Ensure your advice is always current as immigration law is currently changing often. Guided by highly regarded solicitors and barristers be updated on the swathe of regulatory reform underway including relating to strengthening compliance and integrity in the immigration system though the Migration Amendment Bills and the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment Bill, and Permanent Residency Pathways reform. Examine the impacts of domestic violence accusations and documentation challenges in the visa application process. Gain practical strategies for acting in Judicial Review matters and appeals to ART and visa cancellations.

Presenters

Maria Jockel, Legal Principal and National Leader, Migration Services, BDO
Maria Jockel leads BDO’s Global and National specialist law firm which specialises in all aspects of Australian immigration law for corporate and private clients. She is a Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law and is acknowledged as one of Australia’s leading immigration specialists. She brings a unique depth and breadth of immigration law and corporate commercial -related legal experience from her years of practice. This is complimented by Maria’s former advisory and senior executive roles while in government service. Maria is a sought-after speaker and prolific author on all aspects of immigration and citizenship law. Maria is listed in “The International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers (2010-2023), “Best Lawyers” (2008-2023) and Doyles. Maria's immigration law practice includes employer nomination temporary/permanent residency applications, business skills migration, complex matters involving health and character issues, Federal Court applications, skilled migration, review applications at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal/Migration Review Division, citizenship, ministerial submissions, international education, the Educational Services of Overseas Students Act and the National Code, labour agreements, regulatory compliance, due diligence and related advices. In her current and former roles, Maria has contributed to shaping immigration law in Australia having advised on government policy and legal matters at State and Federal levels.


Wajiha Ahmed, Partner and Mediator, Buttar, Caldwell & Co
Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Wajiha came to Australia with her family at age five. As a third generation lawyer, Wajiha is committed to the plight of social justice and rights of women in Australia and ensuring access to justice. She joined Buttar, Caldwell & Co. Solicitors in March 2001. She is a NMAS mediator and sits on a number of panels. Her main practice areas are civil litigation, family law, employment and immigration. In 2006, Wajiha was appointed as a part time Commissioner with the Community Relations Commission of NSW for six years. She served on the NSW Police Multicultural Advisory Council for a number of years. Since 2012 she has been a member of the Human Rights committee of the Law Society of NSW. She has served as an Officer for the Human Rights Committee of the International Bar Association since 2018. Wajiha has taught “Business, Law and Ethics” and “Contemporary Business Law” at University of Technology, Sydney from 2005 until 2019 and other private Colleges in Sydney. Wajiha has written opinion pieces in the Daily Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald and the Guardian with respect to her views on various human rights issues over the years.


Professor Mary Crock, Immigration Lawyer, Professor, The University of Sydney
Professor, Professor of Public Law. May was formerly a solicitor in the law firm of Corr and Corr (as it then was) to Judge’s Associate and solicitor in a community legal agency. She has worked with Australian Senators (most notably in 1999-2000 on an inquiry into Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program) and with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Mary has assumed leadership roles as Chair of various migration law-related committees for the Law Institute of Victoria, the Law Society of New South Wales and the Law Council of Australia and has served on the Executive Committee of the Refugee Council of Australia. She is head assessor for Australia’s specialist accreditation programs for lawyers in the area of immigration law. Her contribution was acknowledged in 2007 by her appointment as an Honorary Specialist in this field.


Simon Jeans, Principal, Jeans Lawyers
Simon Jeans has been practising law since 1989. He is an Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law and listed by Best Lawyers for Australia in Immigration Law. He has worked as an advocate for refugees and migrants with the Jesuit Refugee Service, RACS, Legal Aid (NSW), UNHCR and in his law firm. He was appointed as a member of the Migration Review Tribunal and Refugee Review Tribunal from 2010-2015. He was engaged by the College of Law in 2019-2020 as an assessor and external moderator for the Capstone Migration Agents Assessment.


