MELBOURNE — Trailblazing Greek-Australian lawyer Eugenia Mitrakas OAM has been awarded Honorary Life Membership by the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV), marking an extraordinary milestone in a career that broke barriers for multicultural women in the Australian legal system.
The prestigious lifetime accolade, presented at the recent LIV Legal Awards, recognises Mitrakas’s 50-plus years of legal excellence and community service. Representing more than 22,000 legal professionals in Victoria, Mitrakas is believed to be the first Greek-born woman to receive this distinct honour.
“The Law Institute of Victoria has always been close to my heart,” Mitrakas said upon accepting the award. “It is an institution that welcomed me during a time when multicultural women in the profession lacked a strong voice.”
From Lesvos to Melbourne: A History of Legal Firsts
Born in Anemotia, Lesvos, Mitrakas migrated to Australia at just nine years old without speaking a word of English. Defying the era’s structural hurdles, she graduated from the University of Melbourne and was admitted to legal practice in 1972. At her admission ceremony, she stood as the only female graduate among 100 men, becoming Victoria’s first Greek female solicitor.
Just five months after her admission, she established her own firm, EMR Mitrakas Lawyers & Notary, in South Melbourne. Over five decades of practice, she achieved a legendary series of institutional firsts:
- 1984: The first woman, first sole practitioner, and first person from an ethnic background elected to the LIV Council.
- First Female Chair of Victoria’s Legal Admissions Board.
- First Female Notary Public in Victoria, appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Foundations of the Hellenic Diaspora
Beyond her corporate legal success, Mitrakas has spent decades building the cultural and welfare foundations of the Greek diaspora in Australia. In the 1970s, she co-founded the Australian Greek Welfare Society (now PRONIA) and Fronditha Care, which continue to provide critical language, aged care, and legal support to thousands of post-war migrants.
Driven by her passion for preserving Hellenic heritage, she also helped fund and establish the Modern Greek language program at the University of Melbourne.
A Decorated Legacy of Influence
The LIV Life Membership adds to an impressive list of recent global and domestic accolades for the Melburnian solicitor. She was recently named to the Australasian Lawyers for Elite Women list and celebrated as the University of Melbourne’s first Greek-born Golden Alumna. Her international contributions have been recognised with a Justitia Award in Vienna and a distinct honour from the Centre of Ecumenical Hellenism in Athens.
Today, Mitrakas remains an active mentor for young, multicultural women entering the legal profession, continuing her lifetime crusade for gender pay equity and flexible working structures