NDIS Law Conference 2023
With the NDIS legal space evolving, get up to speed with the latest Legislative changes, recent cases from the AAT, instruments for protecting participants legally, the Government Agencies involved when issues arise, and so much more! This intensive conference is not to be missed by everyone involved with participants, service provision and legal representation & advisory services. WEB232N09Z
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Session 1
Legal Issues for Lawyers
Chair: Kylie Hyde, Senior Solicitor, Disability Law, Mid North Coast Legal Centre
9.05am to 9.20am ‘The State of the NDIS Division: What we are doing and where we are going.’
Presented by Deputy President the Honourable Michael Mischin, Deputy President and Division Head of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Division, former Attorney General of Western Australia
9.20am to 10.05am Legislative Update: Amendments from the NDIS Amendment (Participant Service Guarantee and Other Measures) Act 2022 Explained
- Legislating the Participant Service Guarantee
- Increasing transparency: Requiring reasons to be provided for all ‘reviewable decisions’ by the NDIA
- New power to ‘vary’ participants’ plans
- Clarifying the ‘permanence’ criteria for certain impairments
- Expanding the Administrative Appeals Tribunal’s jurisdiction
Presented by Sheetal Balakrishnan, Senior Solicitor and Erin Turner Manners, Senior Solicitor, Public Interest Advocacy Centre
10.05am to 10.45am Protective Trusts and Special Disability Trusts
A practical look at instruments that can be used to protect or support a person with a disability when their supports or parents pass away.
- What are the benefits of a Protective Trust and Special Disability Trust and when should they be used in estate planning
- Case study of a Protective Trust
- How does it affect the protected person?
- Social security implications
- What does it mean for service providers?
- Case study of a Special Disability Trust
- How does it affect the protected person?
- Social security implications
- What does it mean for service providers?
- What are the risks if there is no trust established?
Presented by Tanya Chapman, Senior Associate Solicitor, Delaney Roberts
10.45am to 11.00am Morning Tea
11.00am to 11.40am Supported Decision Making: The Participant’s Will, Preferences and Rights to Inform Decision Making
Common challenges faced by participants:
- Service providers failing to identify who is their client: the participant or their substitute decision maker?
- All actors misconstruing what constitutes support? Limited understanding of:
- the substitute decision maker role, obligations, limits, e.g., when they need to be involved
- Capacity: When the substitute decision maker powers commence, cease, what are the matters that are relevant
- Informal decision-making support can be good enough
- Identifying who the supporters are
- What isn’t support, and when support is control?
- Supported decision maker’s steps for success: What, Prepare, Consider, Communicate, Facilitate and Uphold
- Key factors for inclusion of the participant
- Service Providers get caught when they don’t set good ground rules at the outset
- Information provision can be broader than the decision maker
- Substitute is not to be the norm (Australian Law Reform Commission, Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre)
Presented by Rebecca Anderson, Solicitor, ADA Law; Chair, Queensland Law Society Elder Law Committee
11.40am to 12.25pm NDIS Appeals
- What has changed in the NDIS appeals space
- Common applicant mistakes
- The role of support persons/service providers
- What happens when the funding is getting low/plan ending
- Model litigant obligations
- Notable AAT decisions
Presented by Naomi Anderson, Principal Solicitor and Elise Almond, Lawyer, Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service Inc
12.25pm to 1.05pm Checklist of Government Agencies to Contact for Specific Issues, and Outcomes Expected
- Roles of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
- Commonwealth Ombudsman
- NDIA CEO
Presented by Amee Grattan, Legal Practitioner Director, Wills & Estates Law Office; Member, Health & Disability Law Committee, Queensland Law Society
1.05pm to 1.15pm Final Q&A and Closing Comments by the Chair
Session 2
Legal Issues Impacting Disability Service Providers
Chair: Emma Turner, General Counsel and Company Secretary, Care Choice
2.00pm to 2.45pm Restrictive Practices: Understanding Your Obligations under the NDIS and How they Intersect with Other Legal Duties
- Meeting provider obligations in relation to regulated restrictive practices: guidance for registered and unregistered NDIS providers
- Intersection of NDIS legislation with other Australian laws, including aged care, consent and substitute decision making
- Hot topics: All your restrictive practices questions answered
Presented by Matthew Goessler, Lawyer, Russell Kennedy Lawyers
2.45pm to 3.30pm Lessons from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability Update
- Summary of what we have learned so far from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability
- Preparing for the future: what liability do NDIS providers have for abuse, and what changes to the law, regulation, and community expectations are we likely to see flowing from the Royal Commission?
- Conducting a governance health check: signs of healthy and unhealthy governance practices, and practical guidance on identifying, developing, and implementing policies and procedures to improve the health of your organisation
Presented by Luke Geary, Partner, Mills Oakley; Best Lawyers 2023, Non-Profit/Charities Law and Stephanie Armstrong, Lawyer, Mills Oakley
3.30pm to 3.45pm Afternoon Tea
3.45pm to 4.30pm Update on Workplace Relations Issues
- When is a worker an employee, casual or an independent contractor?
- Managing mental health risks of workers in the NDIS sector
- Discrimination risk in managing participants
Presented by Chris Molnar, Partner, Kennedys; Accredited Specialist in Workplace Relations, and Victoria Athanasiou, Associate, Kennedys
4.30pm to 5.15pm Disability Housing: Key Issues and Trends
- Specialist disability accommodation: AAT appeals update and changes in approach to NDIA decision making
- Can I provide both SIL and SDA in the future?
