In an industry where only 1.2% of the global seafarer workforce are women, and the overall maritime workforce as a whole is only made up of 29% women, a big part of Ms Cusack’s work has been fighting for equity and she spent 4 years as the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) Australia President to champion this.

So how does a maritime lawyer make waves in the wider business world?

Earlier this year, Ms Cusack decided to overhaul the firm’s service offerings and marketing and seek entry into new markets. This has seen her firm create comic books to educate on industry safety issues, develop proposals for entry into the space supply chain industry, release an e-book that quickly became a best-seller, and develop and release business checklists on an Etsy store for freight forwarding and supply chain professionals, to help them gain clarity around their hotspot problem areas when they don’t have the budget for a dedicated maritime lawyer.

“After the world woke up to the image of the Ever Given stuck near sideways in the Suez Canal, 2021 became the year that the public discovered the shipping industry. I felt that the industry had been drifting off the radar since that incident, and I wanted to get the public excited about shipping again, in a fun, informative and accessible way”, Ms Cusack says.

“Our comic book, Container Jack, was definitely one way to do that, and the e-book was another way. Both are generalised enough and provide enough information that anybody can read them, but they’re also structured in a way where people who are in the industry will be able to spot those in-jokes or specific trivia to enjoy”.

And the Etsy store?

“Not every business has a legal budget, but they still have issues they need help with. The checklists we provide on our Etsy store make that information accessible to them. Although it’s not legal advice, they can buy a low-cost ready reckoner checklist to work through those hotspot areas in their business, or gain clarity about seasonal compliance measures for importers and exporters, and we’ve even got the business owners outside of the industry covered with things like our quarterly overview planner”, elaborates Ms Cusack.

“It’s about meeting them, where they currently are, not where they’re going to be in 5 years time”.

In addition to being named as a Victorian State Finalist in the Telstra Best of Business Awards, Ms Cusack has also been named a Finalist for the Women in Law Awards for the Executive of the Year, Innovator of the Year (Firm), Boutique Diversity Firm of the Year and Wellness Advocate of the Year categories.

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