Presenters

Richard Bradshaw, Special Counsel, Johnston Withers Lawyers
A former director of Johnston Withers Lawyers and now special counsel, Richard is widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading practitioners in the area of Aboriginal land rights, native title and heritage law. He has specialised in the area of land rights, native title and associated commercial legal work for over 30 years now, having been the Principal Legal Officer for Pitjantjarjara Council during the 1980s. He acts for a number of Aboriginal groups and, in the area of native title, apart from working on native title determination applications, compensation claims and mining issues, his current particular focus is on negotiating compensation/whole of claim settlement ILUAs; joint management and indigenous land use agreements over existing and proposed national parks and marine parks. Since his involvement in negotiations in relation to Uluru in 1984/85, he has acted for a number of Aboriginal groups in SA, WA and NSW in relation to joint management of national and marine parks. Richard is also a defamation law specialist.


Kirsty Bennett, Practice Leader-Commercial, Johnston Withers Lawyers
Kirsty Bennett started her practising life in Western Australia in the 90s. She rose quickly through the ranks and was appointed a partner of Mony de Kerloy commercial lawyers in 1997. There, she managed a team of lawyers and represented a range of business clients across a broad industry base, assisting with commercial transactions, commercial dispute resolution and property law matters. She also found time to complete a Master of Laws, with a focus on commercial law issues. Kirsty joined Johnston Withers Lawyers’ growing commercial and property law team in 2016. She specialises in litigation and dispute resolution, international law, agricultural law and Aboriginal legal advice. Highly experienced, practical and approachable, Kirsty is committed to achieving sensible, commercial and timely outcomes for her clients.


Dominic McGann, Partner, McCullough Robertson
Dominic McGann has over 25 years experience as a general commercial lawyer. He specialises in government advisory work, resources and infrastructure. As an element of his practice, Dominic is an acknowledged authority on native title and cultural heritage matters. Prior to joining McCullough Robertson, he had held prominent positions with various Queensland Government agencies. In terms of his current practice in the resources and infrastructure areas, it draws on his mining, infrastructure, government and commercial legal skills (including land tenure issues, native title, cultural heritage, safety, environmental compliance, infrastructure delivery and contract performance). He has experience in the following sectors: public sector, mining, water, statutory authorities, Indigenous communities, transport, energy, and agribusiness. Dominic has acted for various coal, base metals and other mining operations, petroleum and gas operators, water entities, electricity entities, ports, State Government agencies, foreign governments, as well as sugar and timber entities and various pastoral companies.