Join this essential conference to examine governance and financial integrity in the not-for-profit sector. Learn from industry, legal and accounting experts and thought leaders about imperative strategies and best practices to manage conflicts of interest, diversify revenue streams, and navigate pathways to merger. Hear about all important steps to take with response planning, mitigation and incident detection of cyber breaches. Gain insights into tax compliance requirements, reporting, tax obligations, and the latest updates in employment taxes and GST. Don't miss this opportunity to strengthen and protect your organisation's foundation for success.

Presenters

Dr. Rateb Jneid, Lawyer, DTS Legal
Dr Rateb Jneid is a qualified Lawyer in Western Australia. Beyond Law, his expertise encompasses various areas of business, education, building and construction, land subdivision and import and export. Most notably, he serves on various community organisations, school and institutional boards. Dr Jneid holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB), a Master of Law, Master in Islamic Studies, Master of Business, and Master of Education (Leadership & Management). In addition, Dr Jneid holds a Doctor of Business Administration, a Graduate Certificate in Business Law and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from College of Law. An avid international speaker, Dr Jneid has frequently addressed forums and presented at numerous interstate and international venues. In April 2017 Dr Jneid was elected President of the Australian Federation of the Islamic Councils (AFIC), which is the peak body for Muslims in Australia. Dr Jneid is presently actively involved in the Islamic community, and holds memberships to various Islamic educational, religious and cultural associations, and his involvement in inter-cultural engagements via meetings with the Western Australia Police, the Halal Accrediting Associations in Asia Pacific, the Gulf and the Middle East, and AFIC is testament to his vision of promoting appropriate cross-cultural understandings and business acumen across Australia. Most notably, he is actively involved in dialogue with Western Australian authorities when there have arisen instances of cultural misunderstandings and misconceptions.


Richard Hundt, Principal Lawyer, Hundt Law
Richard is an experienced lawyer who has provided legal advice to government, private, not-for-profit, and high net worth clients on a wide range of general corporate and commercial matters, along with advice specific to the charities and not-for-profits sector. Richard has been admitted in the High Court of Australia and Supreme Court of Queensland. He is an active member of the Queensland Law Society’s Not-for-profit Law Committee, a member of the Institute of Community Directors, along with a member of the ACNC Professional Adviser Forum.


Dr. Mark Fowler, Principal,Fowler Charity Law
Mark Fowler’s specialist areas of advice include the law applying to schools, international aid organisations, retirement villages, aged care facilities and religious organisations. Mark also has a breadth of experience in property and commercial law, with a particular focus on the affordable, community and social housing sectors. Mark has advised many leading national and international charities across these fields. Prior to establishing Fowler Charity Law Pty Ltd in 2019, Mark was a Partner in leading national charity and not-for-profit law firms located in Sydney and Brisbane. He is an Appeals Panel member for the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the peak body for Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) involved in international development and humanitarian action. He is a member of the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission Professional Advisers Forum and has served as a member of the Queensland Law Society’s Human Rights Working Group. Mark is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame, School of Law, Sydney, and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Law School at his alma mater, the University of New England. He is also a Research Scholar at the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law, University of Queensland.


Vera Visevic, Partner, Mills Oakley
Vera Visevic heads up the Sydney NFPs, Human Rights and Social Impact team at Mills Oakley. Acting for numerous charities, religious and not-for-profit organisations, Vera has 30 years' experience in the profession. In the not-for-profit sector, Vera focuses on constitutional reviews, mergers, governance and fundraising issues and regularly advises on ACNC and ATO endorsements. Vera is an author in "Charity Law", European Lawyer Reference (2012, 2016 and 2018). Vera sits on several Not-For-Profit boards and committees.


Rebecca Lambert-Smith, Practice Leader, Moores
Rebecca is a Practice Leader in the Corporate Advisory team and heads up the For Purpose team at Moores. Rebecca provides expert advice to charities, not-for-profits and social ventures on a wide range of legal and governance matters. As a trusted advisor to For Purpose clients experiencing creation, crisis and change, Rebecca enjoys helping clients navigate the challenges of the current regulatory environment. This includes helping new organisations get established, providing complex structuring advice, improving governance, resolving internal disputes and responding to ACNC investigations. Having served on a number of Boards, Rebecca understands the competing priorities of modern governance. She regularly provides Board training and presents seminars and webinars to the For Purpose sector. Rebecca formerly practiced in commercial litigation.


