This is it. Your comprehensive guide to staying up-to-date with NDIS Law in 2024 and beyond. You'll explore both the current and future landscape of NDIS law, covering legal issues & latest updates for lawyers & providers. Stay informed about disability law and services, including Royal Commission outcomes, NDIS change, and leadership in decision-making. Learn about privacy compliance, workplace updates, and governance. 

Presenters

Mr. Clifford Hughes CTA, Principal, Clifford Hughes & Associates
Regular Bio Clifford Hughes practices as an independent consultant to numerous legal and accounting firms in respect of tax, super, business structuring and succession issues for their own practice structures and also for their clients. He is a Chartered Tax Advisor and a triple Accredited Specialist with the Queensland Law Society & the Law Institute of Victoria. BIO for NDIS WEB236N12Z Clifford Hughes practices as an independent consultant to numerous legal and accounting firms in respect of tax, super, business structuring and succession issues for their own practice structures, and also for their clients. Clifford advises various NDIA providers and participant families around Australia on NDIS issues utilising the personal experience he has as the sole carer for his sister who has been an NDIS participant since inception of the scheme. He is a Chartered Tax Advisor, an SMSF Specialist Advisor™ and a triple Accredited Specialist with the Queensland Law Society & the Law Institute of Victoria.


Alison Choy Flannigan, Partner, Hall & Wilcox
With over 25 years of corporate, commercial and regulatory experience, Alison has specialised in advising clients in the health, aged care, retirement living, disability, life sciences and community sectors. Alison co-leads the Health & Community Practice at National Law firm, Hall & Wilcox. Alison has been listed in The Best Lawyers in Australia (and the Australian Financial Review) since 2008 for Health & Aged Care and also Retirement Living and Biotechnology. She has been recognised in the Doyle's Guide to the Australian Legal Profession as a Leading Health and Aged Care Lawyer each and every year since 2017. Alison has been a finalist for the Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year in Health every year since 2016 and won this prestigious award in 2019, 2020 and 2021. She was a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly, Women in Law Awards, Partner of the Year - Big Law, 2019 and 2021.


Kylie Hyde, Solicitor, Legal Aid NSW Coffs Harbour
Kylie Hyde is currently a Solicitor with the Civil Law team at Legal Aid Coffs Harbour. Kylie currently provides general civil law advice across a range of issues, including issues relating to the NDIS. Kylie as part of this team provides education sessions to medical and allied health professionals and members of the community, particularly in relation to the NDIS and DSP. Kylie was previously the Senior Solicitor, Disability Law with the Mid North Coast Legal Centre and Disability Advocacy NSW. Prior to joining the Mid North Coast Legal Centre Kylie was with Legal Aid in the Government Law NDIS team. Kylie has an extensive background in litigation, starting in private practice in a regional firm, and then working overseas as a Legal Officer for two London Boroughs, before returning to work in Sydney and then back to Coffs Harbour. Kylie has a particular interest in systemic issues impacting on individuals living with a disability. Kylie has previously appeared as a witness before the Senate Inquiry into the Purpose, Intent and Adequacy of the DSP.


Ms. Victoria Athanasiou, Associate, Kennedys
Victoria is an Associate at Kennedys in the Employment team, with a focus on workplace relations, health and safety. Victoria assists in a range of employment law matters including, workplace disputes, workplace investigations, unfair dismissals, general protections claims, and discrimination and sexual harassment. She also assists corporations and individuals in Worksafe prosecutions, providing advice on employer or occupier duties and incident management. She has experience in various jurisdictions including, Fair Work, the Federal Court of Australia, the County Court of Victoria and the Supreme Court of Victoria. Victoria obtained her Bachelor of Laws from La Trobe University, and also holds a Bachelor of Journalism from La Trobe University.


