2025 NSW Women of the Year Awards Finalist, Karen Iles
Our Director and Principal Solicitor, Karen Iles, has been announced as one of the four finalists of the 2025 Premier’s NSW Woman of Excellence Award.
The Premier’s NSW Woman of Excellence is awarded to a trailblazer who has excelled in her chosen field, serving as a source of inspiration to others and creating lasting change.
Throughout her work as a solicitor and entrepreneur, Karen is a passionate advocate for victims and survivors of sexual assault, domestic and family violence. She leverages both her legal expertise and public platform to drive systemic change, through tireless advocacy and the work of her private practice, Violet Co Legal & Consulting, which provides legal advice and representation to victim/survivors of sexual assault.
Karen is a Dharug Aboriginal woman with lived experience with the justice response system. She has seen firsthand the failures of police, and contributes her time and expertise to reform justice processes by advocating for improved police responses and reducing stigma around rape and sexual assault. She is a member of the Expert Advisory Group for the Australian Law Refrorm Comission Inquiry into Justice System Responses to Sexual Violence (2024-current). Karen has been recognised for her and Violet Co’s work, she was named Private Practitioner of the Year by the Women Lawyers Association of NSW (2023) and received the Law Society of NSW Pro Bono Service Award (2022).
About the NSW Women of the Year Awards
The NSW Women of the Year Awards celebrate the achievements of women and girls who have challenged injustice through their passion, dedication and inspiring innovations. For the 2025 Premier’s NSW Woman of Excellence Award, the four finalists are:
You can tune into the Awards Ceremony livestream at 7:30am on Thursday, 6 March for the announcement.
Congratulations Karen and the other finalists!
Support for victim/survivors of sexual violence
NSW Premier Chris Minns and Minister for Women Jodie Harrison have demonstrated that by normalising conversations around rape and sexual assault we can create systemic change.. Spotlighting lawyers, advocates and victim/survivors through these awards, and other measures, ensures that victim/survivors feel heard, seen, believed and supported by our Government - and society as a whole.This is incredibly important, both to our purpose at Violet Co and for the elimination of violence against women across the nation.
How can you support victim/survivors with their own independent legal advice and representation
Violet Co also has a Charity partnership with Sydney Community Foundation so that all of us can help fund victim/survivors to access legal representation.
You can pay it forward and donate to the fund today to be part of the change.
