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 Commissioner.  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 practises in commercial and public law, with a focus on property, insolvency, contracts, corporations and administrative law. He also has an interest in investigations by regulatory and integrity agencies. Before coming to the Bar, 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 advised government clients on public law issues; In the public law team of the Department of Premier and Cabinet's Office of the General Counsel, where he advised on state significant litigation and various high profile public law matters, as well as freedom of information, privacy and aboriginal heritage matters. He also advised on investigations by the Auditor-General, the Ombudsman and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission; and In Allens' disputes and investigation team, where he acted in group proceedings, tort claims, regulatory action (ASIC / ACCC / AER) and insolvency matters. Prior to his admission as a solicitor, 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. Since coming to the Bar, Tom has appeared in the following cases: VS Property and Holding Pty Ltd v Zurzolo [2024] VSCA 154: VS Property and Holding Pty Ltd v Zurzolo [2024] VSCA 199 and; AJ Moussi Pty Ltd v Luxor Corporation Pty Ltd (Building and Property) [2024] VCAT 846. Tom is reading with James McKay and his senior mentor is Elizabeth Bennett SC.


Max Cameron, Partner, MinterEllison
Max Cameron is a leading property lawyer with over 42 years acting for many of Australia's leading landlords and tenants. 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.


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.


Lynda McAlary-Smith, Victorian Small Business Commissioner
Lynda is a qualified lawyer and accomplished senior executive with extensive experience working with businesses within Victoria and nationally. In her role as Commissioner, Lynda is passionate about creating a fair and competitive trading environment for all Victorians in small business, and supporting the sector in working through recovery from the pandemic towards renewal. She works closely with a diverse range of stakeholders and is known for her commitment to collaboration and consultation, removing barriers to accessing justice, and forming solutions-focused partnerships with industry and all levels of government. Lynda and the Victorian Small Business Commission team are dedicated to advocating on behalf of Victoria’s small business people, raising awareness of their rights and responsibilities, and helping them to avoid and resolve commercial disputes. Before her role as Commissioner, Lynda was Executive Director of Regulatory Operations with the Victorian Building Authority. Lynda has also held a variety of senior executive positions with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), with a key achievement being leading their small business strategy to support small business owners in understanding their workplace rights and obligations. Before her time with the FWO, Lynda was a commercial litigator for businesses in private practice. As Ambassador for the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation, Lynda is passionate about building awareness of prevention and screening for cervical cancer, improving health outcomes, empowering women and building stronger communities.


Francesco Demarco, Partner, Head of Global Portfolio Solutions, Australia & Tenant Representation, Victoria, Knight Frank
Francesco has over 10 years of work experience in commercial real estate on behalf of Occupiers. Following a 2-year period seconded within Telstra (Australia’s largest Telecommunications firm and largest corporate occupier), Francesco relocated to London to gain more international experience. Utilising London as a base, Francesco developed skills in advising corporate occupiers on the transactions and management of their real estate portfolios across the world. Working internationally allowed Francesco to learn how to manage various stakeholders across various cultures and geographical locations, along with developing a deep understanding of different real estate market dynamics. Over the past 8 years, Francesco has worked closely with many corporate occupier customers to provide various services such as account, transaction and project management across their varied multi-asset real estate portfolios. This has involved supporting clients across various sectors with all aspects of the real estate lifecycle. For example, some of what Francesco has worked on includes helping clients to define and implement their portfolio and location strategies, their sustainability and green lease policies, freehold vs. leasehold analysis and supporting through M&A activity. Recently, Francesco has joined Knight Frank in the role of Partner, Head of Global Portfolio Solutions, in which he will be based in Melbourne, working closely with the global property consultancy’s Asia Pacific and GPS teams, leading all GPS activity in Australia and New Zealand. He will also be the regional lead for Cresa, supporting them in Australia as Knight Frank’s relationship with the world’s largest occupier-centric commercial real estate firm grows following an announcement of a partnership to deliver occupier real estate services globally late last year. Francesco aims to create sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships based on integrity, trust and excellent service. Francesco believes that real estate is simply bricks and mortar but rather, it is the environment and ecosystem in which we work, live and play. This belief helps drive Francesco’s passion for the property industry.