There have been an absolute myriad of employment law reforms. Gain an overview of the changes in workplace relations & safety laws stemming from the 'Closing Loopholes' reforms. Explore reforms including defining employees & independent contractors, addressing wage underpayment & superannuation theft, & new sexual discrimination regulations. Stay updated on industrial relations reforms to enterprise bargaining. Plus, delve into psychosocial hazards, ensuring Respect@Work compliance, conducting workplace investigations, and facilitating flexible working arrangements.

Presenters

Paul Brown, Partner, Baker McKenzie
Paul Brown has extensive experience in advising clients across a diverse range of international and domestic companies, for over 33 years. His expertise covers employment law contracts, awards, negotiations and disputes with trade unions, anti-discrimination issues, outsourcing, and occupational health and safety-related matters. He represents clients in mediation hearings and regularly appears before the Australian Federal and State Industrial Tribunals, the Anti-Discrimination Tribunals, and the Conciliation and Industrial Commissions.


Ian Latham, Barrister, Denman Chambers
Ian Latham is a barrister at Denman Chambers specialising in employment and industrial law, particularly in the area of civil penalty. He has appeared in many civil penalty cases particularly ABCC v Parker (No 1) and (No 2), BKH Contractors Case (No 1) and (No 2) and FWO v ZNZ, FWO v A-Z and FWO v Robit Nominees. He writes for the Lexis Fair Work Act Service and the Lexis Industrial Relations Act (NSW) Service.


David Taylor, Principal, Segelov Taylor Lawyers
David Taylor is a principal at Segelov Taylor Lawyers, a newly established firm. Prior to establishing Segelov Taylor, David was for nine years a partner at Turner Freeman Lawyers, practising in employment and industrial law. He is an accredited specialist in employment and industrial law. David has acted in a wide variety of matters. Notable cases include:, " Stewart v QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited [2010] HCA 9. David acted for widow of a man who had died from mesothelioma. The case concerned who bore the onus is proving a limit of indemnity in a worker's compensation insurance policy in circumstances where the policy document had been lost. This ground-breaking case ensured that insurers could not rely on having lost an insurance policy to limit their obligations., " Keldote Pty Ltd & Ors v Riteway Transport Pty Ltd [2008] FMCA 1167. David acted for three truck drivers who sought review and amendment of their contracts pursuant to the Independent Contractors Act following the termination of the contractors by a principal. This was the first successful claim brought under that Act., " Between 2010 and 2012, David acted for the Qantas pilots' union, the Australian & International Pilots Association during the pilots first industrial action since 1966, during the grounding of the airline and the subsequent Workplace Determination Proceedings. The dispute involved a number of significant decisions interpreting the industrial act provisions of the Fair Work Act in the Federal Court and the Fair Work Commission., " Alexander v. Capello & anor [2013] FCCA 860 David acted for the applicant in successful sex harassment proceedings. In this significant case, proceedings were brought and maintained against the harasser and a Company director despite the employer company having been liquidated. In his new firm David plans to continue to act in a wide variety of employment, industrial matters along with other litigation.,


Nick Chadwick, Principal, Chadwick Workplace Law
Nick Chadwick has practised in employment law and industrial relations for 35 years. Nick's entrée into the world of industrial relations in 1989 was at a time when disputation and strikes were frequent. He spent most of his time at the NSW Industrial Relations Commission or the Australian Industrial Relations Commission or in meetings with Unions. Nick has run a small employment law practice for the last 16 years, predominantly representing small to medium sized business in all facets of industrial relations and employment law. Nick’s practice covers all matters in connection with industrial and employment law - unfair dismissal; general protections claims; workplace investigations; strategic employment advice; dispute resolution and mediation; work health and safety; discrimination, bullying, harassment and Respect@Work; drafting policies and procedures and advocacy and representation in all tribunals and courts.


Christa Lenard, Partner, Kingston Reid
Christa Lenard is a workplace relations and employment partner with extensive experience in advising large and medium private sector companies as well as public sector departments and agencies at both Commonwealth and state level, on relevant employment and workplace issues. Christa provides day-to-day advice to clients across all operational workplace issues employer's face, and assists with the management of difficult workplace situations as they arise, whether that be allegations of discrimination or bullying and harassment, claims of adverse action, management of performance or disciplinary situations. Christa also assists clients in organisational restructures and transfer of business in both the private and public sector. She works closely with her clients to devise and implement industrial and employment strategies, including creating organisational change through enterprise bargaining, challenging union demands and communication and workforce participation. To this end, Christa has been forefront in assisting clients drive industry change, particularly through her work in the maritime industry. She is a keen advocate of the benefits of workplace training and development and presents regularly to clients on relevant employment and workplace matters.