Ms. Vanessa Baic, Special Counsel, K&L Gates
Vanessa Baic is a corporate and commercial lawyer whose practice focuses on the health, aged care/retirement living and therapeutic goods sectors. Ms. Baic advises clients on a range of issues affecting the above industries including compliance with regulatory requirements, contracting, risk management, privacy, structuring and mergers and acquisitions. Her clients include some of Australia's most well known companies in the health, aged care/retirement living and therapeutic goods sectors and comprise for-profit and not-for profit entities as well as government.


Rebecca Haynes, Senior Lawyer and Casual Legal Academic, Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability
Rebecca Haynes is a Senior Lawyer and Casual Legal Academic practicing in the areas of Education Law, Human Rights, Disability, Administrative Law and Child Protection.


Ms. Riley Huntley, Lawyer, Mills Oakley
Riley is a Lawyer in the NFPs, Human Rights & Social Impact team in Brisbane. Riley regularly acts for individuals in matters of public interest and cases involving human rights issues. Riley also has experience in assisting institutional clients, including large not-for-profits, charities, representative bodies and service providers, responding to claims for damages involving historical child abuse, Royal Commissions, corporate governance failures and membership disputes. Riley has experience acting for institutions and individuals across a range of areas including: Acting on behalf of survivors of child abuse in civil claims against government and other institutions as well as perpetrators directly; Assisting institutions with Counsel in litigated civil claims for damages for historical child abuse in Supreme and District Courts across Australia; Assisting not-for-profits and charities with Counsel in matters involving corporate governance failures, membership disputes and successor institutions before the Supreme Courts across Australia; Advising on regulatory compliance, including on child abuse reporting and working with children’s check obligations under various state-based legislation; Acting on behalf of Charities in debt recovery actions; Assisting individuals who are the victims of defamation in obtaining urgent injunctive relief and; Acting on behalf of individuals in Child Protection proceedings. Riley is a winner of the LawyersWeekly Australian Law Awards Legal Support Professional of the Year 2022. She has a graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (College of Law) and is a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) / Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Human Physiology) (Queensland University of Technology).


Ms. Andrea de Smidt, Senior Solicitor, NDIS Appeals at Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion
Andrea de Smidt has worked for fifteen years as a lawyer supporting disadvantaged members of our community. Andrea’s experience includes coordinating the Homeless Persons Legal Clinic and Self Representation Service, both initiatives of LawRight, and working as a Senior Lawyer for Legal Aid Queensland representing clients in anti-discrimination complaints and National Disability Insurance Scheme appeals. Andrea now works within a team of advocates working for QAI’s NDIS Advocacy Practice.


Mr. Chris Molnar, Partner, Kennedys
Chris Molnar is a workplace relations partner at Kennedys. He has practised in the area of workplace relations for over 25 years. He has extensive experience and knowledge in industrial relations, employment law, occupational health and safety, and discrimination. Chris is accredited as a specialist in Workplace Relations by the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV). He was the recipient of the prestigious President’s Award in 2009 from the Law Institute of Victoria for his contribution to the specialisation scheme. In 2016 he was awarded the LIV Rogers Legal Writing Award for the best contribution in 2015 to the Law Institute Journal. Chris has acted for individuals, corporations and public sector agencies in a wide range of areas including: enterprise bargaining including strategy, communications with employees and negotiations with unions; drafting individual and collective industrial agreements; employment contracts, restraint clauses, protection of intellectual property, performance management and remuneration systems; termination of employment including unfair and wrongful dismissals; industrial disputes including proceedings in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, Fair Work Australia, Fair Work Commission and the Federal Court; award variations; the industrial relations and employment law implications of business restructuring, mergers and acquisitions; discrimination and sexual harassment; and occupational health and safety including advice on employer or occupier duties, corporate and managerial responsibility, incident management and prosecutions. Chris is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is a former Chairman of the Workplace Relations Specialisation Committee and Past Chairman of the Workplace Relations Section of the Law Institute of Victoria, which is responsible for co-ordinating activities of workplace relations lawyers in Victoria such as educational programs, research and recommendations for law reform. He is a member of the Specialisation Board of the Law institute of Victoria. Chris obtained his Bachelor of Laws from Monash University. He also holds a Master of Laws degree from Monash University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Melbourne. He is listed in Doyle's Guide for 2016 and 2017 as one of Melbourne's leading Employment and Industrial Relations lawyers. He is a Recommended Lawyer for 'Dispute Resolution: Litigation (Australia)' in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2021.


