William Kyle Finance Manager Camilo Galeano Gomez Intake Manager Hiba Kheir Beik Senior Intake Officer Kate Scott Triage and Intake Officer Micheline Haddad Triage and Intake Officer	Mei Wang Finance Officer Kell Andersen Senior Intake Officer Asmaa Mohamed Triage and Intake Officer Melissa da Costa Couto Triage and Intake Officer Rebecca Lawrence Triage and Intake Officer

Operations Team