Melanie Bartlett

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Melanie Bartlett graduated from the University of Tasmania in 1976 with a Bachelor of Laws degree and was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Tasmania in 1978.

Melanie worked for a year at the Federal Legal Aid Office after moving from Hobart to the north-west coast of Tasmania, and thereafter worked in private practice.  She was in partnership with her husband, Chris, for 13 years in Burnie, Tasmania, until April 2009 when she was appointed as a Magistrate of the Magistrates Court of Tasmania.

In 1999-2000 Melanie was the first female President of the Law Society of Tasmania, and has been a member of the Tasmanian Mental Health Tribunal, Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal and Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania. She was previously Deputy President of the Guardianship and Administration Board and continues to be a sitting member of the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal. 

Melanie and Chris first met John Fawcett in 1995 and continued to have contact with him each time they visited Bali. In 2002 they, together with two other Tasmanian Rotary members, built a water tank at the village of Munti Gunung on the east coast of Bali as part of the Foundation’s Clean Water Project.

Melanie has been a member of the Executive Board of the Foundation since 2004 and assists with legal advice to the Board.