Workplace Law Summit
Explore the most significant issues, reforms and legislative developments in employment law for 2024. Hear from a leading panel of employment law specialists, as they scrutinise proposed future reforms and impacts of recent legislative changes. Get your annual update on general protections cases and a practical guide to general protections proceedings. Plus, gain insights and valuable tips on how best to run a workplace investigation. 243V21
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Session 1
Workplace Law Developments, Reforms, and General Protections
Chair: Lauren Townsend, Partner, Thomson Geer
9.00am to 9.05am Opening Comments by the Chair
9.05am to 9.50am Overview of Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 (Cth)
Presented by Steven Amendola, Partner, Kingston Reid; Preeminent Employment lawyer (Employer Representation) Doyle’s Guide 2023
9.50am to 10.35am Update on 2022 - 2023 Legislative Changes: A Review
- Discussion of the impacts of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 on the Australian employment law landscape, including in the areas of enterprise bargaining, flexible work and fixed-term contract employment.
- Update on implementation of the positive duty arising from Respect@Work legislative amendments.
Presented by Claire Brown, Principal Solicitor, KHQ
10.35am to 11.20am Update on General Protections Case Law and Trends
Discuss the HC Qantas Airways High Court Decision and other significant cases: Are they expanding the boundaries of general protections and how to strike a balance in employers meeting their obligations?
Presented by Brendan Avallone, Barrister, List G Barristers; Preeminent Employment Law JuniorCounsel, Doyle’s Guide 2023
11.20am to 11.35am Morning Tea
11.35am to 12.20pm A Practical Guide to “General Protections” Proceedings in the Federal Court and Federal Circuit and Family Court
A practical guide on how to commence or defend a general protections proceeding and the main steps along the way, including:
- Discovery
- Affidavits: Practice of ‘Conversation Evidence’: Kanes Hire Pty Ltd v Anderson Aviation Australia Pty Ltd
- The hearing
- Damages
Presented by Christopher McDermott, Barrister, Young’s List
Session 2
Managing Risks in the Workforce
Chair: Amanda Junkeer, Partner, Gadens
2.00pm to 3.00pm Update on Laws Relating to Psychosocial Risks
- The duty of care under occupational health and safety law in relation to psychosocial health
- Limitations on workers compensation benefits for persons affected by psychological injuries
- Claims for compensation under discrimination law and the Fair Work Act with respect to psychosocial injuries
Presented by Paul Ronfeldt, Partner, Thomson Geer
3.00pm to 4.00pm Restraint of Trade and Breach of Confidential Information
- Best practice drafting and enforceability of restraint of trade clauses
- Protecting confidential information
- What to do if you suspect there has been a breach
Presented by William Marshall, Partner, Gadens
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
4.15pm to 5.15pm How Not to Conduct Workplace Investigations
- There is a myriad of guidance circulating about what to do when conducting a workplace investigation, but just as important is what NOT to do
- In this session we discuss some of the pitfalls that may arise when investigations are handled badly, and the ramifications they may have for employers and employees alike.
Presented by Michaela Moloney, Partner, K&L Gates; named as a Leading Female Lawyer in Australia by Australasian Lawyer's Elite Woman 2023, Recommended Employment Lawyer in Doyle’s Guide 2023.
Presenters
Lauren Townsend
With over 15 years' experience advising and acting for Australian and international employers in relation to the full range of Australian employment law issues across the employee lifecycle, Lauren is well regarded by her clients for being able to explain complex legal issues in a digestible manner and for her pragmatic and timely advice. Lauren's practise encompasses all aspects of employment law, industrial relations, work health and safety, discrimination law and workplace investigations. This includes employment/executive contracts, enterprise bargaining, industrial action and other industrial disputes, enterprise agreement and modern award compliance, management of ill and injured workers, management of employee misconduct and underperformance (including termination of employment), transfer of business, employee/contractor distinction, workplace bullying and employment related litigation. Lauren's legal expertise is complemented by her experience as an independent workplace investigator, having conducted external misconduct investigations for a range of private and public sector clients. For example, Lauren has conducted workplace investigations for a major public hospital in Melbourne, Universities, Victorian Government Departments, Victorian Government emergency services (police and ambulance), and the APS. Lauren regularly provides presentations and training to in house counsel and HR professionals.
Steven Amendola
Steven Amendola is widely recognised as one of Australia's leading practitioners in industrial relations and litigation, and is renowned for his strategic dispute resolution work. Steven's experience in all aspects of employment law and ability to think outside the square enables clients to avoid costly and lengthy disputes whilst effectively managing workplace incidents and investigations. Steven acts for both Commonwealth Government and private sector clients in a range of industry sectors and has been involved in a number of high profile issues such as the national waterfront dispute and test cases relating to issues such as right of entry, bargaining fees, and industrial action. His vast experience offers a particular focus on assisting clients with the enforcement provisions of the Workplace Relations Act, key provisions dealing with collective agreement making, the freedom of association provisions in the Workplace Relations Act and various discrimination issues. Steven is the firm's Melbourne team leader and he is described as having "an impressive approach to industrial relations issues." His peers comment that he "attracts a lot of high-quality work" (Chambers Global, 2009). He is recognised as a leading individual by Chambers Global, 2009, Asia Pacific Legal 500, 2008/2009, Best Lawyers Australia, 2009, PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook, 2008, PLC Cross-border Handbooks, 2008/09 and Euromoney's Guide to the World's Leading Labour and Employment Lawyers, 2008. He is one of the original authors of the Trade Practices section of the Butterworth's Laws of Australia publication, and has contributed articles to the Australian Mining and Petroleum Law Journal and other legal publications.
