Jennifer Kanis

Jennifer Kanis is a Principal Lawyer and leads Maurice Blackburn’s dedicated Social Justice Project, a pro bono practice which aims to achieve social justice outcomes through litigation, advice and advocacy and is one of the largest private social justice practices in the country. Jennifer has spent nearly three decades working across local and state government, on Boards, in the education system and the legal profession. Her public service has included being a State Member of Parliament for Melbourne; Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Justice and Mental Health; Deputy Chair of the Victorian Parliament’s Accountability and Oversight Committee and a member of the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Committee. Jennifer was a past Councillor for the City of Melbourne; former Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at the ASRC and is an experienced secondary school teacher.

In her leadership role at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers Jennifer leads a team that fights for the rights of everyday people across a range of structural and systemic issues seeking to end entrenched disadvantage, including the fight for justice and equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, of people seeking asylum and refugees, for women and LGBTIQ communities; challenges to corporate and government power; and protecting community, environmental and workers’ rights.

Jennifer brings with her a wealth of Board and governance experience, being the current Chair of the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre Trust and having held numerous previous directorships, including: Housing Choices Australia, Victorian Legal Aid, Melbourne Health and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Jen is a longtime friend of the ASRC, both as a past volunteer and staff member and also through her work at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, which is a key partner of the ASRC.