Regional Profile: Broome beckoning for Julia Barber & Co

For sole practitioner Julia Barber, working in Broome in Western Australia's remote northern corner couldn't be more interesting.

Originally from Melbourne, a restless year saw Barber and her young family pack up their lives and head to the Top End to work on cattle stations and teach in community schools.

Intended to be a temporary adventure, Barber soon fell in love with the outback and never looked back.

A typical day for Barber now involves dealing with clients across at least 10 different areas of law - including exporting camels and testing hoon legislation - and life is rarely dull.

Barber also has the rare fortune of having one of the world's most spectacular beaches - the long and impossibly pristine Cable Beach - as her backdrop.

Despite its allure, though, Broome and the surrounding Kimberley and Pilbara regions have their fair share of problems.

High rates of domestic violence, crime and children with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) keep Barber busy.

And in such an isolated community with few legal services, it requires significant effort to provide clients with the assistance they need.

"I am the only private practitioner in Broome who [does] legal aid referral work," says Barber.

"There's no money in it and it's a thankless task, but ... if everybody gives a little bit we'll all be a lot better off."

Much of Barber's time is spent as an independent children's lawyer in FAS cases - something she finds difficult.

"Too many people are having children and as soon as [they see] they're alcohol affected they're abandoned and brought up by other people. The cycle goes on. It is a very, very sad area of law," she says.

Despite such confronting work, Barber feels she has an impact on the lives of those who need it most.

"You make a real, tangible difference in people's lives here. You can see the results of your labour," she says.

The benefits, says Barber, are numerous for her too in that she has learned to cope on her own and adapt to cultural sensitivities.

"You have to think on your feet all the time. I don't have the luxury of ducking down the corridor to see what a colleague thinks," she says.

"Indigenous clients can be very wary of non-Indigenous practitioners, so I might [take instructions] on a daybed outside my office under some trees," she says.

But at the end of a (usually very long) day, Broome delivers the perfect antidote.

"I run along Cable Beach every day ... and the clients are genuinely grateful. It's a wonderful community," says Barber.

"And to go home at the end of the day, and have your gin and tonic on the veranda while the storms are rolling in, is just magic."

Claire Chaffey

>> Read more about the lawyers leading their firms through innovation and ideas in our Firm Profiles series