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Mieke holds a Bachelor of Social Science, Majoring in Government Policy Studies, and a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours from Southern Cross University (SCU).
During the last eight years, she has worked in several areas of law, including property and commercial, criminal, family law, wills and estates, debt recovery, and personal injury claims.
Mieke is a valuable member of our property and commercial team and is highly experienced in a wide range of matters and practices in both New South Wales and Queensland jurisdictions.
She can assist with residential and commercial conveyancing, off-the-plan purchases, body corporate services, business sales, advice on loan documents. commercial leasing, joint ventures, development agreements, planning and environment disputes, and corporate governance.
Bringing a wealth of experience, Mieke provides her clients with clear information and solutions for their legal questions in a timely and friendly manner. She employs an ethics of care approach to her legal practice and strongly believes in the importance of listening to her clients and building relationships with colleagues.
Mieke is also very interested in comparative law, legal pluralism, and social change, particularly when applied to the areas of environmental protection and Indigenous rights. She actively collaborates with several not-for-profit organisations on this front and is involved in researching the emerging area of law known as “earth law.”
Drawing predominately on Indigenous worldviews, earth law envisages our legal system, particularly our property and environmental law frameworks, from an earth-connected perspective rather than a human-centred perspective.
Mieke plans to complete a PhD in the next 5-10 years and hopes to eventually be able to use her research, alongside her knowledge of property, corporate, and commercial law to help facilitate a shift away from the current environmental/development law paradigm towards business practices and legal systems that respect the inherent rights of nature to exist and flourish.
As an advocate for Indigenous rights, Mieke is conversational in the language of the Gumbaynggirr Peoples, custodians of the land where she grew up. She says learning about Gumbaynggirr worldviews has been instrumental in her employing a relational philosophy to all areas of her life including her practice as a lawyer.
Mieke is a founding executive member of the Northern NSW Chapter of the Women Lawyers Association of New South Wales.
What would it take for nature to have legal rights in Australia — and what can lawyers do now to be more environmentally conscious in their practice?
Property & Commercial Lawyer Mieke Elzer joined The Lawyers Weekly Show to discuss the emerging field of Earth law, tracing its roots from environmental law and indigenous philosophy through to international developments like Ecuador’s constitutional rights of nature and Australia’s own Yarra River Protection Act. She also reflects on how all legal practitioners can think more carefully about their environmental impact.
“There’s been a string of climate litigation,” Mieke said. “Applicants are bringing cases against parliamentarians in their duties, trying to call them to account in their duties to protect not just children, but our population from environmental harm, from climate change.”
Listen to the full episode here.
