Clare Lawrence
Partner
Melbourne
Introduction
Clare is a highly regarded Indigenous land law advisor, known for her significant contributions to the areas of native title and cultural heritage.
Clare Lawrence is experienced in Indigenous land law and land access. She works nationally, focusing on native title, Indigenous cultural heritage and the State and Territory based land rights schemes.
She acts for government, Traditional Owners, and private sector clients in the infrastructure, telecommunications, power and utilities, mining, and oil and gas industries. Her work takes her from remote sites to board rooms, as poor management of Indigenous heritage protection has emerged as a key business risk.
Clare continues to cement her status in this space by contributing to the reform of key legislation in the field, and spearheading Ashurst Perkins Coie's native title thought leadership and seminar programs, which includes our annual publication, Native Title Year in Review.
She has been recognized for her significant contributions by the Native Title by Chambers Asia-Pacific, since 2015, and was awarded 2023 Native Title Lawyer of the Year (Melbourne) by Best Lawyers. In the Ashurst Perkins Coie Melbourne Office, Clare is a Reconciliation Champion working to deliver the outcomes from Ashurst Perkins Coie's stretch Reconciliation Action Plan in the Victorian context.
Areas of focus
Latest thinking
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Legal development
Native title and cultural water rights surface in 2026
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
Metropolitan native title claims – Melbourne's Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrong claim in the context of other capital city claims
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
$54M for cultural loss in McArthur River Mine native title compensation claim
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
Federal Court creates more precedent for native title compensation
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
Extinguishment and validity of tenure still being litigated in 2026
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
Costs at the crossroads: native title and section 85A
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
Inching forward: native title compensation in 2025-2026
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
Treaty update – Victoria's Treaty and other jurisdictions
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
Mining and petroleum leases prevent section 47B applying
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
First prison sentence imposed under NT Sacred Sites Act
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
Meaning of Claimable Crown Lands in NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act
October 30, 2026
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Legal development
First Nations Engagement under the EPBC Act reforms
October 30, 2026
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