Government Law Conference 2021
213N17: Tailored specifically for government lawyers, this year’s seminar brings together an impressive line-up to discuss the most urgent and pressing issues of the day as governments deal with extraordinary circumstances of governing in emergencies, including privacy and data protection, Public Inquiries and Royal Commissions and workforce claims. On top, gain a clear understanding of procurement and probity in the aftermath of COVID-19, fraud issues, grant funding andante-slavery and procurement.
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Session 1
Legal Issues in Governing in Emergencies
Chair: Pamela Soon, Executive Director, Regulation and Compliance, Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal
9.00am to 10.00am INSIGHTS FROM THE INFORMATION AND PRIVACY COMMISSION NSW: Privacy and Data Protection
The Commissioner will examine the current challenges and issues, including a discussion of issues relating to digital technology and cyber security.
Presented by Commissioner Samantha Gavel, NSW Privacy Commissioner, Information and Privacy Commission NSW
10.00am to 11.00am Government Public Inquiries and Royal Commissions: Preparing and Dealing with the Increased Scrutiny
- The nature of standing and ad hoc public administrative inquiries: the essential differences to a court hearing
- Drafting (or challenging) the terms of reference for an ad hoc public administrative inquiry
- The inquiry’s powers of compulsion with respect to documents and witnesses
- Legal professional privilege and other privileges, especially the right to object on the ground of self-incrimination
- The standard of proof and the burden of proof
- The principles of procedural fairness in a public administrative inquiry
- Application of the rules of evidence
Presented by Dr Stephen Thompson, Special Counsel, Sparke Helmore; Accredited Specialist in Government and Administrative Law
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea
11.15am to 12.15pm Managing your Contingent Workforce During Emergencies
- What legal flexibility do you have and what actions can you take?
- Dealing with contractors, casuals and contingent workers
- Avoiding and dealing with legal claims
Presented by Elizabeth Ticehurst, Principal, Activate Workplace Law; Accredited Specialist in Employment & Industrial Law
12.15pm to 1.15pm PANEL DISCUSSION: Practical Solutions for Governments When Dealing with Emergencies
Analyse and examine how local or state governments can juggle law, probity, policy, and practicality when dealing with emergencies.
- Did COVID-19 and the summer bushfire emergency teach us anything?
- Dealing with various aspects of an emergency, especially ADF members working side-by-side with civilian police
- Do departmental rules need to allow for emergency decisions
- Relying on existing powers and seeking assistance from other agencies and their powers to resolving problems
Moderator: Gregory Ross, Partner, Eakin McCaffery Cox; Accredited Specialist in Government and Administrative Law
Panellists:
Kate Boyd, General Counsel, Department Premier and Cabinet
Gregory Ross, Partner, Eakin McCaffery Cox; Accredited Specialist in Government and Administrative Law
Dr Stephen Thompson, Special Counsel, Sparke Helmore; Accredited Specialist in Government and Administrative Law; Colonel, Australian Active Army Reserve
Session 2
Government Procurement and Probity and COVID-19
Chair: Phill Scott, Head of Tendering and Contracts, Local Government Procurement
2.00pm to 2.45pm Opening Address: Corruption Risk in Procurement
This presentation will discuss the nature of corruption risk in procurement, including:
- What makes a procurement high risk
- Systemic factors that increase the risk of corruption in procurement
- Recent ICAC case studies
Presented by Dr Benjamin Marx, Principal Officer, Corruption Prevention, NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption
2.45pm to 3.30pm Procurement Contracts and Key Contractual Issues in the Aftermath COVID-19
- Force majeure clauses
- Frustration
- Variations to contract and deeds of variation
- Time and extensions of time
- Termination for cause and convenience
- Procurement Issues post COVID
Presented by Scott Alden, Partner, HWL Ebsworth
3.30pm to 3.45pm Afternoon Tea
3.45pm to 4.30pm Grant Funding vs Procurement Agreements: Where is the Line?
- Impact of the Procurement Direction NSW
- Is it a bi-pass?
- Possibilities for corruption?
Presented by Gregory Ross, Partner, Eakin McCaffery Cox; Accredited Specialist in Government and Administrative Law
4.30pm to 5.15pm Anti-Slavery Issues in Government Contracts and Tendering
- Update on NSW legislation and Government’s response
- NSW and Local Government obligations under the NSW Act
- Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act and obligations on the Commonwealth and corporate Commonwealth entities
- What to include in Government contracts and tender documents
- How statements should address the impacts of COVID-19
Presented by Victoria Gordon, Senior Associate, HWL Ebsworth
Presenters
Pamela Soon
Pamela Soon have over 14 years' experience in public administration, currently holds the position of Executive Director, Regulation and Compliance at IPART. This role is responsible for: leading IPART's regulation and compliance work stream in water and energy, and; managing complex regulatory issues across the water and energy portfolios to ensure that IPART remains a best-practice regulator. Previously Pamela was the General Counsel at IPART for 11 years. She was appointed a member of the Energy Savings Scheme Committee since 2018 and a member of the Rose Bay Reserve Trust since 2014. Prior to IPART, Pamela worked at a number a top tier law firms in banking and finance.
Commissioner Samantha Gavel
Samantha Gavel was appointed as NSW Privacy Commissioner on 4 September 2017. Her role is to promote public awareness and understanding of privacy rights in NSW, as well as providing information, support, advice and assistance to agencies and the general public. Her responsibilities include the preparation of reports recommending legislative, administrative or other action in the interests of privacy as well as conducting inquiries and investigations into privacy related matters. Ms Gavel has the power to deal with complaints about privacy matters, monitor agency functions while reporting to the Attorney General about proposals for legislative or administrative change.
