Public Sector Governance in 2021
This is your opportunity to engage in important current issues in public sector governance with experts and your peers. Join a Judicial Registrar from the Federal Court of Australia, the CEO of the Law Council of Australia, and leading practitioners working at the coalface of the critical issues impacting the public sector in 2021. Examine the Law Council’s advisory role in the public sector, procurement & commercial contracting, decision making, and how to survive Royal Commissions.
Description
Attend and earn 3.5 CPD units in Substantive Law and Procedural Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Chair: Kim Lackenby, Judicial Registrar, Federal Court of Australia and Conference Registrar, Administrative Appeals Tribunal
9.00am to 9.05am Opening Comments by the Chair
9.05am to 9.30am KEYNOTE ADDRESS FROM THE LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA: The Law Council of Australia in its Advisory Role to Governments, Courts and Federal Agencies
Presented by Michael Tidball, Chief Executive Officer, Law Council of Australia
9.30am to 10.30am Procurement and Commercial Contracting for Australian Government Agencies
- Getting your approach to market correct
- Evaluation criteria and methodology
- Challenging risks
Presented by Alexandra Wedutenko, Consultant, Clayton Utz
10.30am to 10.50am Morning Tea
10.50am to 11.50am Three Major High Court and Federal Court Cases Relating to Executive Government Decision Making
- Staying focused: Recent High Court and Federal Court decisions show how important it is for decision makers to stay focused on the core issue they need to address when making decisions that affect the rights of others
- The legal consequences of not staying focused
- Should administrative decision makers be worried about misfeasance claims following the decision in the Brett Cattle case?
Presented by James Suter, Senior Adviser, Proximity
11.50am to 12.50pm Surviving Royal Commissions and Beyond
- How does an agency prepare for an inquiry of the breadth, scale and powers of a Royal Commission?
- Understanding how Royal Commissions operate & how they interact with government agencies
- The significance in allowing agencies to respond effectively to an imminent inquiry and equally to prepare for the impact of subsequent findings and recommendations
- Since 2012 there have been numerous Commonwealth Royal Commissions and each has had an impact on many Commonwealth and States and Territory government agencies
- What have been the lessons of those agencies?
- How can your agency or client anticipate the impact such an inquiry will have?
- How can you best advise them to prepare and respond?
- Examine the experiences of Commonwealth agencies before some of the most recent Royal Commissions and gain practical tips for agencies to respond to and cooperate with Royal Commissions
- Examples of how some agencies have turned their experience into opportunities for positive change and improvement
Presented by Paula Gonzalez, Group Manager, Client Engagement, Proximity
12.50pm to 1.00pm Final Q&A and Closing Comments
Presenters
Kim Lackenby
Kim Lackenby is a Registrar of the Federal Court and a Conference Registrar at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. A Nationally Accredited Mediator, Kim has conducted hundreds of mediations since 1994 for the Industrial Relations Court of Australia, the Federal Court, the Federal Magistrates Court, the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. She also practices other forms of ADR, including conciliations, case management conferences, preliminary conferences and expert conferences.
Michael Tidball
Michael Tidball commenced his position as Chief Executive Officer of The Law Council of Australia on 1 August 2020. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of the Law Society of New South Wales, which, under his leadership, became one of the largest, resilient, and successful voluntary direct membership regulating Law Societies internationally. He served concurrently as Secretary General of LAWASIA. Mr Tidball has worked in both the government and business sectors in Australia, foremostly in strategic management and senior policy advisory roles. He has worked as a Senior Ministerial Advisor, served as Special Advisor to the Public Accounts Committee of the New South Wales Parliament and held the position of General Manager within the ACT Chief Minister’s Department. Previously serving as a Director of LawCover Insurance Pty Ltd and LawCover Pty Ltd as well as of LAWASIA Holdings, he was also on the Board of Management of Quality in the Law and is a member of the Council of the Francis Forbes Society for Australian Legal History.
Mr Tidball has recently completed post graduate studies at the Saïd Business School at The University of Oxford and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Alexandra Wedutenko
A leading Government and ICT lawyer as voted by Best Lawyers Australia and Chambers Asia-Pacific, Alexandra Wedutenko has an enviable reputation for her success in strategic procurement and governance. Specialising in complex services agreements in a regulated environment, ICT, select sourcing and business process sourcing, Alexandra has acted for a range of private sector and government clients. She acts for and understands the requirements of clients in industries where security and availability of supply are critical.
In this regard Alexandra regularly advises on risk identification and management, data protection and cyber security issues.
James Suter
James is a senior advisor with Proximity. He has over 25 years’ experience as a government lawyer of which 14 was in senior management roles. James has extensive experience in the provision of high level legal and strategic advice. James was General Counsel to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority from September 1998 to June 2013 and was a member of the Executive Management Team. Prior to joining APVMA James was with the Australian Government Solicitor for 9 years. [Commencing 2017 James was on secondment from Proximity to TGA for 15 months during which time he devised and implemented the regulatory strategy for stopping the use of transvaginal mesh in women].
Paula Gonzalez
Paula Gonzalez is an experienced government lawyer and consultant. Paula has significant practical experience leading and advising teams within government, on what to expect and how to prepare for a royal commission. Her insights for agencies are drawn from her involvement in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program and the current Royal Commissions into People with Disabilities and Aged Care Quality and Safety. Her experience also extends to the establishment of royal commissions and the associated legal, policy and logistical challenges for Commonwealth and State and Territory governments.
The breadth of her experience in government ranges from leading legal and non-legal teams to provide high quality services to internal clients to managing some of the most significant Commonwealth legal matters through effective collaboration with other General-Counsels and their teams. Paula’s diverse capabilities include delivery of significant government reform projects. Her outcome-focussed and collaborative approach is sought after by clients wishing to implement priority policy and legal reforms, turn around organisational performance and service delivery outcomes and improve decision-making capability.
Paula leads the Proximity Client Engagement team which provides clients with the best approach to engaging quality and specialist advisors. Paula is a trusted advisor and her deep understanding of the government sector means she is highly regarded for her ability to understand their needs and develop solutions that are tailored and fit for their budgets and operating context.