Presenters

Claire O’Connor SC, Barrister, Villeneuve Smith Chambers
Claire O'Connor SC is a barrister practising in criminal, family and civil work, (predominantly personal injuries, inquiries and inquests). Aside from the usual practice of car accidents, murders, rapes and family disputes over children, assets and pets, and all conflicts those areas of law entail, she is also well known for her refugee and detention centre work. In particular Claire acted for the plaintiff in Al Kateb v Secretary dept. of Immigration in the High Court, for Cornelia Rau in relation to the Palmer Inquiry into her unlawful detention (and her subsequent rescue from Jordan where Ms Rau was detained under their mental health provisions), in the personal injuries case against the Cwth regarding conditions in the Baxter Detention Centre, S v Secretary, and in the inquest into the sinking of the SIEV 221 off the coast of Christmas Island in 2010. She has acted in Aboriginal justice cases including the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission, at Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement as an in-house counsel, and juniored Julian Burnside AO QC into the first, and so far only, successful stolen generation case of Trevorrow v The State of South Australia. Claire has also acted for many asbestos victims in litigation against employers and suppliers of asbestos, in particular in the successful test case in SA: Parker v BHP. She has developed a keen interest in gender equity issues in the profession the last few years in particular and is the Law Society of SA representative on the Law Council gender committee, a member of the SA Bar Women at the Bar committee and a member of the SA Law Society's own gender equity working group. She was on the establishment committee some 20 years ago for the SA women's legal service and served for many years on its management committee. Her legal employment experience has been in private practice, the community sector and in the government sector in SA and the UK. In 2005, she went to the independent bar. She was appointed a senior counsel in 2014.156S02, Claire O'Connor SC is a barrister practising in criminal, family and civil work, (predominantly personal injuries, inquiries and inquests) Aside from the usual practice of car accidents, murders, rapes and family disputes over children, assets and pets, those areas entail she is also well known for her refugee and detention centre work acting for the plaintiff in Al Kateb v Secretary dept. of Immigration in the High Court, for Cornelia Rau in relation to the Palmer Inquiry into her unlawful detention (and her subsequent rescue from Jordan where Ms Rau was detained under their mental health provisions), and in the inquest into the sinking of the SIEV 221 off the coast of Christmas Island in 2010 where she appeared for the survivors and families of the deceased. She worked on many Aboriginal justice issues including the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission, at Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement as an in-house counsel, and juniored Julian Burnside AO QC into first and so far only successful stolen generation case of Trevorrow v The State of South Australia. Claire has also acted for many asbestos victims in litigation against employers and suppliers of asbestos in particular in the successful test case in this State of Parker v BHP. She has developed a keen interest in gender equity issues in the last few years in particular and is the Law Society of SA representative on the Law Council gender committee, a member of the SA Bar Women at the Bar committee and a member of the Law Society's own gender equity working group. She was on the establishment committee some 20 years ago for the women's legal service and served for many years on its management committee. Her legal employment experience has been in private practice, the community sector and in the government sector in SA and the UK before, in 2005, she went to the bar. She was appointed a senior counsel in 2014.


Mark MacDiarmid, Principal, Mark MacDiarmid Family Law Specialists & Mediator
Mark MacDiarmid has been a lawyer for over 30 years. He is an Accredited Family Law Specialist, a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner and a registered Family Law Arbitrator. Mark is a former Director of national law firm Gadens Lawyers (where he worked in the commercial law and banking & finance sections), a former specialist family law consultant for Coleman & Greig Lawyers, and for many years was the Principal Solicitor of the Elizabeth Evatt Community Legal Centre. As a lawyer Mark's practice is currently focused on Independent Children's Lawyer appointments, and as a mediator he focuses on legally assisted property mediations. He holds degrees in Arts & Law from the University of Sydney, as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Psychology.