Equip yourself with strategic actions to manage leasing challenges, including understanding the New CIPT tax regime's implications, unfair contract terms and drafting sub-leases effectively. Gain insight into a tenant representatives' viewpoint and hear from the Victorian Small Business Commission.  Strengthen your skills to navigate the complexities of leasing as you develop effective strategies for lease breach management and insolvency. Leave feeling prepared with significant insight and practical methods to protect your clients' leasing needs.

Presenters

Cameron Charnley, Barrister, Svenson Barristers
Cameron practises in a broad range of corporate and commercial law, including contract law, insolvency, real property, consumer law, equity and trusts, and wills and probate. He accepts briefs to advise and to appear in all Victorian and federal jurisdictions and is also admitted in New Zealand. Cameron signed the Bar Roll in April 2015 and read with Christopher Archibald KC. Before coming to the Bar, Cameron was an associate to his Honour Judge Cosgrave (now the Honourable Justice Cosgrave) in the Commercial Division of the County Court of Victoria and, prior to that, worked in professional services at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Cameron is a member of the Australian Bar Association and the Commercial Bar Association of Victoria and sat on the Victorian Bar’s ADR Committee for 5 years.


Michael Taylor-Sands, Partner, Maddocks
Michael is the practice team leader of the Maddocks Tax & Structuring team in Victoria. Michael has expertise advising on commercial and property transactions and their taxation implications. He has a unique ability to advise on the commercial and taxation implications of a transaction and draft appropriate implementation documentation. Michael has represented private, corporate and institutional clients in a broad range of commercial and property-related matters. His legal expertise includes advising in property development transactions and joint ventures, structuring of acquisitions, divestments and commercial transactions, income tax and capital gains tax. He is a highly regarded advisor on issues relating to stamp duty, land tax, Windfall Gains tax (WGT) and Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution (GAIC). Michael is a member of UDIA Victoria – Greenfield Development Committee. In 2019, Michael was awarded the prestigious Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) ‘Distinguished Service Award’ in recognition of his exceptional work and contribution to UDIA Victoria policy and advocacy.


Tom Egan, Barrister, Greens List
Tom practices in commercial and public law, with a focus on property (including leasing), insolvency, contracts, corporations and administrative law. Before coming to the Bar in 2024, Tom practised as a solicitor in Hall & Wilcox's commercial dispute resolution team, where he acted in disputes relating to contracts, property development, leasing, oppression, winding up, injunctions and the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 (Vic). He also practised in the Department of Premier and Cabinet's public law team and in Allens' disputes and investigation team. From 2017-2019, Tom was Associate and then Senior Associate to the Honourable Justice Croft at the Supreme Court of Victoria, where he assisted with general commercial, leasing, class action and state taxation matters, as well as arbitration related proceedings. Tom read with James McKay and his senior mentor was the Honourable Justice Elizabeth Bennett.


Max Cameron, Legal Consultant
Max Cameron is recognised as one of Australia’s preeminent property law lawyers with over 44 years acting for many of Australia's leading landlords and tenants, 38 as a partner of a top tier law firm. His formidable commercial property and property management knowledge and experience includes recognised expertise in tenancy law, commercial contracts, mediation and litigation, and property development, particularly high-profile retail development. Known for his management and co-ordination of national, cross-jurisdiction teams, Max has a strong track-record acting for large corporate and public sector clients on a wide range of property matters including the leasing, acquisition, development, management and disposal of prime office, retail and industrial portfolios. Max's expertise is widely recognised as leading in independent legal directories including Chambers, Best Lawyers and Doyle's Guide and has been recognised as one of Australia's preeminent Real Estate lawyers. Max is the co-author of the MinterEllison publication 'Retail Tenancy Legislation Compendium’ now in it’s 8th Edition.


Paul Nunan, Director, Eastern Bridge Pty Limited
Paul has been a director of Eastern Bridge for over ten years. Paul is a property and commercial lawyer and is recognised and accredited by the Law Institute of Victoria as a specialist commercial leasing lawyer. He is a member of the Leases Committee and is co-chair of the Law Institute Property and Commercial Tenancy Advisory Committee.


