Attend the annual premier event for Government Lawyers and earn all 10 CPD points in a single day. The Symposium is tailored specifically to cover the latest updates and skills that you need to excel in your role. Gain updates on cyber security, automated decision making, managing privacy risk in program delivery and design, WHS and employment law relating specifically to the public sector. Hear a timely reminder of your model litigant obligations and the principles of use of documents under the Harman Undertaking. Earn your core CPD points hearing about government use of AI, ethics and probity in procurement and the modern approach to statutory interpretation.

Presenters

Maxine Feletti, Partner, Sparke Helmore Lawyers
Maxine Feletti is a safety, risk and disputes lawyer with significant experience acting for both Australian Government and private sector clients. Her primary areas of expertise are common law and statutory claims arising from workplace accidents, work health and safety (WHS), asbestos litigation, transport related coronial inquiries, various insurance and indemnity matters and statutory interpretation more generally. Maxine has extensive advocacy and dispute resolution experience and has appeared in various State and Territory courts, tribunals, mediations, arbitrations and settlement conferences. She also has extensive legal compliance audit experience, especially in the context of WHS. Maxine holds a lead auditor in WHS management systems qualification, to complement her existing audit experience and capability.


Daniel D’Onofrio, Managing Principal, Adiem Law


Annie Hagger, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright Australia


Karl Pattenden, Barrister, Key Chambers
Karl was called to the Bar in 2015. He practices across numerous areas of law including bankruptcy & insolvency, building & construction, commercial & civil litigation, contract disputes, corporations, consumer protection, employment & industrial, occupational health and safety, property and commercial leasing disputes, personal injuries and workers compensation, and administrative law. Before coming to the Bar Karl was the principal of Pattenden Law – a litigation practice which specialised in bankruptcy and insolvency, building and construction, and commercial and civil litigation. He appeared as counsel on behalf of clients and other solicitors in various jurisdictions including the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of the ACT and NSW. Prior to establishing Pattenden Law Karl was an associate and partner of Gillespie-Jones & Co for nine years where he was responsible for the management and supervision of the commercial dispute resolution/litigation practice. In this capacity he supervised and had the carriage of a variety of commercial and common law litigation matters on behalf of clients and appeared as counsel. Before Gillespie-Jones & Co Karl was employed for five years as a solicitor in a large scale plaintiff’s litigation practice specialising in personal injuries, workers compensation and industrial relations. He also served as principal legal officer for one year with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority where he advised on the prudential supervision of banks, life and general insurance companies and superannuation funds. Before that, Karl was employed for a year in a large defendant/insurance litigation practice. Before becoming a lawyer, Karl was employed by the Department of Defence, Inspector-General’s Division engaged in the review of Commonwealth procurement and outsourcing procedures/contracts together with the management and supervision of multi-disciplined teams investigating matters of significant implication for Defence programs. He was also employed by the Australian Federal Police for a period of fourteen years where he managed, investigated and prosecuted offences throughout Australia.


Ashley Tsacalos, Partner, Clayton Utz
Dr Ashley Tsacalos is a dispute resolution lawyer based in Sydney and a leading adviser to government. He is also a leading authority on the government's "model litigant obligations". He was ranked in a recent Chambers & Partners Asia-Pacific Guide in the Government Category and was described in a recent APL 500 as "brilliant" in the area of dispute resolution. Ashley has experience in all forms of dispute resolution, including litigation in various courts and tribunals, as well as mediation and conciliation. He is engaged by both the public and private sector due to his extensive experience in managing complex and often sensitive disputes. He has particular expertise in relation to contractual disputes, intellectual property disputes, negligence claims and other tortious claims generally (such as misfeasance in public office) as well as applications for merits-based review and judicial review. He regularly provides advice in relation to procurement and tendering issues, governance and probity issues generally as well as risk allocation and insurance. He also has earned a reputation as a "go to" person for royal commissions and inquiries as a result of his experience in acting for a range of individuals and organisations in Royal Commissions, Commissions of Inquiry, Judicial Inquiries and coronial inquiries. He is currently acting for the Low family in the Dreamworld Coronial Inquest. Also, in the last 3 years, he has acted for Aussie Home Loans in the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry; RSL LifeCare in the Inquiry under the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991 (NSW) being conducted by the Hon. P A Bergin SC; The Uniting Church in relation to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse investigating the Knox Grammar School; three officers of a corporation in relation to the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption as well as the former CEO of Greyhound Racing NSW in the Special Commission of Inquiry into Greyhound Racing in NSW. Ashley's expertise in administrative law and insurance law provides him with a unique perspective in terms of dispute resolution generally. He has acted for numerous Australian government and NSW government departments and agencies. He is regularly engaged to provide advice on administrative law and public law issues, including freedom of information, privacy and administrator decision making. Ashley established and continues to teach a government law course and an insurance law course at the University of Wollongong where he has also been appointed an Honorary Professorial Fellow. He has previously taught insurance law at the University of Sydney, the University of Adelaide and the Australian National University as well as dispute resolution and civil procedure as well as corporations law at the Western Sydney University. Ashley is a state editor of the LexisNexis publication: Privacy Law and a regular author of articles in this publication. He completed his Doctorate of Philosophy in Law at the University of Sydney in 2012 with a doctoral thesis on constitutional law and appellate advocacy.


