Wednesday, 4 June 2025
Chair
Mick Batskos, Executive Director, FOI Solutions; Leading Administrative & Public Lawyer, Victoria, Doyles Guide 2025
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD unit in Substantive Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Practical Legal Issues in Implementing and Fixing the Errors from Abolishing, Amalgamating and Absorbing Government Entities
Explore the challenges of implementing machinery of government changes and practical solutions to address the errors that inevitably occur.
- The challenges of abolishing, amalgamating and absorbing departments and other public entities
- Identifying how the entity was established and who has the power to make the change
- Identifying the consequences of the change, such as employee status, the transfer of functions, and delegations
- What happens when things go wrong?
- Is it possible to amend with retrospective effect?
- What happens if someone was improperly appointed or employed, and are their decisions still valid?
- What happens if legislative functions are improperly assigned or not assigned at all?
Presented by James Cameron, Barrister, Castan Chambers
Presenters
Mick Batskos, Executive Director, FOI SolutionsMick has over 37 years experience acting for government departments and agencies at all levels. That includes Commonwealth agencies, State government departments, statutory authorities and local councils. Mick has appeared or instructed in hundreds of proceedings in areas including freedom of information, privacy, appeals, and judicial review. Mick is the Executive Director of FOI Solutions, an accredited specialist firm in administrative law. He received a Law Institute of Victoria Certificate of Service in 2005 for demonstrated professional excellence and making a special contribution to the legal profession in the area of administrative law. He was named in the Doyles guide as a leading administrative lawyer in Victoria or Australia in 2021,2023 and 2024.
James Cameron, Barrister, Castan Chambers
James is a Barrister at the Victorian Bar practicing in public law, including administrative law, regulatory and disciplinary matters, and health law. Before coming to the Bar, James held a number of roles in the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Health. James was also an Associate to His Honour Judge Taft in the County Court. James is an Honorary Fellow at the Melbourne Law School, having earlier completed a PhD there.