Dr Stephen Thompson
Dr Stephen Thompson is a special counsel with Sparke Helmore, solicitors. He is an accredited specialist in public and administrative law in NSW and practices exclusively in that area. He is a legal officer in the Army Reserve practising in military administrative law.
Elizabeth Ticehurst
Elizabeth Ticehurst is an accredited specialist in Employment and Industrial Law and is an expert in the emerging area of whistleblowing. With two decades of experience working in the legal industry in the Asia Pacific Region, Elizabeth has first-hand knowledge of the complexities of managing a diverse workforce across several jurisdictions. Elizabeth is a sought-after speaker and trainer, and regularly presents at external conferences and seminars. In 2019 she was a “Special Counsel of the Year” finalist in the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards.
Gregory Ross
Gregory in Eakin McCaffery Cox's Commercial Government team. He has many years legal services experience spanning litigious and non-litigious, civil and criminal contexts He is an accredited specialist in Government and Administrative Law and was the NSW Law Society's Head Assessor for that field in 2015-19 and is a Councillor for NSW on the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply. Since 1988 he has practised in the areas of Administrative Law, Government Contracting, Industry Facilitation and Probity matters, including legislative reform and procurement projects to achieve the best value for money for clients.
Kate Boyd
Kate Boyd has over ten years’ experience as a NSW Government lawyer. She is currently the General Counsel at the Department of Premier and Cabinet and advises across a range of areas relevant to the Premier’s portfolio including constitutional and electoral law, parliamentary matters, integrity and accountability, privacy and access to government information. Kate leads the Legal, Cabinet, and Governance functions within DPC and is the Department’s Chief Risk Officer. In 2020, Kate was named as a finalist in the category of Public Servant of the Year in the NSW Premier’s Awards in recognition of her work on the legal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before joining the NSW Government, Kate specialised in competition and consumer law at Allens.
Phill Scott
Phill has a background in Tendering and Contracting in both the private and Local Government sectors. He is currently Head of Tendering & Contracts for Local Government Procurement in New South Wales and has lectured part-time at TAFE in the areas of Purchasing, Warehousing and Logistics. He has been involved in drafting, evaluation and governance of an estimated 200 tenders and contracts for goods, services, consultancies and constructions over nearly 20 years. Phill was awarded lifetime Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) accreditation from Victoria University in association with the Institute for Supply Management (U.S.A.). He was recognised as a ‘Fellow’ of the Australian Association of Procurement and Contract Management Pty Ltd in 2010.
Dr Benjamin Marx
Benjamin Marx commenced in ICAC’s Corruption Prevention division in 2006. He has managed or led many ICAC corruption prevention projects, including those on employment screening, invoice payment controls, IT contractors and NGO-delivered human services. Dr Marx has also performed or managed corruption prevention analysis on over a dozen ICAC investigations and has led many internal analyses of ICAC complaint data. He recently returned to ICAC from an 18-month secondment to Transport for NSW where he was responsible for TfNSW’s corruption prevention program. Prior to working at ICAC, he completed a PhD in Psychology at the University of Sydney that explored some of the cognitive and attitudinal elements of moral reasoning, having previously conducted research on relative risk judgements.
Scott Alden
Scott is a partner at HWL Ebsworth in Sydney. Scott has been working in the areas of major projects and infrastructure for over 20 years and is a recognised specialist in these areas as well as the sectors of Government, Water, Defence, Ports, and Housing. Scott is known for providing legal advice with pragmatism and commerciality to ensure that the advice is relevant to the project and parties to the transaction. Scott has been at the forefront of advising on the recent legislation regarding small business and modern slavery advising both government and private sector on the implications and compliance issues arising out of these new legislative regimes. Scott is an accredited expert in the areas of Government and Administrative Law as well as the author and lecturer of two Masters of Laws programs at the College of Law and University of Melbourne respectively.
Victoria Gordon
Victoria is a Senior Associate at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers working across the government and construction sectors with a primary focus in procurement. In 2020, Victoria was awarded the Lawyers Weekly 30 under 30 award for Government and was a finalist in the Construction & Infrastructure category. She was also a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards for "Rising Star Big Law". Victoria is also a Delegate at the ASEAN-Australia Strategic Youth Partnership, where she collaborates with other delegates on regional issues, trends and solutions regarding modern slavery and human trafficking.
Micaela Bernfield
Micaela Bernfield is a lawyer at Arnold Bloch Leibler. Micaela advises across a wide range of taxation matters with a particular focus on tax residency, corporate and international tax, taxation of trusts, GST and tax controversy matters. Micaela has managed all stages of the ATO tax dispute lifecycle, from audits and reviews to objections and appeals.
Benjamin Marx
Benjamin Marx commenced in ICAC’s Corruption Prevention division in 2006. He has managed or led many ICAC corruption prevention projects, including those on employment screening, invoice payment controls, IT contractors and NGO-delivered human services. Dr Marx has also performed or managed corruption prevention analysis on over a dozen ICAC investigations and has led many internal analyses of ICAC complaint data. He recently returned to ICAC from an 18-month secondment to Transport for NSW where he was responsible for TfNSW’s corruption prevention program. Prior to working at ICAC, he completed a PhD in Psychology at the University of Sydney that explored some of the cognitive and attitudinal elements of moral reasoning, having previously conducted research on relative risk judgements.
Venue
The Grace Hotel
77 York St
Sydney 2000
NSW
Australia