Government Law Conference
Get the answers to some of the most pressing issues for public sector advisers. Hear from the Regulators on the Gender Equity Act, integrity examinations and managing government information. Explore employment law concerns and the duty of care doctrine. Gain a barrister’s advice on delegated legislation and ethical quandaries. Excel by ensuring you have the latest information & gain your CPD compulsory units from special sessions that address skills that you require as a modern government lawyer. WEB223V01
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 based on VIC legislation
Session 1
What are the Key Issues for Government Lawyers?
Chair: James Smart, Partner, Maddocks
9.00am to 10.00am Gender Equality Act: What does it mean for Government Lawyers and Your Department?
- What are the requirements for the organisation?
- The benefits of Gender Impact Assessments
- Collection of information of staff
- What is your duty to promote gender equality?
Presented by Dr Niki Vincent, Commissioner, Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector
10.00am to 11.00am The Role of Lawyers at Integrity Examinations
- The nature of an examination
- Who can represent a witness at an examination?
- The role of a lawyer before, during and after an examination
- Circumstances in which a lawyer is bound by a confidentiality notice issued to a witness
Presented by Eamonn Moran PSM KC, The Inspector, Victorian Inspectorate
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea Break
11.15am to 12.15pm Managing Employment Law Issues for Government Lawyers in a COVID-19 Era
- COVID and OH&S: What do OH&S responsibilities require the employer to do with the ‘Karens’ (refusals to abide by safety practices) and conscientious objectors (virus deniers and anti-vaxxers)?
- Return to office and dealing with vulnerable workers
- How to manage work from home requests and returning employees to the workplace
- Vaccinations
- Recent employment law cases
Presented by Sarah Ralph, Employment Law Partner, Board Member, EY
12.15pm to 1.15pm A Decomposing Snail, a Bottle of Ginger Beer, a Nun, Children and Climate Change: Sharma v Minister for the Environment
- Imposition of a novel duty of care in the exercise of a Ministerial statutory power: private law and public law collide
- The evolution of the duty of care doctrine
- Causation and indeterminacy
- Legal coherence
Presented by Claire Harris KC, List A Barristers; Leading Administrative & Public Law Senior Counsel, Doyle’s Guide 2021 and Veronica Holt, Barrister, Svenson Barristers
Session 2
CPD Compulsory Units for Government Lawyers
Chair: Andrea Mapp, Managing Principal Solicitor Victorian Government Solicitor Office, Inquiries, Prosecutions and Administrative Law
Practice Management
2.00pm to 3.00pm Managing Government Information Post Pandemic
The pandemic has changed how government employees and contractors work, particularly working from home or other locations. These workers still need access to government databases that includes personal information, confidential information, health information and secret information.
- Consider information security controls including IT controls, contractual controls and personnel security based on issues that OVIC has encountered
Presented by Anthony Corso, Assistant Commissioner, Information Security and Bryan Wee, General Counsel, Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner; Accredited Specialist in Administrative Law
Ethics & Professional Responsibility
3.00pm to 4.00pm Ethical Issues for Government Lawyers in Practice
- What your duties as lawyers and public servants mean in practice
- Pressure-points: client, confidentiality, consistency, culture and correction
- Tips for managing internal expectations of in-house lawyers
- What to do when your position is inconsistent with what the minister is wanting you to do?
- How to protect yourself from being part of an anti-corruption investigation?
Presented by Steven Brnovic, Barrister, Foley’s List; Leading Administrative & Public Law Junior Counsel, Doyle’s Guide 2021
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
Professional Skills
4.15pm to 5.15pm Interpretation and Invalidity of Delegated Legislation
- How are the canons of construction and standard interpretation principles applied to delegated or subordinate legislation that is not drafted by lawyers, and that often contains technical concepts
- Dealing with uncertainty and inconsistency
- Construing technical terms
- The unusual role of expert evidence on the meaning of subordinate legislation
- The principle of legality and requirements of reasonableness and proportionality
- Consequences of invalidity
Presented by Jim Hartley, Barrister, Young’s List
Presenters
James Smart
James heads up the Victorian State Government sector at Maddocks. He has over 25 years experience providing a broad range of contract, commercial and administrative law advice to government departments and statutory authorities. James has drafted a large number of significant government contracts including IT contracts. He understands the key contractual levers his government clients need to make projects a success and regularly provides strategic advice about managing contractual performance. James has a specific expertise in the issues associated with the establishment of new government entities and has advised the Victorian State Government on legal and governance models in many projects.
Eamonn Moran PSM KC
Mr Eamonn Moran PSM KC is the Inspector constituting the Victorian Inspectorate, the key oversight body in Victoria’s integrity system. In this role he is an independent officer of the Parliament. Before his appointment as Inspector, Mr Moran was practising as a barrister in general administrative and constitutional law areas and providing services to various governments as a consultant legislative counsel. He has previous experience as a law reform commissioner, parliamentary counsel, academic and solicitor at various points in his career, both in Australia and overseas. He is a former President of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel and also a former President of Clarity International, an international association promoting plain legal language.