- Outlook for SDA projects and key methods to mitigate risk
Presented by Tony Rutherford, Partner, Holding Redlich
Presenters
Kylie Hyde
Kylie Hyde is the Senior Solicitor, Disability Law, with the Mid North Coast Legal Centre. Kylie’s position is funded through Disability Advocacy NSW (DANSW) and she provides advice, assistance and in some instances representation on a wide variety of matters to DANSW clients throughout NSW. Kylie also provides education sessions to medical and allied health professionals and members of the community, particularly in relation to the NDIS and DSP. 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 recently appeared as a witness before the Senate Inquiry into the Purpose, Intent and Adequacy of the DSP.
The Honourable Michael Mischin
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 also a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 2009 to 2021. Before entering the Parliament of Western Australia, Mr Mischin was a senior state prosecutor with the Director of Public Prosecutions of Western Australia
Sheetal Balakrishnan
Sheetal has practiced as a lawyer for over 9 years, specialising in social justice issues. She has practiced in NSW, the Northern Territory, the Netherlands and England across criminal law, public international law, administrative law and human rights law. Sheetal co-leads PIAC’s A Fairer NDIS project, using her experience of NDIA matters to represent clients in the AAT seeking review of NDIA decisions and advocate for systemic change to the NDIS through submissions and other law and policy reform.
Erin Turner Manners
Erin is an experienced public interest lawyer who has worked in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. She has worked on major test cases involving disability discrimination, police misconduct and negligence by government agencies. Erin co-leads PIAC’s A Fairer NDIS project and has built strong relationships with advocates and peak disability organisations to address systemic issues impeding the effectiveness of the NDIS and improve outcomes for people with disability.
Tanya Chapman
Tanya has worked exclusively in the area of estate planning, estate administration and estate litigation and elder law. She specialises in estate planning encompassing succession planning, wealth and asset protection, testamentary trusts, taxation planning and superannuation law.
Rebecca Anderson
Rebecca Anderson is a human rights advocate for Aged and Disability Advocacy (ADA) Australia. She completed her undergraduate degree in law at the Queensland University of Technology, and postgraduate degree in law at the Australian National University, Canberra. Her special interest is adults with questionable capacity, and the intersection of health and justice.
Amee Grattan
Amee is a solicitor with over a decade of experience working multiple roles in Wills and Estates, including running her own firm for several years. Earlier in her career, she worked at the Official Solicitor to the Public Trustee for Queensland and prides herself on her ties to the succession law community in Brisbane. Always improving her skills and accreditations, she recently completed a Masters in Applied Law. Amee is devoted to empowering marginalised and vulnerable people. She advocates for those with disabilities, their families within the community and their rights for justice. Working closely with her clients, Amee makes it her business to understand the unique challenges each person faces. This enables her to provide realistic, sensitive and best-practice advice to all problems. In 2020 Amee was the finalist and the winner of the Greater Brisbane Women In Business Awards for the 2020 Community Dedication and Social Justice Award for her commitment to assisting people with disabilities and the community with their legal matters and raising community awareness. Amee was also nominated in the Lawyers Weekly – Women in Law 2020 Awards recognising her outstanding contribution to influencing the Australian legal profession. Amee is a strong advocate for those with disabilities, their families within the community and their rights for justice.
Emma Turner
Emma has experience working in-house for government, statutory boards and health service providers. She advises clients on legal compliance, risk management, policy and procedure development to support good governance and operations, statutory interpretation, good decision-making and procedural fairness, privacy and confidentiality, records keeping and access to information. Emma is also available to undertake investigations of incidents and resolution of complaints.
Matthew Goessler
Matt practices in the areas of administrative law, litigation, regulatory compliance and risk management, with a focus on health, government and aged care. He assists aged care providers to comply with their responsibilities under the Aged Care Act 1997 and in responding to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Matt also represents clients in coronial inquests and Royal Commissions. Matt's expertise includes advising clients on legal compliance, risk management and policy and procedure development, drafting policies and procedures for providers and conducting policy reviews to ensure compliance with legislative frameworks, advising aged care providers of their obligations under the Aged Care Act 1997, assisting aged care providers in responding to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, advising and acting on behalf of government clients and statutory authorities, and representing clients in coronial inquests
Luke Geary
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.
Stephanie Armstrong
Stephanie has been working in our Not-for-profit team for two years. She approaches the commencement of her career as a young lawyer with over a decade of personal experience in community associations, Not-for-profits, legal services and advocacy. Stephanie is passionate about a healthy community sector in Victoria and believes in helping organisations to focus their vision and improve their service delivery. She designs organisational structures and policies that not only address legal and regulatory risks, but more importantly help organisations to prepare and support their staff and assist their beneficiaries. Her key areas of interest include Disability and Employment Law family violence in faith communities and schools, social enterprises and development agencies. She excelled in her studies, being awarded multiple Dean’s Letters of Commendation, most notably for her work on the NDIS Act in Administrative Law and was recognised for her research and work in family violence with the Robertson Hyett’s Award for Excellence in Rural and Regional Law and Legal Practice.
Chris Molnar
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.
Victoria Athanasiou
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.
Tony Rutherford
Tony has advised on large and complex infrastructure projects (including PPPs) in Australia, Asia, United States, Africa and the Middle East across a wide range of sectors including social and affordable housing (including specialist disability accommodation), health and hospitals, roads, rail, mining, oil & gas, water, wastewater, telecommunications and power. Tony has acted for governments, lenders, sponsors and contractors on a range of projects (including both economic and social infrastructure). This includes preparing and negotiating the full suite of project documentation including EPC, D&C, EPCM, operation and maintenance and joint venture agreements. Tony has also advised on projects and construction disputes and is well-versed in the full range of dispute resolution mechanisms. In addition to his projects and infrastructure expertise, Tony regularly advises disability organisations and technology start-ups in relation to legislative, policy and commercial issues arising under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.