Around 80% of family law cases involve at least one significant risk factor. Violence in relationships tops the legal agenda. Ensure you correctly consider unacceptable risks and violence in parenting cases. Gain a psychologist’s insight on interpreting court reports on sexual abuse. Be guided by a Senior Court Child Expert & leading practitioners on the approach taken to evaluating family violence & ensuring children’s safety, plus gain a guide to IVO/DVO/AVO matters in the Magistrate’s Court.

Presenters

Ms. Beth Jarman, Special Counsel, Mills Oakley
Beth is a Special Counsel in the Sydney Family Law practice of Mills Oakley, having joined the firm in January 2014. Beth has practised exclusively in Family Law for approximately 29 years. Beth has been an Accredited Specialist in Family Law since 2001 and acted as Deputy Registrar of the Family and Federal Magistrates Court in 2004. Beth has extensive experience across the range of all Family Law matters. Prior to commencing work with Mills Oakley Beth worked for the Legal Aid Commission of NSW from 1994-2013. Beth has acted as an ICL from 1996 to approximately 2018. Beth is trained in Collaborative Practice.


Dr Stacey McGuiness, Senior Court Child Expert| FNQ & NT | Court Children’s Service (CCS), Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
Dr Stacey McGuiness has been practising as a psychologist since 1997. She previously worked at a Child and Youth Mental Health Service specialising in child therapy and conducting family assessments, psychometric assessments, risk assessments and running groups relating to parenting, children’s anxiety, anger management and social skills development. Stacey has also worked in paediatric hospital wards with children suffering chronic health conditions and their families (e.g. cystic fibrosis; cancer; burns; kidney disease; developmental disorders; Guillain-Barre syndrome). Stacey commenced working as a Family Consultant with the Family Court of Australia in 2004. This role entailed the production of numerous family reports, the provision of expert evidence to court, interviewing children, the explanation of orders to children, facilitating transitions of children between caregivers and joint mediation conferences with Registrars, parties and their legal representatives. Stacey was the National Professional Development Officer for the Court Children’s Service from 2018 to 2020 and was responsible for the production and facilitation of training for Court Child Experts (CCEs) including the development of a series of online family violence modules. Stacey is now a Senior Court Child Expert and she has managed teams of CCEs in North Queensland, the Northern Territory and Adelaide.


Ms. Alexandra Wearne, Special Counsel, Reid Family Lawyers
Alexandra (Alex) Wearne is a solicitor in private practice with Reid Family Lawyers. She has been practising as a solicitor since 1991, always in family law and has been an accredited specialist in family law since 1996. She is an experienced Solicitor Advocate, having appeared in numerous complex interim, interlocutory and final hearings in the Family Court of Australia, the Federal Circuit Court and in the NSW Supreme, District and Children’s Courts. Alex has also acted in all aspects of Full Court family law appeals, from their inception to final argument, for appellants, respondents and on behalf of children. Alex has practised as an Independent Children’s Lawyer since 1994. Since 2003, she has assisted with programme development and training for the national ICL training scheme. Alex is a member of the Family Law Courts’ Children’s Committee.


Dr Renata Alexander, Barrister, Holmes List
Dr Renata Alexander was admitted to practice in 1979. From 1980 to 1997 she worked as an in-house solicitor and accredited family law specialist at Victoria Legal Aid in Melbourne. From 1997 to 2002 she was a Deputy Registrar with the former Family Court of Australia in Melbourne. She was called to the Victorian Bar in November 2002. Renata has also pursued post-graduate studies and an academic career. She has a Master of Laws by thesis on domestic violence (Monash University) and a PhD in law from Monash University with her thesis ‘Reflections on gender in family law decision making in Australia’. She has written/cowritten books on family law as well as numerous book chapters and articles. She is the coauthor of three books on child abuse and family law, the latest being Family Law in Australia (10th ed, Lexis Nexis, 2021). She is also the sole author of two books on family violence, the latest being Family Violence in Australia: The Legal Response (Federation Press, 2018). She is currently working on a book based on her PhD thesis. Dr Alexander has also been with the Faculty of Law at Monash University for many years. She currently teaches family law in the JD/LLM program. As a barrister, Renata practises exclusively in family law, specialising in family violence, child abuse, parenting cases and the separate representation of children.


Ms. Kate Rafton, Principal Solicitor, Rafton Family Lawyers
Kate has focussed on the field of family law since her admission as a solicitor and has worked for law firms in both Penrith and Parramatta over her 20 year career. Before establishing her own practice in 2007, Kate was a Partner with a well-known family law firm in the region and gained significant experience dealing with the full range of family-law issues. In 2007 Kate became a NSW Law Society accredited specialist in family law. In 2009 she also became an accredited specialist in children’s law. Kate has extensive experience in complex family law matters both at first instance and appellate court hearings. She has completed AIFLAM training and is an accredited mediator and arbitrator. Kate was also a founding member of the Western Sydney Collaborative Lawyers group. Rafton Family Lawyers is now one of the largest specialised family law firms in Western Sydney with a reputation for the provision of expert legal services in family law. The firm has been named in Doyle’s guide for mediation services and under the rising star category for wills and estates in recent years. In addition to her legal qualifications, Kate also has a nursing degree, a Masters in Critical Care and Trauma and a background in health management. Throughout her legal career she has maintained a strong association with the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health Service and her experience dealing with patients in crisis gives her a deeper insight into dealing with the trauma and emotion of family breakdown.


Dr Simon Kennedy, Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, Psychology Camberwell
Dr. Simon Kennedy is a Clinical & Forensic Psychologist with a specialty in psycho-legal assessment, particularly in family and children’s courts. He is director of Psychology Camberwell, a practice specialising in psycho-legal assessment in family law. Dr. Kennedy has written over 2000 reports in family law matters, over 12,000 independent psycho-legal reports over 35 years in family, children’s, criminal, & civil matters, including single expert family reports, individual psychological and psychosexual evaluations and second opinions, and gives evidence to Australian family courts on a regular basis. He has particular expertise in family, psychosexual & mental health assessment. He trains widely in family & children’s psycho-legal matters.


Mr. Shannon Rogers, Partner, Barkus Doolan Winning Family Lawyers
Shannon has practiced in family law for more than 13 years with a focus on financial and parenting cases that involve complex facts and issues. Shannon is an Accredited Family Law Specialist and is an experienced litigation lawyer with exceptional skills – representing clients at both trial and Appellate level. Shannon developed a passion for this area of law because of his innate understanding of relationships and his ongoing awareness of the difficult emotions that often confront both sides of a dispute. Shannon helps our clients with a strategic and common sense approach that keeps clients at ease and resolves matters as efficiently as possible. Shannon is particularly skilled in dealing with matters that are high in conflict and involve allegations of Family Violence and complex parenting disputes. Shannon also has experience in matters involving Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders in the Local Court of NSW.