Ms Fahey, the outgoing chief executive, started at the Women’s Legal Service when it had three part-time workers, and leaves a full office of 14 full-timers.

Women's issues have risen to the forefront of public discourse across her almost two decades, and she has seen legislative improvements and cultural changes occur.

Ms Fahey said legal reform was one of the most satisfying parts of her role, where laws may get drafted and passed with the best intentions but still not work in practice and need changing.

“Organisations like ours can play a part in giving advice to government around the impact of laws, and the workability of them, and help to make the law a bit more contemporary and user-friendly.”

One of the first changes Ms Fahey oversaw involved a childrens' rights issue where co-mothers were once prevented in law from having both their names recorded on the birth certificate.

"Women were being locked out of the emergency rooms of their children and they also couldn't sign daycare forms for their kids,” Ms Fahey said.

Ms Fahey has worked for the decriminalisation of abortion, with the WLS also producing draft legislation for access zones that prevent protest within 150-mile radius of abortion clinics, which was later enacted in other states and territories including Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory. 

In the area of family violence, Ms Fahey said it was heartening to see reform in the area of financial abuse.

“Financial abuse was in law from the beginning but no-one could ever actually be charged under it… we would see some fairly horrible examples and people would come to us, but there was nothing that would get over [legally]… the law was tidied up, they could start prosecuting people, and they have.” 

Ms Fahey said this type of abuse, where offenders may take control of wages and bank accounts to exert control over women, is on the rise and connected to a social shift in the nature of family violence.

"When I first started I would regularly see women with signs of significant physical assault, bruising, lacerations, fractures, broken teeth and bones,” she said.

“We don't see that now. The family violence is still happening, but the way it is being perpetrated has changed.  To put it bluntly, abusers are being a lot more savvy about where they leave prints.”

Ms Fahey said the WLS was well placed for the future.

“It is a strong, intelligent organisation and without me there it will continue and keep on going from strength to strength.”