Jamie Bedelis, Principal, Bedelis Lawyers
Jamie Bedelis is the principal of Bedelis Lawyers, a property law and commercial law firm. He is accredited by the Law Institute of Victoria as a specialist in Commercial Tenancy Law, and practices in the areas of property and commercial law. He is a co-author of the Thomson Reuters loose leaf service Commercial and Retail Leasing in Australia. He is a member of the Leases Committee and the Property and Environmental Law Executive Committee of the Law Institute of Victoria.


Robert Hay KC, Owen Dixon Chambers East
Robert Hay has been a barrister at the Victorian Bar since 1992 and practice mainly in the area of property law including sale of land, owners' corporation disputes, mortgages and leasing. Robert was appointed as a senior counsel in November 2014. He also acts as a mediator in property law disputes. Robert has co-authored the following leading texts - Bradbrook, Croft and Hay Commercial Tenancy Law (3rd ed, LexisNexis), 2009; Croft and Hay The Mortgagee's Power of Sale (3rd)(LexisNexis), 2012; Croft and Hay Retail Leases Victoria (looseleaf)(LexisNexis); and Hay, Lloyd and Rimmer Transfer of Land Act (Vic), 2nd ed, Thomson Reuters. Robert is also case note editor of the Property Law Journal (LexisNexis) and author of the popular blog "The Property Law Blog". Before becoming a barrister he was a cadet journalist and journalist with "The Mercury" newspaper in Hobart (1978 - 1983) and a solicitor at Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks in Melbourne (now Allens) (1987 - 1992).


Luke Virgona, Barrister, Dawson Chambers
Luke Virgona practices in a wide range of commercial litigation, with a particular focus on property law. He is a co-author, along with Justice Croft and Robert Hay QC, of the recently published 4th edition of Commercial Tenancy Law, and of the Retail Leases Victoria loose-leaf service. Luke is also an Associate of the Charted Institute of Arbitrators. Before coming to the Bar, Luke was the Senior Associate to the Honourable Justice Croft of the Supreme Court of Victoria and, prior to his time at the Court, spent eight years as the owner and operator of a successful food retail business in South Melbourne.


Francesco Demarco, Partner, Head of Global Portfolio Solutions, Australia & Tenant Representation, Victoria, Knight Frank
Francesco has over 13 years of experience in commercial real estate, specialising in occupier representation. He currently leads Knight Frank’s Global Portfolio Solutions (GPS) team in Australia and the Tenant Representation team in Victoria. Dedicated exclusively to occupiers, he supports companies in managing their property portfolios both locally and internationally. With experience working in both London and Australia, Francesco has worked with numerous multinational organisations, gaining diverse expertise in delivering outsourced real estate services globally. He has provided strategic account, transaction, and project management solutions across multi-asset portfolios, working closely with occupiers to optimise their real estate strategies. Francesco’s key focus is on building long-term sustainable partnerships with occupiers, helping them optimise their real estate portfolios to gain a competitive advantage. He believes that since most occupiers are not real estate companies, it is essential to first understand their strategic business objectives and then align their real estate strategies to support those goals. Committed to integrity, trust, and exceptional service, Francesco strives to create mutually beneficial relationships that drive lasting value. He views real estate not merely as bricks and mortar but as the environment and ecosystem in which we work, live, and play—an outlook that fuels his passion for property.


Elizabeta Galevska, Manager - Dispute Resolution, Victorian Small Business Commission
Elizabeta Galevska is Manager, Dispute Resolution at the Victorian Small Business Commission managing the VSBC’s Dispute Resolution function and Mediation Panel. She has been with VSBC for almost 22 years in several different roles, including managing the mediation and corporate functions, as well as developing and maintaining the original VSBC database used for case management.  Elizabeta has a degree in economics and previous overseas government experience in international diplomacy, project management and investment promotion.