Government Law Conference 2022
Tailored for government lawyers, this conference examines the most urgent and pressing issues of the day as government departments deal with extraordinary circumstances. Gain a crucial understanding of timely legal issues such as the latest workplace law developments, challenges of procurement and grants, claims against ministerial decisions, access to government information and the legal issues arising out of governing during COVID. Plus examine confidentiality, privilege and fraud in government. WEB223N16
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD units including:
4 units in Substantive Law
1 unit in Ethics & Professional Responsibility
1 unit in Practice Management & Business Skills
1 unit in Professional Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Session 1
Interdisciplinary Issues for Government Lawyers
Chair: Chris Erskine SC, Blackburn Chambers; Recommended Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution Barrister, Doyle’s Guide 2020
9.00am to 9.55am Facing Challenges to Government Procurement Contracts and Grants Programs
- Risk management for government procurement and grants decisions
- Identifying the risks: process contracts, GPJR Act, ADJR Act and other legal redress for tenderers and contractors
- Key issues for assessing and controlling the risks: the likelihood of the risk eventuating vs the consequences of the risk eventuating
- Parallels between procurement rules and grants programs
Presented by Dr Stephen Thompson, Special Counsel, Sparke Helmore; Accredited Specialist in Government and Administrative Law
9.55am to 10.50am Access to Government Information: GIPA, FOI and National Archives
- Access to Government Information: GIPA, FOI and National Archives
- A summary of the GIPA and FOI legislation: access, exceptions and use in court
- A summary of the National Archives Act and the National Security exemption
- Public interest immunity and Court process
Presented by Ian Latham, Barrister, Denman Chambers
10.55am to 11.05am Break
11.05am to 11.55am Duty of Care Arising from Ministerial Decisions: Sharma v Minister for the Environment
- Duty of care in the exercise of statutory powers: the 'multifactorial' approach
- Special considerations as to the existence and scope of duty in this context: control and vulnerability, coherence with public law principles, relevance of the statutory scheme, foreseeable risks of harm and indeterminacy
- Development of novel duties: Where to from here?
Presented by Guy Donnellan, Barrister, Level 22 Chambers
11.55am to 1.15pm PRACTICAL PANEL DISCUSSION: Legal Issues Arising for Government in a Post COVID-19 Environment
- Review of Australia’s Public Health Emergency Laws: What is needed for the future?
- Outsourcing: Has it been effective or ineffective? Example: Victorian Quarantine and the roll out of Aged Care vaccinations
- Intergovernmental relationships & the abolishment of COAG: FOI and transparency issues as COAG becomes the National Cabinet
- Cth/State Constitutional issues: quarantine powers, border closures and s 92
- Delegated legislation and accountability: in particular, powers vested in public health officers and expenditure of public money
- Applying the standard procurement guidelines during an Emergency and at what point can we be more flexible during a crisis: if so, how do you define them and how to apply them
Facilitator:
Chris Erskine SC, Blackburn Chambers
Panelists:
Simonetta Astolfi, Sector Leader – Commonwealth Government, Maddocks
Laureate Professor Emeritus Cheryl Saunders AO, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne
Dr Ashley Tsacalos, Partner, Clayton Utz
Session 2
CPD Compulsory Units for Government Lawyers
Chair: Dan Fuller, Barrister, 5 Wentworth Chambers
Practice Management & Business Skills
2.00pm to 3.00pm Workplace Law and Health & Safety Update in a Post Lockdown Environment: WFH, Vaccinations and Other Issues
- Learning from mandatory COVID-19 vaccine implementation
- What the courts have said
- Managing work from home environments from an employment law and WHS perspective
- Future insights and developments
Presented by Alice DeBoos, Managing Partner, Kingston Reid
Ethics & Professional Responsibility
3.00pm to 4.00pm The Duty of Confidentiality and Legal Professional Privilege: A Government Lawyer’s Guide
- When does legal professional privilege apply?
- Difference between the duty of confidentiality and legal professional privilege
- In-house government lawyers and privilege
- Communications between and within government departments and agencies
- Safeguarding privilege: recommended practices for government lawyers
- Other privileges to be aware of
Presented by Peter Bridgman, Barrister, Inns of Court; Co-Author, The Australian Policy Handbook (6th Edition), Routledge
4.00pm to 4.10pm Break
Professional Skills
4.10pm to 5.15pm Recognising Fraudulent Behaviours in Government Departments
- Corruption and public institutions
- The statutory framework and its application to corruption investigation and monitoring
- A public official’s duty to report corrupt conduct and the role of legal advisors in this process
- What can government solicitors do to keep themselves in check
Presented by David Caughlin, Acting Senior Executive Officer, Corruption, Crime and Corruption Commission
Presenters
Chris Erskine SC
Chris Erskine SC was admitted in 1982 and went to the bar in 1993, becoming a Senior Counsel in 2008. He practices in Canberra in all civil litigation, but especially litigation involving the government. He was one of the counsel for NSW in the largest civil litigation in the history of the ACT, the case arising from the 2003 bushfires, which ran from 2003 to 2014.
