Lee Carnie

Lee is a human rights and social justice advocate with frontline experience working in poverty law, youth homelessness and LGBTIQ+ rights. They are the Executive Director of Advocacy at the Foundation for Young Australians, working to back young people to fight against injustice and transform the future..

Previously, Lee worked as the Strategic Advocacy and Policy Manager in Civil Justice at Victoria Legal Aid, focusing on Robodebt, NDIS system changes, urgent protective measures during COVID-19 and advocacy to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. Lee was the founding Legal Director at Equality Australia, Australia’s first national LGBTIQ+ legal advocacy and campaigning organisation, and a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre advocating for a national Charter of Human Rights. Lee has played a pivotal role in strategic litigation, U.N. advocacy and campaigns for a range of equality law reforms across Australia, including marriage equality, anti-discrimination and hate speech laws, birth certificate reforms, adoption equality and removing barriers to healthcare for trans teenagers.

Lee started their career as a youth homelessness and drug outreach lawyer at Youthlaw, specialising in family violence and cross-border regional issues at the Hume Riverina Community Legal Service, and working on economic and social rights at Inner Melbourne Community Legal.