Women Lawyers Association of Queensland (WLAQ)

What Women Lawyers Association of Queensland (WLAQ) does

The Women Lawyers Association of Queensland (WLAQ) is a not-for-profit professional membership association founded in 1978 that serves female law students, practitioners, and judicial officers across Queensland, Australia. The organization is operated by a volunteer committee of approximately 20 members supported by a small staff of around six, and maintains regional representation through Ambassadors in Toowoomba, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Sunshine Coast, and Bundaberg in addition to its Brisbane base. Its core offerings include mentoring programs, the Beryl Donkin Scholarship Fund (whose Trust Deed was updated in June 2020), an annual program of CPD and networking events, advocacy awards, and signature initiatives including the Maternity Bar Jacket (introduced 2018) and the Advisors & Ambassadors program (introduced 2017). WLAQ is a signatory to the National Model Gender Equitable Briefing Policy (2016) and is a member of the National Council of Women of Queensland.

Its operational infrastructure is built on standard, low-cost SaaS tooling: a Wix-hosted public website (relaunched April 2025), Mailchimp for email communications, and Zoom for member events. There is no evidence of proprietary technology, custom software, or AI/ML capability; the technology stack functions as a community-and-events platform rather than a software product.

The business model is subscription-and-event driven. Revenue is generated primarily through individual membership fees (tiered from approximately $40 to $1,500 per year depending on tenure and category, with multi-year discounts at A1 and A2 levels), supplemented by event ticket revenue and corporate partner contributions from law firms including Clayton Utz and Maurice Blackburn. As a registered not-for-profit, WLAQ reinvests operating surplus into programs, scholarships, and advocacy rather than distributing profit.

Name

Women Lawyers Association of Queensland (WLAQ)

Legal name

Women Lawyers Association of Queensland Inc

Website

https://wlaq.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

WLAQ is a Queensland-based not-for-profit professional membership association founded in 1978, serving female law students, practitioners, and judicial officers through mentoring, scholarships, advocacy awards, and regional ambassador programs across Brisbane and regional Queensland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD)

Keywords

• Professional association
• Women in law
• Legal advocacy
• Professional development
• Legal networking

Headquarters

HQ city

Brisbane

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Annual membership fees from individual members (Student, Junior, General, Regional, Retired, Judicial, Barristers) and corporate members (organizations with <15 FTE and >15 FTE). Membership is valid for 12 months from purchase.
2. Event Tickets: Revenue from ticketed events including the Annual Awards Dinner and networking/educational events. Members receive discounted ticket prices compared to non-members.
3. Corporate Memberships: Tiered corporate membership packages for law firms and organizations, with pricing based on firm size (FTE count).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Women Lawyers Association of Queensland (WLAQ) is a volunteer-run professional membership association for women lawyers in Queensland, Australia. It sells individual and corporate memberships, and delivers advocacy, mentoring, networking, and professional development programming through a series of committees (Diversity and Inclusion, Mentoring, Practice Support, and Regional). It also runs awards and events that recognise contributions to the legal profession.

Product overview

WLAQ is a not-for-profit professional association, not a technology product company. Its offering consists of an annual membership program supplemented by programs and services including the Ladder Mentoring Program, Beryl Donkin Memorial Scholarship Fund, WLAQ Annual Awards, Equitable Briefing Program, Flexible Work Practices Resources, Parental Leave Policy Resources, WLAQ Inspo List, Corporate Membership tiers, WLAQ Support Person service, and the Maternity Bar Jacket. These programs work together as a unified membership value proposition aimed at advancing women in the Queensland legal profession through mentorship, financial support, advocacy, networking, and practical resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WLAQ Individual Membership
• WLAQ Corporate Membership
• WLAQ Mentoring Program
• WLAQ Professional Development Seminars and Events
• WLAQ Advocacy Program
• WLAQ Awards Program

