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Five years after her passing, Carla Todaro’s calling continues to inspire and influence the next generation of legal professionals through a scholarship started in her honour at the Australian Catholic University.
Content warning: This story contains references to suicide. Reader discretion is advised.
Carla Todaro’s legacy as a “dedicated scholar and champion for the vulnerable” continues to live on following her passing in 2020, thanks to the establishment of a scholarship in her honour for law students at the Australian Catholic University (ACU).
Now entering its fifth year, the Carla Todaro Memorial Law Scholarship pays tribute to the “promising young lawyer” that ACU recognised her to be.
Todaro’s deep commitment to justice began early in her life. At just eight years old, she would play “judge in mock legal dramas” that she would hold in her family’s home.
This passion for law led her to work at the Aboriginal Legal Service in Redfern.
Todaro’s life was cut short mere months after she graduated with her bachelor of laws (honours) degree, after she had “for years carried her own shield as she faced mental illness, all the while helping others who were similarly in need”.
The Carla Todaro Memorial Law Scholarship was established in 2021 by her family and friends, with the support of the Australian Catholic University, to commemorate Carla’s legacy and her dedication to “academic excellence, social justice and engagement in student advocacy”.
Dianne Todaro-Wells, Todaro’s mother, expressed pride in the scholarship’s lasting impact, emphasising that it embodies more than just academic success; it also plays a crucial role in breaking the silence surrounding mental health issues.
“I’m just so proud of anyone who comes forward to take up the scholarship.
“They’re saying, yes, mental health is an essential conversation that we need to articulate,” Todaro-Wells said.
“It’s these lawyers coming through who will be the pattern interrupters, the catalysts for change, and who will write new laws.”
The scholarship, valued at $4,000, is available to both current and future students of ACU’s Thomas More Law School who not only demonstrate academic excellence but also “personally advocate for others in maintaining a good balance of wellbeing”.
The three recipients of the 2025 scholarships are Kashish Madhani, Demi Spiteri, and Cameo Porreca.
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