Andrew Constantine, Founder and Managing Director, CIO Cyber Security
Andrew Constantine is a cyber security red teamer - working with corporate ASX organisations to enhance their cyber security posture using cyber warfare and cyber security attack simulations to raise awareness. , He's the founder of CIO Cyber Security a private advisory firm working with Cyber Security Leaders to enhance and build a better response to attacks.


Elizabeth Lathlean, Special Counsel, Gilbert + Tobin
Elizabeth Lathlean is a Special Counsel in Gilbert + Tobin’s Charities + Social Sector practice. Elizabeth specialises in the provision of legal advice and assistance to charities, not-for-profits and social sector organisations. She provides expert assistance on all areas of charity and not-for-profit regulation and compliance, as well as acting in relation to mergers and acquisitions, restructuring transactions and corporate governance. Elizabeth is a non-executive director of CBM Australia, a registered charity and international development organisation. Best Lawyers recognises Elizabeth for her work in the area of Corporate Law.


Elizabeth Lucas, Partner, Employment Solutions, Grant Thornton
Elizabeth has extensive experience in providing fringe benefits tax, salary packaging and employment tax advice to not-for-profit bodies, corporate clients and Government organisations. She is passionate about helping her clients to achieve optimal outcomes for both the organisation and its employees. Elizabeth is a significant contributor to her profession and the not-for-profit sector in particular. She has chaired the Tax Institute’s FBT Subcommittee, has served on the ATO’s various FBT stakeholder groups and consultations for many years, and continues to do so, and was a member of the Not-for-profit Sector Tax Concession Working Group reporting to the Federal Government.


Rhys Penning, Partner – Indirect Tax, GST, Grant Thornton
Leaning on his diverse experience across 25 plus years of practice in legal and Big4 firms, both in Australia and Dubai, Rhys is exceptionally well placed to provide deep value to a diverse range of clients. He has broad industry exposures and brings his expertise, knowledge and judgement to face of any challenge. Rhys’ wealth of GST technical and legal knowledge coupled with his compliance and governance skills mean he is now a recognised GST thought leader in Australia. Rhys combines his deep commercial acumen and professional judgement to deliver strategic, but practical and implementable solutions for clients. As an active member of the Property Council’s GST subcommittee and the Retirement Living Council’s Tax committee for many years, and having been involved in many Government and ATO consultations, Rhys has extensive knowledge of GST policy and other matters.


Darren Fittler, Partner, Gilbert + Tobin
Darren Fittler is the lead partner in Gilbert + Tobin’s Charities + Social Sector practice, specialising in the provision of legal assistance to charities, not-for-profits and social impact organisations. Darren’s combination of sector expertise and corporate and commercial law experience enables him to provide innovative and strategic legal advice and practical guidance on charity mergers, governance, collaborations, charitable fundraising, charity and tax regulation and compliance and much more. Best Lawyers recognises Darren in Non-Profit/Charities Law and Chambers Asia Pacific ranks Darren in Band 1 for Charities. Financial Times Most Innovative Lawyers (Asia-Pacific) 2024 named Darren as Innovative Individual Practitioner. He was also the recipient of the 2014 Human Rights Commission Law Award in recognition of his long term commitment to assisting not-for-profit and charitable organisations. Darren is a volunteer director of Vision Australia and has previously held roles on the boards of numerous charities. Darren also attended meetings at the United Nations in New York, helping in the development of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability.


Catherine Nufer,Special Counsel and Chartered Tax Adviser, Hamilton Locke
Catherine offers experience in a wide range of complex taxation matters including, income tax, capital gains tax, corporate tax, GST and state taxes (stamp duty, payroll tax and land tax) in all Australian jurisdictions. She advises and implements effective structures for transactions and asset ownership, as well as assists clients with structuring and restructuring in a tax effective manner. She also has experience in tax controversy matters (including audits, objections and appeals), with both the ATO and the various state revenue authorities. Catherine also offers significant experience in not-for-profit and charities law, regulations and governance issues and regularly advises companies, incorporated associations, unincorporated associations, charitable trusts and entities established under Letters Patent. Catherine is a Non-Executive Director and the Treasurer of Flipside Circus Ltd, a Brisbane based circus arts charity and is passionate about the challenges facing not-for-profits and charities in Australia. Catherine is able to provide collaborative, practical and commercial solutions for a wide range of clients, including not-for-profits and charities, high-wealth individuals, privately owned companies and large corporations, across of range of industries.