Sarah Ralph
Sarah Ralph is an employment and IR partner based in Melbourne. Sarah practises across all areas of employment law: from HR advice; workplace investigations and disciplinary action; workplace bullying: managing ill and injured workers; industrial relations; discrimination and adverse action; to executive employment issues and employment litigation. Sarah works with her clients to develop and implement strategies to deal with difficult workplace issues, from the management of conduct and performance issues to agreement making and industrial disputes. Sarah is focussed on developing solutions that meet her clients' business objectives. Sarah's clients include private and public sector employers.
Claire Harris KC
Claire Harris practices broadly in general commercial law and in public law matters at the trial and appellate levels. Her commercial experience has a strong focus on insurance and professional negligence and encompasses class actions and major contract disputes. Claire's broad public law practice is primarily in judicial review and includes discrimination and human rights matters. She has also represented government and institutional clients in Royal Commissions and coronial inquests. Claire appears in first instance and appellate matters in the High Court, Federal Court and Supreme Court. Claire is a sessional chair of the Adult Parole Board, and from 2019-2021 was President of the Commercial Bar Association of Victoria.
Veronica Holt
Veronica accepts briefs to appear and advise in commercial, public law and common law matters. Before coming to the Bar, Veronica practised as a solicitor in the commercial disputes and workplace relations teams at Gadens. Immediately before joining the Bar, Veronica was Senior Associate to the Honourable Justice Almond of the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Andrea Mapp
Andrea Mapp is Managing Principal Solicitor at the Victorian Government Solicitor Office. At the VGSO, Andrea's practice encompasses advocacy, litigation and dispute resolution, regulatory prosecutions and statutory interpretation across a diverse range of legislation. Andrea advises on departmental and regulator responses to, and governance of, emerging or existing industry practices. Her experience ranges from providing specialised advocacy, drafting regulatory frameworks, procedure manuals, precedent documents for internal use by agencies, through to advice on the rules of evidence and prospects of success in inquiries, disciplinary proceedings, prosecutions and appeals. Prior to joining the VGSO, Andrea was a Senior Advocate at Consumer Affairs Victoria, where she advocated on behalf of the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria in complex and serious matters. Andrea was also formerly barrister at the Victorian Bar with over 20 years' legal experience. Prior to joining the bar Andrea worked both in private practice and as in house counsel. Andrea is a qualified mediator with extensive experience in a varied range of commercial areas, with a particular focus on prosecutions, administrative law, building and construction, property and the Australian Consumer Law.
Anthony Corso
Anthony has worked with OVIC and the former offices of the Commissioner for Privacy and Data Protection and the Commissioner for Law Enforcement Data Security (CLEDS) for the past 7 years, leading the delivery of the first information security regime for Victorian Government. This regime is more commonly referred to as the Victorian Protective Data Security Framework (VPDSF), which sets out the Victorian Protective Data Security Standards, and supplementary security guidance material>
Bryan Wee
Bryan Wee is General Counsel at the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC). OVIC is the primary regulator and source of independent advice about how the Victorian Government collects, uses and shares information. Before joining OVIC, Bryan previously led a legal and procurement team at the Department of Justice and Community Safety, was in private practice at DLA Piper, the Australian Government Solicitor and Russell Kennedy. Bryan has extensive experience, and is a Law Institute Accredited Specialist, in Administrative Law. He has practiced in most areas of State and Federal administrative law from legislative change, to merits and judicial review litigation and administrative inquiries. Bryan has assisted a range of Royal Commissions and government inquiries and advised Commonwealth and State government agencies about information management and decision making; ranging from drafting information sharing legislation, responding to subpoenas, AI decision-making, FOI, and privacy through contracted service providers.
Steven Brnovic
Steven is one of Doyle’s Guide’s 2021 leading public and administrative law junior counsel in Australia. His practise is mainly in administrative decision-making, merits reviews, occupational regulation and planning matters. In 2020, Steven was appointed to the Counsel Assisting team for the Victorian COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry. Outside of the Bar, Steven had a 12-year career as a government lawyer, for the Victorian and Commonwealth governments. Prior to his call to the Bar, he was General Counsel to Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria and its Director of the Legal and Regulatory Services Division.
Jim Hartley
Jim Hartley is at the Victorian Bar, practising predominantly in public, industrial, and commercial law. Before coming to the Bar, he was associate to the Hon. Justice R.R.S Tracey AM RFD, and earlier to the Hon. Justice Mordy Bromberg, at the Federal Court of Australia. Jim presents, and is published, on statutory construction, corporate insolvency, personal property securities, commercial leasing, and civil procedure. He is a member of the Melbourne subcommittee of the Insolvency and Reconstruction Law Committee of the Law Council of Australia, and tutors in property law at Monash University.