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.
Ian Latham
Ian Latham is a barrister at Denman Chambers specialising in employment and industrial law, particularly in the area of civil penalty. He has appeared in many civil penalty cases particularly ABCC v Parker (No 1) and (No 2), BKH Contractors Case (No 1) and (No 2) and FWO v ZNZ, FWO v A-Z and FWO v Robit Nominees. He writes for the Lexis Fair Work Act Service and the Lexis Industrial Relations Act (NSW) Service. He writes articles on workplace law including papers on civil penalties such as The Fair Work Ombudsman and workplace issues: the investigation process, 23(5) ELB and Practice and procedure in defending FWO prosecutions 23(4) ELB.
Simonetta Astolfi
Simonetta Astolfi is a senior partner of Maddocks Lawyers. She was the founding partner of the Maddocks Canberra office and is currently a Maddocks board member and the firm’s Commonwealth Government Sector Leader. Simonetta is the ‘go to’ probity and process adviser for large, complex, high profile and sensitive Commonwealth projects, grants and procurements; and also advises private sector clients in this area. Simonetta's practice includes probity and other investigations, probity audits, government commercial law and governance, and public law. Most recently, Simonetta was listed in Doyle’s Guide as one of Australia’s Leading Public Lawyers in 2021; voted as Best Lawyers’ 2022 Lawyer of the Year for Government in the ACT; and won Government Partner of the Year at the 2019 Australian Law Awards.
Laureate Professor Emeritus Cheryl Saunders AO
Cheryl Saunders is a Laureate Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne and the founding director of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies. She has Cheryl Saunders is a Laureate Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne and the founding director of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies. She has specialist research interests in Australian and comparative public law, including comparative constitutional law, theory and method, comparative federalism and intergovernmental relations. She is a President Emeritus of the International Association of Constitutional Law and of the International Association of Centres for Federal Studies, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, a corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and a foundation fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. She is a former board member of International IDEA, a senior technical advisor to its constitution building program and a convenor of the Constitution Transformation Network.
Dr Ashley Tsacalos
Dr Ashley Tsacalos is a dispute resolution lawyer based in Sydney and a leading adviser to government. He is also a leading authority on the government's "model litigant obligations". He was ranked in a recent Chambers & Partners Asia-Pacific Guide in the Government Category and was described in a recent APL 500 as "brilliant" in the area of dispute resolution. Ashley has experience in all forms of dispute resolution, including litigation in various courts and tribunals, as well as mediation and conciliation. He is engaged by both the public and private sector due to his extensive experience in managing complex and often sensitive disputes.
Dan Fuller
Dan Fuller has a general practice focused on public law, commercial law and employment and industrial law. He also has experience in criminal matters. Dan has been instructed on behalf of a wide range of clients including Commonwealth, State and local governments and government agencies, universities and private education providers, regulatory authorities including the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the Medical Board of Australia, and large energy and resources and construction companies in high-profile commercial and building and construction disputes. He has experience in courts and tribunals at all levels. Before coming to the Bar, Dan worked at MinterEllison in commercial litigation, regulatory and tax groups. Dan previously practised at the Brisbane Bar.
Alice DeBoos
Alice DeBoos is the Managing Partner of Kingston Reid, the largest national employment, IR and safety specialist law firm. She is an experienced employment and industrial relations specialist, whose expertise includes advice and litigation in employment law, industrial relations, and equal opportunity law. She is experienced in dealing with all manner of employment issues including remuneration, performance management, restraints, restructuring and termination. Alice is involved in the design and delivery of training programs and sessions for clients including managing the legal aspects of employment and people management as well as industrial skills and compliance programs. Alice is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars in workplace relations and human resources and works across both the private and public sectors.
Peter Bridgman
Peter Bridgman is a Brisbane based barrister, first called to the bar in 1990. Peter has degrees in Psychology (University of Queensland - first class honours) and Law (QUT - first class honours). He is a Member of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Mental Health Review Tribunal. In addition to the law, Peter advises government and the private sector on public policy, regulatory reform and ethics and integrity. Peter's extensive career in public service, included appointments as Cabinet Secretary; Deputy Director-General Premier's Department; Deputy Director-General Education Department; Head of Arts Queensland; and corporate counsel for a large Department. He is author of the leading textbook on public policy in Australia, The Australian Policy Handbook (7th edition in preparation), as well as numerous journal articles, conference papers etc in both law and public policy. Peter wrote the landmark review of public employment (Queensland), A Fair and Responsive Public Service for All.
Guy Donnellan
With over 15 years at the bar, Guy Donnellan has practiced predominantly in commercial litigation with a focus on representative proceedings (class actions), claims under consumer and investor protection legislation and insurance litigation. He has appeared as Junior Counsel in numerous class action proceedings, conducted in New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria. Prior to coming to the bar, Guy was a solicitor at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Freehills (now Herbert, Smith Freehills), and the Legal Aid Commission of New South Wales. Guy holds a Bachelor of Arts/Law at the University of Technology, Sydney with first class Honours (Law).