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

24 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bar Association of QueenslandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLAQ liaises with the Bar Association of Queensland as one of the peak bodies in the Queensland legal profession. The organizations work together on issues affecting women in law, including equitable briefing initiatives.
• Queensland Law SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLAQ maintains regular liaison with Queensland Law Society on issues facing women in law. QLS provides resources and support including the Workplace Conduct Advisory Service for WLAQ members.
• Circle InminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLAQ supports the work of Circle In, which provides practical assistance for those returning to work and workplace strategy. WLAQ refers members to Circle In for return to work support.
• Work180minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLAQ partnered with Work180 (previously DCC Jobs) to ensure members have direct access to employers proven to offer flexible work arrangements.
• Law Council of AustraliacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLAQ became a signatory to the National Model Gender Equitable Briefing Policy released by the Law Council of Australia in 2016. The policy aims to drive cultural change, support progression and retention of women barristers, and address pay gap and underrepresentation in superior courts.
• Kingston ReidminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustralia's premier national workplace relations, employment and safety law firm assisted WLAQ in preparing the template Parental Leave Policy and Factsheet resources for members.
• College of Law QueenslandcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCollege of Law Queensland is an ongoing sponsor of the Una Prentice Award, which recognizes the highest graduating female law student at Queensland law schools.
• Clayton UtzminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ with >15 FTE employees.
• Crown LawminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ - Queensland Government legal department.
• DLA PiperminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Gilshenan & Luton Legal Practice QueenslandminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Legal Aid QueenslandminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Mallesons (King & Wood Mallesons)minorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Maurice Blackburn LawyersminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ. Provides venue for WLAQ AGM and events.
• McCullough Robertson LawyersminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions QueenslandminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Office of the Work Health and Safety Prosecutor QueenslandminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Queensland Corrective ServicesminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Richardson & LyonsminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Shine LawyersminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Slater and Gordon LawyersminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• Travis Schultz & PartnersminorOthersCorporate member of WLAQ.
• National Council of Women of QueenslandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLAQ is represented on the National Council of Women of Queensland by Catherine Cheek.
• Australian Women LawyerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLAQ maintains a delegate to Australian Women Lawyers and collaborates on national initiatives. The AWL Conference is held bi-annually and WLAQ may support costs for one member to attend.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Queensland Law Society: Statutory peak body for all solicitors in Queensland and a core partner of WLAQ. Provides Workplace Conduct Advisory Service referenced to WLAQ members. Comparable in mission to support legal professionals but much larger and mandatory for practicing solicitors.
• National Council of Women of Queensland: Queensland gender-equality advocacy organization with which WLAQ has representation (Catherine Cheek). A wider-gender advocacy peer, not a legal-sector specialist, but shares the nonprofit-membership structure.
• Bar Association of Queensland: Peak professional body for Queensland barristers and a strategic liaison partner of WLAQ. Adjacent rather than competing: serves all barristers, while WLAQ serves only women practitioners, but cross-references many of the same members.

Direct peers

• National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL, USA): US national association advancing women in the legal profession through membership, awards, mentoring, and policy advocacy. Closest international functional analog to WLAQ, useful for cross-comparing scale and programming.
• Australian Women Lawyers: National umbrella body that WLAQ actively engages with and sends delegates to. Comparable mission and member base; exists at national rather than state level and convenes the biennial AWL Conference.
• Women Lawyers' Association of New South Wales: State-level women-in-law membership association for female lawyers in NSW. Directly comparable to WLAQ in mission (advancing women in the legal profession), governance (volunteer committee), and product suite (membership tiers, mentoring, awards). The principal state-level peer.
• Women Lawyers Victoria: Victorian women lawyers' association providing membership, mentoring, awards, advocacy, and equitable briefing programming. Same volunteer-run non-profit model and member profile as WLAQ, differentiated only by state focus.

Regional players

• Women in Law (NZ): New Zealand-based equivalent providing membership, events, awards and networking for women in law in NZ jurisdiction. Comparable operating model but operates in a different market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WLAQinc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wlaqinc
• Instagraminstagram.com/wlaq.inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Women Lawyers Association of Queensland (WLAQ)