Kelsey is a Senior Associate and Team Lead at Donaldson Law. She has worked in compensation law for more than fifteen years and now focuses on abuse, elite athlete matters, Defence service issues and serious personal integrity violations.

Her practice centres on supporting people who have been harmed in systems that were meant to protect them. Kelsey acts for survivors of abuse in the ADF, in schools and homes, under Child Migrant schemes and in other institutional settings. She also works extensively with former elite child and youth athletes who experienced toxic coaching practices, body shaming or other harmful cultures in high performance sport including claims linked to national programs.

Alongside this work Kelsey assists clients facing personal integrity violations such as sexual harassment, technology facilitated abuse and other serious breaches of trust. She also has significant experience with reparation processes for ADF members, applications for retrospective changes to military discharges and retrospective invalidity benefits from military superannuation schemes.

Clients describe Kelsey as a steady voice at the end of the phone and a trusted source of clear advice. She is known for careful preparation, plain language explanations and a calm approach to difficult conversations that helps people understand their options without feeling pushed.

As Team Lead Kelsey works closely with lawyers, paralegals and support staff to ensure matters are run in a way that reflects Donaldson Law’s values of collegiality, care, clarity, accountability and innovation. She shares knowledge across files, guides strategy on complex abuse, sport and Defence matters and helps design processes that minimise re traumatisation for clients and vicarious trauma for the team.