Natalie Butler, Partner, Mills Oakley
Natalie has significant government sector experience. She’s advised government and quasi-government clients on a broad range of public law and regulatory matters. With nineteen years experience as a privacy practitioner, she’s particularly knowledgeable about data privacy compliance, privacy risk management and data governance. She’s most recently applied her information law expertise to digital transformation projects, helping clients to maximise the value of data assets in ways that are legally and ethically sound. Natalie champions a privacy-by-design ethos to policy design, customer experience, service strategies and technical solutions. She’s also an advocate for embracing a genuine multi-disciplinary approach to legal advising, risk management and compliance to enhance the longevity, and value, of legal risk strategies and solutions. Natalie has worked closely with a number of government clients, especially those from the social services and health portfolios.


Sonja Gasser, Principal Solicitor, ACT Government Solicitor
Sonja works for the ACT Government Solicitor acting as Practice Leader Regulation and Employment – which involves supervising advice and litigation in administrative law areas of planning, revenue, licencing, and environment – and previously led the Information Privacy and Access practice area. Sonja won the ACT Public Service Award for Excellence in the Leadership category. Sonja is committed to volunteering, having previously worked her way up into management in Community Legal Centres federally and in Victoria, and within the ACT State Emergency Service.


Brodie Buckland, Barrister, Blackburn Chambers


Vanessa Flowers, Principal, McInnes Wilson Lawyers
Vanessa is a Principal in the firm’s Commercial division, providing advice to Commonwealth Department’s and Agencies and private clients. She provides pragmatic advice to her clients and has been involved in negotiating significant and high-value contracts for utility providers, corporate entities and individuals. Vanessa has been part of a team providing probity advice on high-value and sensitive procurement processes for Commonwealth Agencies and Departments. She also advises on Commonwealth grant processes. Vanessa establishes strong relationships with her clients by being approachable and working closely with them to achieve the best outcome.


Katherine Armytage, Partner, Maddocks
Katherine Armytage is a partner in the Maddocks Canberra office, where she has a vibrant practice in information law, particularly in the areas of privacy and data protection. Katherine has provided detailed advice on the operation and application of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), and has undertaken numerous privacy impact assessments (PIAs) for Australian Government and other clients. Katherine is a self-confessed ‘privacy nerd’, and actually enjoys identifying and examining information flows associated with complex Australian Government projects, identifying privacy and other legal risks and existing mitigations, and developing creative and practical solutions to help her clients minimise those risks. Katherine has recently been involved in some very interesting privacy and data governance matters – from PIAs for complex new legislation (the Digital ID Bill 2023), to working through eligible data breaches involving loss of highly sensitive personal information, to helping with the establishment and operation of complex data sharing arrangements.


Philip Jones-Hope, Partner, Holding Redlich


John Harris, Founding Partner, O’Connor Harris & Co


Christopher Erskine SC, Blackburn Chambers
Chris Erskine SC was admitted in 1982 and went to the bar in 1993, becoming a Senior Counsel in 2008. He practices in Canberra in all civil litigation, but especially litigation involving the government. He was one of the counsel for NSW in the largest civil litigation in the history of the ACT, the case arising from the 2003 bushfires, which ran from 2003 to 2014.


Gavan Mackenzie, Partner, Maddocks