Jerry Tucker

Jerry studied most of her law degree at James Cook University, Cairns, but also did a year of law at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. A well-travelled sort, Jerry has lived in Japan and England before settling in Cairns with BELAW in 2013, practising in the areas of class action litigation, family law and dispute resolution.

Jerry’s experience as a litigator includes the Stolen Wages class action, which sought the recovery of wages withheld by the State of Queensland between 1939 and 1972, and is Australia’s largest human rights class action. Jerry also acted on behalf of hundreds of indigenous clients across Cape York to obtain Government compensation unfairly denied to them for the abuse and neglect in mission-run dormitories.

Currently, Jerry has carriage of the DOCS Class Action, which claims breaches of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) in the failures by the Queensland Department of Child Safety to assist families to reunite or restore family relationships although parents had complied with requirements imposed on them. It further claims the Department failed to assist children to learn about and practise their culture, language and maintain a connection to Country, in addition to failures to adhere to the Child Placement Principle in determining suitable placements.

Jerry is the President of the Far North Queensland Law Association, which organise regular events for the local legal profession. Jerry was awarded the 2023 Regional Woman Lawyer of the Year by the Women Lawyer’s Association of Queensland, recognising her contributions to the profession and overcoming the difficulties working in regional Queensland.

When she’s not fighting the good fight, Jerry manages to maintain a varied calendar of extracurricular activity, fostering her inner creative by making jewellery in her spare time. Jerry loves snorkelling and dislikes jellyfish stings – she’s had quite a lot of experience with both.