The Honourable Michael Mischin MLC, Deputy President and Division Head of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Division
Deputy President the Hon Michael Mischin is Division Head of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Division. Mr Mischin was appointed as a Deputy President of the Tribunal and as Division Head from 9 May 2022. Prior to his appointment to the Tribunal, Mr Mischin served as the Attorney-General from 2012 to 2017 and as the Minister for Commerce from 2013 to 2017 for the Government of Western Australia. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 2009 to 2021, and chaired or was member of numerous parliamentary standing and select committees. Before entering the Parliament of Western Australia, Mr Mischin was a senior state prosecutor with the Director of Public Prosecutions of Western Australia, as a barrister and solicitor prosecuting and managing a wide variety of cases across the State in all its jurisdictions.


Mr. Michael Perkins, Principal Lawyer, Autonomy First Lawyers
Michael is a lawyer, author and educator with over 30 years experience in trusts, estates and private client practice. He is a strong supporter of Supported Decision Making as a method of client care in professional practice and dealing with the orderly management of a person’s interest as they age. As complexities increase for clients managing their families and business interests, Michael is shaking up the status quo. Most professionals manage and deliver transactions for clients. In addition Michael helps resolve broader complexity and conflict in the lives of his clients, where possible without resort to litigation or other dispute resolution processes. This capability is born from Michael’s decades of knowledge of the law and deep understanding of how families need to operate to sustain themselves across generation. He helps clients deal with the practical, strategic and operational needs of their businesses, conservation of their assets, activating community and philanthropic interests and planning for succession to their estate over time. Where business, investment or commercial interests are also involved Michael applies a multidisciplinary approach in dealing with the challenges of achieving growth, asset protection, estate governance and succession. Methodologies finessed with experience are applied suiting globalising businesses as well as families making plans to manage their wealth for the benefit of subsequent generations and their valued broader communities and connections. In conjunction with consultant clinical neuropsychologist Dr Jane Lonie of the Autonomy First group, Michael provides consultation about a person’s Decision Making Ability and and helps them and their families respond constructively to that person being cognitively challenged. The Capacity & Capability Clinic has substantial experience across a broad range of medico legal, legal and commercial issues. Michael’s experience includes expertise in business structuring and reorganisation, construction, family disputes, building services, agribusiness, hospitality, professional services, film and media production, and digital media production, publishing, distribution and marketing.


Mr. Luke Geary, Partner, Mills Oakley
Luke is a Partner in the Mills Oakley Not-For-Profit & Social Enterprise team in Brisbane and has extensive experience in the Not-For-Profit sector. Luke has a particular expertise assisting institutions in responding to claims of child sexual abuse under a restorative justice framework and in accordance with best practice principles identified by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. In this regard, Luke appeared as a legal advisor in a number of public hearings before the Royal Commission, he participated in many of the Royal Commission’s roundtables (both public and private) for the development of policy positions and has appeared before the Australian Senate Committee and worked with the Commonwealth Redress Taskforce in its design of the National Redress Bill (which is anticipated to provide assistance in justice outcomes for approximately 60,000 Australians). Luke is regularly briefed by major institutions in the most sensitive and significant common law abuse claims and assists in their delicate resolution in a trauma-informed way. Additionally, Luke acts for survivors of abuse in claims against State government institutions, assisting them to obtain either common law or redress justice outcomes compassionately and giving them assistance in finding healing in their lives.