Step into the fast-paced world of Victoria's ever-evolving property sector! With 8 crucial sessions to turbocharge your property law practice, you’ll explore the latest in owner’s corporation updates, unravel the latest in leasing, navigate the maze of planning law with recent changes to policy, conquer the art of co-ownership, sharpen your property valuation skills & more. Square away your core CPD units as you lead the charge in the world of property law. 

Presenters

Ms. Amanda Johns, Director – Legal, Planning & Property Partners
Amanda is an Accredited Specialist in environmental, planning, and local government law. Her areas of expertise include planning law, environmental law, heritage law, local government law, administrative law and property development and project delivery approvals pathways (including the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic), Environmental Effects Act 1978 (Vic), EPBC Act 1999 (Cth), Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (Vic), Heritage Act 2017 (Vic) and the Environment Protection Act 1970 (Vic). She has extensive experience in town planning issues including due diligence advice, negotiations with stakeholders, applications for planning permits, re-zonings, hearings, section 173 agreements, Supreme Court appeals, coordination of expert consultants, and enforcement issues. She advises on development contributions and public open space contributions, including development contribution overlays and infrastructure plans and overlays in planning schemes. She also advises with respect to contaminated land and clean-up issues in the context of environmental approvals for developments. Her practice includes EPA issues, Environment Effects Statements (EES) and inquiries and EPBC Act referrals. She is a member of the Property Council of Australia’s Planning and Infill Committee. Amanda was a member of the Heritage Council (9 years) and has worked as in-house counsel for a property development company and in private legal practice.


Ms. Romana Duthie, Partner, Gadens
Romana Duthie is a Partner in the Private Client team at Gadens in Melbourne, where she focuses on the legal requirements of client's property needs and interests. Romana's main areas of expertise include retail leasing, commercial leasing, telecommunications leasing, franchise-, related property transactions, property sales and acquisitions and property development. Romana has acted for shopping centre owners, mobile telecommunications carriers, franchisors and numerous property developers.


Mr. Tim Graham, Partner, Bugden Allen Graham Lawyers
Tim joined the partnership of Bugden Allen Graham Lawyers in June 2021, his name being added to the firm’s brand. Tim is one of Australia’s pre-eminent strata lawyers and is internationally renowned. He is President of the Australian College of Strata Lawyers (ACSL) and a Fellow of the College. Tim is also a Council Member of Strata Community Australia (National) and Strata Community Australia (Victoria) and a Fellow of the Associations. He sits on the Property Law Committee of the Law Institute of Victoria. Tim has been recognised by his peers and numerous local and international awards including Best Lawyers® in Australia seven (7) times, and in the Doyle’s Guide as a Leading Property and Real Estate Lawyer and Leading Litigation & Dispute Resolution Lawyer.


Mr. Robert Hinton, Partner, Gadens
Rob specialises in litigation, restructuring and insolvency. He has been involved in all aspects of commercial litigation for over 25 years. Rob’s specific expertise lies in acting for administrators, deed administrators, liquidators, receivers, creditors and company directors, and various banking clients. His work takes him to all jurisdictions, from the Magistrates’ Court to the High Court, as well as VCAT. His litigation experience includes applications to the Court for directions on various insolvency administrations, preference actions, proof of debt adjudications and more generally, large commercial contractual disputes and Corporations Law proceedings. Rob has been involved in various committees of the Law Institute of Victoria in the insolvency and reconstruction area for many years. He also lectures the Advanced Insolvency course run by the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Australia and is often asked to lecture at industry functions and seminars. Robert has been listed as a “Best Lawyer” since 2011 in the fields of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Insolvency and Reorganisations


Christian Juebner KC, Barrister, Queen Street Chambers
Christian is an experienced barrister and a former partner of one of Australia's pre-eminent commercial law firms (now Norton Rose Fulbright). Christian was recognised in 2020, 2021 and 2022 by Doyles in Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution. Christian has over 25 years' experience representing clients involved in a variety of disputes. Christian is also a nationally accredited mediator and is regularly briefed to mediate commercial disputes. In addition to his commercial practice, Christian is recognised as an expert in proceeds of crime litigation. He regularly appears in proceeds of crime proceedings in various courts throughout Australia, publishes newsletters to practitioners with an interest in proceeds of crime litigation and is a member of the Confiscation and Proceeds of Crime List Users' Group of the Supreme Court of Victoria.