Cynthia Elachi, Special Counsel, Clayton Utz
Cynthia brings holistic and commercially attuned experience across all aspects of employment law, ranging from strategic employment advice, unfair dismissal and adverse action claims, to defending large-scale employment-related litigation. Cynthia regularly undertakes the role of workplace investigator for clients, dealing with issues involving bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and intoxication at work. Cynthia's investigation experience is extensive and highly sought after, crossing a variety of industries including technology, entertainment and tertiary education. Cynthia often appears on behalf of major corporate clients across all jurisdictions including the NSW Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Australia on a variety of issues, such as restraint of trade matters and breach of contract cases. She works closely with her clients to promote positive workplace culture, assisting with drafting employment policies and conducting client workshops on a variety of topics including managing poor performance, termination of employment and providing EEO and bullying and harassment training. Cynthia is a keen speaker having presented a number of seminars and workshops on a variety of employment law issues. On account of her particular interest in workplace investigations, she has presented seminars and conducted all day training workshops on the fundamentals of workplace investigations for both clients and for external organisations.


Elizabeth Ticehurst, Principal, Activate Law
Elizabeth Ticehurst is an accredited specialist in Employment and Industrial Law and is an expert in the emerging area of whistleblowing. With two decades of experience working in the legal industry in the Asia Pacific Region, Elizabeth has first-hand knowledge of the complexities of managing a diverse workforce across several jurisdictions. Elizabeth is a sought-after speaker and trainer, and regularly presents at external conferences and seminars. In 2019 she was a “Special Counsel of the Year” finalist in the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards. An expert in Whistleblowing Law, Elizabeth has a special interest in advising managers of in-house whistleblowing programs on both compliance and practical issues. She has conducted whistleblower response training for more than 50 groups, including Boards, executive teams and senior management in industries ranging from finance and banking to resources and retail.


Luis Izzo, Managing Director, Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors
Luis oversees ABLA's Sydney Workplace Relations practice and has over a decade’s experience practicing as a specialist employment and industrial relations lawyer acting for a broad range of employers across both the private and public sector. His advocacy experience in State and Federal Courts and Tribunals is extensive. In addition to achieving successful outcomes for clients as an advocate in numerous unfair dismissal and industrial dispute arbitrations, he acted as one of the lead employer advocates in the 2014/2015 Fair Work Commission Annual Leave Test Case as well as the highly publicised 2016/2017 Penalty Rates Test Case.


Angela Seach, Associate Director and Practice Leader, Worklogic
In her role as Associate Director and Practice Leader at Worklogic, Angela is responsible for leading workplace culture and leadership services for Worklogic clients, and providing quality assurance for workplace culture reviews, and workplace investigations. Angela has extensive experience in conducting complex and sensitive investigations into employee misconduct, including sexual harassment and workplace bullying matters. Along with her work in conducting qualitative workplace culture reviews, Angela has developed and implemented large-scale employee opinion surveys and has facilitated teams to design action plans to increase engagement and satisfaction, and to reduce the instances of inappropriate behaviour. Angela is a sought-after leadership coach, working with leaders to create safe and satisfied teams. She is also a mediator, conducting mediations and facilitated discussions to resolve interpersonal conflict and rebuild relationships in the workplace. Drawing on 25 years’ experience prior to joining Worklogic, working in house in people and culture roles in emergency management, transport, health and insurance industries, Angela brings practical experience to her work and commercial pragmatism to her recommendations.


Jennie Mansfield, Partner, Ashurst
Jennie Mansfield is a partner in the Employment group in Sydney and has been with the firm since 1995, working in both its Sydney and Melbourne offices. Jennie is an experienced litigator who assists clients on a range of contentious employment matters, including unfair dismissal claims, actions by senior executives and post-employment restraint matters. She advises on the effective management of work-related grievances and investigations, performance management and disciplinary matters, and termination of employment. Jennie works regularly with our Corporate and Insolvency teams on employment aspects of set-up of Australian operations, business sale and restructuring. She has supported a number of key clients on employee transfers, secondments and offshoring transactions. She has also advised two international fashion retailers on the establishment of their Australian operations, including employment contracts, policies, award compliance, employee relations strategies and arrangements for expatriate executives.


Julianne Taverner, Special Counsel, Coleman Greig Lawyers
Julianne Taverner is a Special Counsel in Coleman Greig’s Employment Law & WHS team. She has 25 years’ experience in Employment Law and Administrative Law. She is an Accredited Specialist in Administrative Law. Julianne is experienced in all facets of employment law including general protection claims, unfair dismissal applications, employment and industrial disputes, underpayment claims, discrimination and redundancy claims. She has worked for both employers and employees. She works collaboratively with clients to minimise risk exposure and to build effective relationships. Her clients include government, small business and commercial entities. A strong communicator, Julianne builds robust relationships with clients. Solutions-focussed, Julianne has a particular interest in discrimination, dispute resolution, and advising on new legislative and regulatory obligations for business. A highly skilled and committed legal advisor, Julianne has advised and appeared in numerous matters in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission and Fair Work Commission.