Damian Beaufils, First Nations Lawyer of the Year 2025

Gundungurra man and the first Aboriginal person to be appointed a Crown Prosecutor in NSW, Damian Beaufils was named First Nations Lawyer of the Year at the 2025 Ngalaya Ball and First Nations Law Awards.

Damian was nominated by six of his current and former ODPP colleagues, including former mentors and mentees. They each made strong endorsements of his work not only in his legal practice and advocacy, but his selfless commitment to creating new pathways and opportunities for Indigenous people into the Bar, and the ODPP in particular.

Despite his busy practice, Damian still finds time to mentor young Indigenous students and solicitors, advocate for the establishment of new programs for First Nations students at the ODPP, contribute to the First Nations Committee of the NSW Bar, and support the important work of the Bugmy Bar Book.

Ngalaya's Executive Director, Jason O'Neil, was very proud to present this award to Damian in recognition of his work.