No time to read the latest civil & criminal enforcement judgements from the land & environment court? Uncertain of pathways for getting state significant developments? Join NSW’s leading experts to breakdown processes for initiating & managing enforcement proceedings & assess guidelines for high density developments & consent authorities in state significant developments. Investigate legislative reform for climate protections & analyse the Independent Review of Australian Carbon Credit Units. 2310N12

Presenters

Ms Alice Spizzo, Director,
Alice Spizzo of Alice Spizzo Advisory, specialises in Planning & Environmental Law. Alice has extensive experience in government and the development industry as a lawyer, executive and senior ministerial advisor including Chief-of-Staff and Executive Director at the then NSW Department of Planning responsible for policy and legislative reform. Alice provides advice to a variety of business and government clients on planning and environmental approvals and licences, planning proposals and agreements, issues management, dispute resolution, governance and risk. Alice is the Chair of the NSW Women’s Housing Company, a Community Housing Provider of housing and homelessness services for women in NSW. Alice also sits on the Homes Tasmania Board, established by the Tasmanian Government to provide and manage housing in Tasmania and is a member of the Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel.


Ms Breellen Warry, Partner,
With over 18 years’ experience, Breellen specialises in all areas of planning and environmental law. Breellen advises local and State Government clients, in addition to a range of private sector clients, including within the development industry, waste and education sectors. As well as working in private practice in Sydney and London, she has worked as an inhouse counsel for a number of government agencies in NSW and in the UK, as well as being seconded to NSW Government agencies. Breellen also has a particular interest in waste regulation, contamination, biodiversity conservation, climate change, environmental markets, pollution and heritage matters. Breellen has been recognised in the Doyle's Guide as a Leading Planning & Development Lawyer – New South Wales since 2020 and in the 2021 and 2022 Editions of Best Lawyers for Planning and Environmental Law. She is recommended by the Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2023) Guide for her work in Native Title.


Madeleine Thomas, Deputy General Counsel,
Madeleine has 20 years experience as a government lawyer, working predominantly in the field of planning, environment and natural resource management. She specialises in administrative law and statutory interpretation. Madeleine leads a large team of lawyers providing legal advice and support for the Department and Ministers in the portfolio areas of Local Government, Planning, Environment, Heritage, Energy and Water. She is responsible for supporting the Attorney-General in his role as the lead Minister for Native Title in NSW and managing the legislative priorities for the Department of Planning and Environment, working closely with the Department’s policy teams and the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office to deliver statutory reform including Bills, regulations and planning instruments. This has, most recently included, the passage and implementation of the NSW Reconstruction Authority Act 2022 in response to the NSW Independent Flood Inquiry recommendations, and the Widjabul Wia-bal native title consent determination by the Federal Court.


Mark Seymour, Barrister,
Mark Seymour is a barrister admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of NSW and High Court of Australia in 2004. Since 2005 Mark has been a member of Martin Place Chambers. Mark holds a Master of Laws (Government and Commercial Law) from the Australian National University and a Graduate Certificate in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Sydney. He has lectured in administrative law, real property and equity and trusts at the University of NSW and the University of Technology, Sydney. In 2008 he was awarded the Young Australian Environmental Lawyer of the Year by the Planning Law Group of the Law Council of Australia. Mark is a co-author, with Peter Kelso, of the annotations to the Local Government Act 1993.


Ms Teresa Hislop, Senior Associate,
Teresa Hislop is a Senior Associate within the Public Law team at Maddocks, who is a planning, environment, and natural resource law specialist. Prior to joining Maddocks Teresa worked in-house for the NSW Government (in both the Department of Planning and Environment and the Department of Industry) where she delivered advisory and legislative services to all levels of Government. In her time with the NSW Government, Teresa was involved in the delivery of a number of significant legislative reforms in the areas of marine parks, biodiversity, and more recently the introduction of the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020, which underpins the Government’s investment in renewable energy zones as part of its response to the energy crisis and climate change. Teresa has built on her NSW Government experience at Maddocks to expand her practice to now provide regular advice on complex procurement, probity, due-diligence, contracts, contaminated land, and waste issues. Teresa has a keen interest in the climate change crisis and the role that law can play in helping to respond to this issue. As part of this, Teresa is also a member of the Law Society’s Climate Change Working Group.


Alistair Knox, Partner,
Alistair is part of the local government and planning law team at Pikes and Verekers, acting for both private and public clients. Alistair worked at the Land and Environment Court during his legal studies. During this time, Alistair worked in various roles through the registry as well as doing work for various Judges and Commissioners of the Court. This role required Alistair to be familiar with all classes of the Court’s jurisdiction. Through his studies, Alistair also gained valuable experience working in other areas of the law including regional practice (family, conveyancing, personal injury), legal aid (criminal) and work as a tipstaff at the Industrial Relations Commission.