With cases under the new coercive control legislation in NSW to start coming through the system and domestic violence charges currently increasing, gain practical tips and strategies relating to bail applications for clients accused of domestic violence charges, the many trial advocacy challenges in coercive control cases and using and understanding expert evidence for these difficult matters. Be updated in sentencing trends and decisions. Navigate the intersection of both immigration law and family law on domestic violence cases and the lessons from other jurisdictions for the conduct of your cases.

Presenters

Hayley Dean, Senior Advocate, Legal Aid NSW
Hayley is best described as an all-rounder and is the current solicitor advocate attached to the Parramatta office of Legal Aid NSW and became an Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law in 2013. Within her current role, Hayley is appearing as counsel in sentences, trials and applications in the District Court, Coroner’s Court Inquests, the Children’s Court as well as training junior solicitors. Hayley joined Legal Aid NSW in 2008, after working for both the Commonwealth and State DPP. Hayley has worked across a large range of roles within Legal Aid including local court, committals, indictable, relief and indicatable appeals, with over a decade of instructing counsel in all sorts of matters in NSW Courts. Hayley has a keen interest in matters involving coercive control and is described as a “thought leader” on the topic, having written papers, presented CLE’s, as well as being the writer and host of the Legal Aid NSW 5-part series podcast on Coercive Control where she interviewed a range of experts across a variety of professional disciplines. The critically acclaimed Podcast Series was promoted on The Bar Association of NSW Website, the Judicial Commission Website and also by the NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner as the authority for legal professional training on the topic. Hayley has been presenting seminars and educational forums in the last 12 months on a variety of topics of interest including Coercive Control, Vicarious Trauma for Lawyers and Expert Evidence in sexual assault matters. Hayley was recently involved as an assessor for medical professionals cross examining them in their mock assessments as part of their training to become experts in sexual assault evidence. Hayley has presented seminars to a diverse range of community groups, lawyers, and medical professionals and is developing a special interest area in the of intersection of gendered violence and the legal system. In her spare time, she is a coach to the under 10’s local basketball team and a now firmly retired netball tragic.


Associate Professor Lil Vrklevski, Principal Clinical Psychologist, Director Psychology SLHD
Assoc. Prof. Lil Vrklevski B.A (Hons);LLB; MClinPsych; MBA; Dip.Grad.Research; PhD; MAPS; FCCLP; MACPA; GAICD is the Principal Clinical Psychologist and Director of Psychology, Sydney Local Health District. Lil has over 30 years’ experience in law and clinical psychology. She has worked clinically in the areas of sexual violence and mental health. Lil is particularly interested in the relationship between the legal and mental health systems as well as the impact of trauma work on professionals. Her research has been in the areas of vicarious trauma, root cause analysis, professional identity and professional roles as well as the role of allied health in public mental health services. Lil developed the Vicarious Trauma Scale (VTS), a brief screening instrument for VT. Lil is a reviewer on Traumatology, The Journal of Patient Safety, International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, Australasian Psychiatry, Psychiatry, Psychology & Law and is Deputy Chair of the CRGH Human Research Ethics Committee and sits on the NSW Psychology Board. Lil is a Clinical Associate Professor with ACU, clinical associate with the Departments of Psychology at USyd, UTS, WSU, Adjunct Fellow with MQ, UoW, lecturer at COPP and adjunct lecturer UNSW and casual academic with The Australian Institute of Health Service Management (AIHSM) UTAS. She sits on the Industry Advisory Boards with The Schools of Psychology at ACU, UNSW, USyd, and UTS as well as the Academic Board of COPP. Lil is co-chair of the ACI Violence Abuse and Neglect Executive Committee. Lil is a thesis examiner with ACU and MQ Universities and clinically supervises provisionally registered psychologists and clinical psychology registrars from a number of universities as well as lecturing on law and ethics for psychologists.


Andrew Tiedt, Director, J Sutton Associates
Andrew is a Director and Principal of J Sutton Associates. He is a Law Society of NSW Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law. Andrew has acted for thousands of clients who have been accused of criminal offences, including appearing for persons charged with murder, sexual offending, fraud, serious driving offences, drug supply and possession, violence, and internet-based offences. He is an experienced trial advocate and frequently appears without counsel in indictable matters, including jury trials. Andrew has been recommended by the Doyle’s Guide for both criminal and traffic law since 2019. Andrew is also the curator of the popular reference website www.trialdirections.com.au


Rachael Dobson, Senior Solicitor, Legal Aid NSW


Helen Christinson, Partner, Hugo Law Group
Helen Christinson is a Partner at Hugo Law Group and practices exclusively in Criminal Law. Whether appearing in Coronial inquests, bail applications, sentence matters, defended hearings or other applications in the Children’s Court or Local Court, conviction and severity appeals in the District Court, or high-profile trial and sentence matters for State and Commonwealth offences, Helen is a detail-focused, empathetic, energised and tenacious advocate. She has a wide range of legal experience from Local Court traffic matters to complex murder trials in the Supreme Court. In 2023 and 2024 Helen was recognised by members of the profession as a Recommended Criminal Defence Lawyer in the Doyle’s Guide – Sydney.


