Melia is Mamu and Gunggandji. She is one of only two practising Indigenous women barristers at the Queensland Bar. 

 

Melia was called to the Bar in 2018, and has a dual practice in Cairns and Brisbane. 

 

Following her admission to practice as a solicitor in 2014, Melia worked as a property lawyer in private practice before transitioning to the Queensland Government where she was a senior lawyer for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Qld), appearing in the District and Supreme Courts. Most recently, Melia was employed as Counsel Assisting the Coroner for the Office of the State Coroner.

 

Melia is a member of the Indigenous Lawyers Association of Queensland, the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland and the Far North Medico-Legal Society Inc.  

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In 2021, Melia was awarded the Australian Lawyers Alliance’s Queensland Civil Justice Award, which recognises individuals or organisations who have displayed an outstanding commitment to the pursuit of justice.

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