Nicholas Poynder, Barrister, Frederick Jordan Chambers
Consistently recognised in the Immigration Category of the Australian Financial Review Best Lawyers in Australia from 2012 to 2017, Nick maintains a solid migration law practice. He also practises in the areas of anti-discrimination law and family law. Nick has appeared as junior counsel in notable decisions in the High Court of Australia and provides high quality advice and representation as sole counsel in other courts and tribunals, including the Federal Circuit Court, Federal Court of Australia, and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (General Division and Migration & Refugee Division). The nature of these matters ranges from legal issues which might arise during the processing or cancellation of visas, to applications for the review of decisions to refuse or cancel a visa. Prior to being called the Bar, Nick practised as a legal adviser to asylum-seekers in Port Hedland (Western Australia), locum practitioner with the Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service in Alice Springs (Northern Territory) and later co-ordinator of the Refugee Advice and Casework Service in Sydney. He was also a Senior Legal Officer with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in Sydney. Nick is the current author of the Judicial Review commentary in the LexisNexis Australian Immigration Law Service. Admitted to the Bar in both Victoria and New South Wales (and maintaining a practice in both jurisdictions), Nick holds a Master of Laws from the University of New South Wales, a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tasmania. He was one of the first migration agents to be registered in Australia.


Chris Honnery, Barrister, Tenth Floor St James Hall Chambers
Chris Honnery is a barrister who is experienced representing applicants in administrative law and judicial review proceedings. He passed the England and Wales Bar Transfer Test prior to being called to the NSW Bar, and has worked in a number of jurisdictions. Before becoming a barrister, Chris was a solicitor for almost a decade, working at Victoria Legal Aid, the Federal Court of Australia, and representing asylum seekers detained on Nauru. Based in Sydney, Chris also appears interstate, and has particular expertise in migration matters and challenging visa-related decisions. Website https://www.chrishonnery.com.au/


Alex Kaufman, Head of Migration, Longton Legal
Alex Kaufman is a practising Solicitor and former RMA with almost 20 years' experience in business, investment and employment related migration and the provision of associated legal services.


Ndi Ruppert, Principal & Founder, Ruppert Legal
Ndi Ruppert obtained her Bachelor of Business and Law with a Diploma of Legal Practice from the University of Newcastle in 2010 and was admitted to the Supreme Court of New South Wales as a solicitor in 2011. In 2017, Ndi obtained her Master of Laws from the University of Newcastle, majoring in Human Rights and International Business; her master thesis was published in the African Journal of International and Comparative Law. Ndi is the Principal Solicitor & Founder of the law practice, Ruppert Legal and was formerly a solicitor with Hicksons Lawyers. She also currently uses her immigration expertise to assist refugee clients one day a week through Mosaic Multicultural Connections. Ndi has significant experience with the Australian Migration system, both personally and professionally and was honoured by being listed on the 202, 2022 and 2023 Doyles list of leading New South Wales Immigration Lawyers. She is also the Vice Chair on the Board of the Hunter Community Legal Centre and is part of the executive leadership team of the Centre for African Research, Engagement & Partnerships at the University of Newcastle.


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 complex immigration matters. 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 and Law Council of Australia. Kim is on an expert panel for a research project led by Prof Alison Gerard and funded by the Australian Research Council, being 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.


Lily Ong, Principal, Lily Ong Business Lawyer & Migration Consultants
Lily Ong is originally from Malaysia and migrated to Australia in the 1980s. Lily obtained degrees in Economics and Law from Monash University. Admitted as a solicitor in 1989, Lily practiced with the Sydney firms Dunhill Morgan and Phillips Fox prior to relocating to Melbourne where she now resides. Lily opened her practice in 2000 and utilises her skills as an LIV accredited specialist immigration lawyer with a strong focus on Business Migration to assist clients daily. Lily enjoys a strong professional network with other firms and professionals and strives to provide quality legal advice with a high service standard for her clients. Contact us now and find out what for Lily Ong Business Lawyers and Migration Consultants can do for you.


Sean Kikkert, Barrister, Jessie Street Chambers
Sean Kikkert has more than 18 years of experience in immigration law and administrative law. He was admitted in 2007 and worked for the Department of Immigration for eleven years before opening his own law practice. He has appeared in many Federal Court, Federal Circuit Court and Tribunal matters, and provides complex legal advice based on his 16 years of experience in government law. Sean also has considerable experience in dispute resolution and conducted family and personal violence conferences as a Deputy Registrar with the ACT Magistrates Court between 2019-2022. Sean was born in Adelaide, South Australia and spent the early part of his childhood in the Netherlands before his family returned to Australia. He earnt a BA (Hons.) in Psychology in 2002 and an LLB (with Hons.) in 2005 from the University of Adelaide. He married his wife Jaquilyn in Hong Kong, and he is the father of five children. He is also an author and has had eight books published.