Dr Leon Turnbull, Forensic Psychiatrist
Dr Leon Turnbull is an Occupational and Forensic Psychiatrist. He has resigned from most administrative and committee roles. He is an Honorary Lecturer in Forensic Psychiatry at Melbourne University. He is on the medical panels. He provides support to Victoria Police and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. He has a particular interest in public liability/medical negligence.


Carol Younes, Partner, Hugo Law Group
Carol is an Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law and founding partner of Hugo Law Group. She has been consistently recognised in the Doyles Guide as one of Australia’s preeminent criminal lawyers. Carol appears in the superior and appellate courts in some of the most notorious criminal cases. She works tirelessly on matters representing clients charged with murder, serious sex offences, complex frauds, tax evasions, drug manufacture, supply and importation, and terrorism offences. She also appears in complex hearings, sentence proceedings and bail applications. She was nominated for Criminal Law Partner of the Year in the 2022 Lawyers Weekly Awards.


Michael Gleeson, Crown Prosecutor, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions


Rachel Thampapillai, Barrister, Seventh Floor Garfield Barwick Chambers
Rachel accepts briefs in all areas of law with a particular focus on criminal and public law. Prior to coming to the bar, Rachel was the Youth Koori Court solicitor at the Aboriginal Legal Service. She has expertise in the Children’s Court but has also appeared both led and unled in the Local, District and Supreme Court of NSW. Rachel has previously worked at Legal Aid, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and HWL Ebsworth. Prior to commencing practice, Rachel was tipstaff to the Hon. Associate Justice Harrison in the Supreme Court. Rachel holds a Master of Laws from UC Berkeley as a merit scholar and a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University. Rachel is honoured to be the recipient of the 2023 Katrina Dawson Award.


Carolina Soto, Barrister, Black Chambers
Carolina Soto has a diverse practice with a focus on criminal law (adults and children), mental health law (Mental Health Review Tribunal and Guardianship division at NCAT) and family law (as it relates to children and/or criminal matters that may affect parenting proceedings). Specialisation in domestic violence matters across the Local and District Court, as well as defending private Apprehended Domestic/Personal Violence Orders. Before being called to the Bar, Carolina was a solicitor at Legal Aid for 10 years where she represented clients in Court on a daily basis in Local, Children’s and District Courts. Prior to that, Carolina worked as a Judge’s Associate in the NSW District Court and interned at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. Carolina has worked as a casual academic at various universities including, Western Sydney University and the University of New England. She has appeared as a guest lecturer at the University of New South Wales and is an advocacy instructor at the College of Law.


Kim Hunter, Criminal Defence & Immigration Lawyer, Hunter Flood Lawyers
Ms Kim Hunter is a criminal defence and immigration lawyer as well as an Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law from Hunter Flood Lawyers in Sydney. Kim has a law degree, 3 first places in law exams (Criminal law, evidence & succession), second place in Constitutional Law and 2 Butterworths Law prizes. Kim Has always had her own private law practice and since becoming an Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law now only practices in criminal defence and immigration law. Kim has formerly lectured in post graduate law at Australian National University and regularly lectures for the Law Society of NSW, Legal Aid and various other professional bodies and organisations including the MIA. Kim has been invited to be on an expert panel for a research project funded by the Australian Research Council, to be undertaken by leading Professors from Charles Sturt, Flinders and Monash universities in Australia and Oxford University in the UK on the topic of ‘Crimmigration’ – the intersection of criminal and immigration laws in Australia.


Hannah Donaldson, Barrister, Seventh Floor Garfield Barwick Chambers
Prior to being called to the Bar in 2023, Hannah appeared as Solicitor Advocate in coronial inquests and criminal proceedings in New South Wales and the Northern Territory. Most recently, Hannah was responsible for the setup and management of the inaugural Coronial Inquest Unit at the Aboriginal Legal Service and regularly appeared for next of kin in the Coroners Court. Hannah has also appeared in criminal proceedings including district court trials, sentences and appeals and local court hearings and applications. While working in the Northern Territory Hannah spent a large amount of time in remote communities at circuit courts including Arnhem Land and the Tiwi Islands. Hannah also represented respondents in ongoing detention applications and worked on the Royal Commission into the Detention and Protection of Children in the Northern Territory. Hannah has been a casual guest lecturer in Advanced Criminal Law at UNSW and has delivered CPDs on a range of evidence topics. She also served on the Law Society of NSW’s Indigenous Issues Committee.