Debra Parker named to Australiasian Lawyer and NZ Lawyer Elite Women 2026
Debra Parker, director of Parker Coles Curtis, has been named to the Elite Women 2026 list published by Australasian Lawyer and NZ Lawyer. The recognition highlights Debra’s career spanning private practice and the bench, her dual specialist accreditation in family law and dispute resolution, and her leadership in advancing alternative dispute resolution in family law.
About the Elite Women 2026 list
Elite Women 2026 is the sixth annual list from Australasian Lawyer and NZ Lawyer, recognising 105 outstanding female leaders in the legal profession across Australia and New Zealand. Honourees work in roles connected to the legal profession and have demonstrated a passion for the law through their influence on it. The report is proudly supported by Queensland Young Lawyers and Otago Women’s Law Society.
Selection criteria
In June 2026, Australasian Lawyer and NZ Lawyer invited legal professionals from across Australia and New Zealand to nominate outstanding female leaders for the sixth annual Elite Women list. Nominees were required to be working in a role connected to the legal profession, to demonstrate a passion for the law through their influence on the profession, and not to have been previously recognised on the Elite Women list.
Nominators were asked to provide detailed information about their nominee’s accomplishments and initiatives over the past 12 months, including specific examples of professional achievements and contributions to the legal industry. To determine the final list of 105 Elite Women, the editorial teams at both titles reviewed all nominations, assessing each nominee’s meaningful impact on the legal profession.
Debra Parker’s recognition
Parker’s selection reflects an influence on the legal profession that extends beyond her own practice, through mentorship, advocacy, community service and leadership in advancing alternative dispute resolution as a cornerstone of modern family law practice.
She holds dual accreditation as both a Family Law Specialist and a Dispute Resolution Specialist, is an Accredited Leading Mediator (AMDRAS), the only Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers in the ACT and is an Accredited Children's Lawyer. Debra is also a registered Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner with the Attorney-General’s Department and was recognised in the Mediator/Arbitrator of the Year category at the 2025 Lawyers Weekly awards.
About Debra Parker
Debra Parker is a director and founding partner of Parker Coles Curtis in Canberra, where she practises as a family lawyer, mediator and family dispute resolution specialist.
Her career spans more than three decades. In 1990, she became the first female partner at Snedden Hall & Gallop. From 2005 to 2015 she served as a Judicial Registrar of the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court, before returning to private practice as a partner at Watts McCray Lawyers from 2015 to 2020. She co-founded Parker Coles Curtis in 2020.