Michelle Bennett, Partner, BDO
A Melbourne-based Tax Partner with a focus on indirect taxes, Michelle has extensive expertise in the application of GST, Stamp Duty and Land Tax. Michelle’s goal is to ensure that indirect taxes are managed smoothly and efficiently, freeing her clients to focus on their business. With twenty-five years’ experience in legal and accounting firms, Michelle works across a broad range of commercial and property transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructures and inbound investments. Michelle has a focus on property and infrastructure investments, mining, manufacturing, private equity acquisitions and integrations, and effectively managing interactions with the revenue authorities across the business lifecycle. Prior to BDO, Michelle was a Partner at a global accounting firm, providing solutions and managing GST and state tax risks. Long-term secondments to two of Australia’s largest banks has provided Michelle with a genuine understanding of the practical issues of tax compliance in a complex commercial environment.


Richard Brooks, Consultant, Ashurst
Richard Brooks is a consultant in Ashurst's real estate practice. Richard has a broad real estate practice, including acting for REITs and other institutional property owners, developers and corporate and government real estate occupiers, and acting on real estate aspects of M&A, infrastructure and energy and resources projects. Richard is experienced in acting on commercial property leasing (for landlords and tenants), sale and lease backs, real estate investment and real estate development. Richard is listed in Best Lawyers Australia 2024 in Real Property Law, Leasing Law and Government Practice.


Bradley James Willmott, Managing Director, Pursuit Property Advisory
Bradley is a Buyer's Advocate, Associate member of the Australian Property Institute and a Certified Practicing Valuer. With over 20 years' industry experience spanning across residential, commercial and statutory property valuations, sales, leasing and buyer's advocacy, he has a family background in real estate, being born into a "property" family of builders, real estate agents, property developers and auctioneers. Completing his Bachelor of Business (Property/Valuations) at RMIT University, Bradley has undertaken property advisory and valuation work for municipal rating authorities, Australian and multinational valuation firms and as Valuation Manager at the National Australia Bank. He has also completed the Agent's Representative Course at the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. Outside of real estate, Bradley is an active motorsport competitor having raced at some of Victoria's most challenging road and hillclimb courses.


Ms. Zoe Christodoulou, Associate, Gadens
Zoe Christodoulou specialises in property development and distressed property sales, and has experience acting on a number of significant property acquisitions and disposals. Zoe has experience providing advice to a range of institutional and private property developers for numerous greenfield development projects across Victoria. Zoe has experience in mixed use developments (including large scale residential apartments) and industrial developments. She is a member of the Urban Development Institute of Australia Committee (Outlook Young Professionals Committee) and has been recognised as a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards 2020, in the ‘Rising Star of the Year’ category and as a finalist in the 2024 Lawyers Weekly 30 under 30 Awards in the ‘Real Estate’ category.


Mr. Paul Duggan, Barrister, Svenson Barristers
Paul Duggan appears mainly in the Supreme Court, the County Court and VCAT (particularly its Building & Property List and Civil Claims List) but is also available for work in the federal and interstate jurisdictions. He has a wide commercial practice and particular experience in disputes involving: retail leases; commercial leases; partnerships; franchises (acting both for franchisors and franchisees); farming enterprises (such as supply and share farming disputes); building - including commercial, domestic and Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act issues; insurance; corporate and personal insolvency; management and agency agreements; partition and sale of land; undue influence; legal costs disputes; and wills, estates and testator family maintenance claims. Paul's blog can be found at http://pauldugganbarrister.com/ Paul has broad experience as a nationally accredited mediator. On several occasions between 2012 and 2016 Paul acted as an independent assessor in the Horsham and Coleraine bushfire class actions. This meant that he was jointly appointed by opposing parties to adjudicate and deliver written decisions on the application of class-wide settlement agreements to individual claims.


Mr. Sam Hopper, Barrister, Greens List Barristers
Sam Hopper is one of the Victorian Bar's leading property and insolvency barristers. He acts for investors in relation to various collapsed managed investment schemes, regularly advises and appears for the Small Business Commissioner and regularly appears in the retail tenancies list at VCAT. Sam also maintains an active blog discussing various issues relating to property and insolvency at http://samhopperbarrister.wordpress.com/