Claire Brown
Claire is a Principal Solicitor in our Workplace Relations & Safety team. Claire joined KHQ in 2014 with over fourteen years’ experience in operational workplace relations and HR across a wide range of industries, including transport and logistics, mining and resources, emergency services, health and education. Claire provides advice across the full range of industrial and employment matters, including enterprise bargaining strategy, industrial disputes, management of organisational change and employment litigation (including unfair dismissals, adverse action, bullying and discrimination matters). Further, Claire’s operational background means she can provide commercial and practical day to day assistance that is particularly valued by her workplace relations and HR practitioner clients. In doing so, she focuses on providing practitioners with specific procedural guidance, rather than convoluted and impenetrable ‘legalistic’ advice. Claire … attracts praise for her “invaluable experience and ability to quickly sort the wheat from the chaff” – Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2019. Based in Melbourne, Claire regularly travels to Perth, Sydney and Brisbane to assist clients on the ground across a range of industries, including professional services, telecommunications, construction, resources, infrastructure and transport. Claire also regularly appears in the Fair Work Commission and State and Federal courts and delivers practical and engaging seminars on a range of workplace relations matters to clients nationally.
Brendan Avallone
Brendan Avallone joined the Victorian Bar in October 2015 with over fifteen years' experience in employment, industrial relations and discrimination law. With a solid reputation as a leading expert in this practice area, Brendan Avallone has an extensive and impressive client list, having acted for and advised Commonwealth and Victorian Government Departments and agencies, and private sector employers in some of the most high profile industrial disputes in Australia in recent times. He has appeared in the Fair Work Commission and its predecessors, and the Courts, in matters regarding industrial action, protected action ballot applications, industrial disputes, unfair dismissal applications and underpayment claims. Prior to the Bar, Brendan was Special Counsel in the Human Resources and Industrial Relations group of a major law firm. He is a regular presenter on topics such as enterprise bargaining, industrial action, adverse action, bullying, social media for employers and sham contracting.
Christopher McDermott
Chris McDermott is a Barrister at the Victorian Bar, specialising in employment law, industrial law, anti-discrimination law, administrative law, workplace investigations, Royal Commissions, public inquiries and coronial inquests, disciplinary proceedings, class actions and major torts, and intentional torts and civil claims. He regularly advises and appears for Commonwealth and State Government departments and statutory agencies. He has extensive experience in governance as a board director of not-for-profit organisations, including in organisations specialising in public health, legal services and law reform, and social justice. He is currently the Deputy Chair of Mental Health Victoria Ltd, the Secretary of the Victorian Bar’s Indigenous Justice Committee, a member of the Industrial Bar Association Committee and a member of the Australian Bar Association’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.
Amanda Junkeer
Amanda specialises in industrial and employee relations with over 20 years’ experience. Amanda is a Partner in the Workplace Advisory and Disputes team at Gadens and based in the Melbourn office. Prior to joining Gadens, Amanda worked in private practice at a top tier national firm in the Workplace Relations and Safety team and a boutique law firm where she specialised in Workplace Relations. Her experience includes senior in-house employment counsel roles in an ASX listed top 100 company with over 25,000 employees and national healthcare essential service provider with over 3,500 employees. Acting for employers including corporations and not for profit organisations, her key practice areas range from enterprise bargaining strategy, industrial disputation, payroll compliance and remediation, complex award and enterprise agreement matters, managing disciplinary and termination processes, wage audits, and employment litigation. Amanda’s sector specialisation includes independent education, higher education, not for profit and manufacturing. Significant matters include acting in a successful litigation on behalf of a large media company in relation to breach of employee privacy in the context of enterprise bargaining, leading a Federal Court appeal of an adverse action matter involving union activity during an industrial dispute, instructing and advising on unfair dismissal matters in the Fair Work Commission including a Full Bench decision about dishonesty in the use of medical certificates. Amanda also advises and acts on behalf of clients in respect of employment contract drafting and disputation, representing clients with the workplace relations regulator and in anti-discrimination claims.
Paul Ronfeldt
Paul Ronfeldt is a partner of Thomson Geer. He has practiced in employment and safety law for over 25 years. His practice includes advising employers throughout Australia on their compliance with occupational health and safety laws, including in relation to their responses to serious incidents, SafeWork investigations and defending prosecutions. Prior to becoming a legal practitioner, he lectured in the areas of employment law, industrial law and safety law at the University of New South Wales, The University of Sydney and Griffith University. He has also been engaged by State and federal governments, employer peak bodies and trade unions on a number of occasions to advise on occupational health and safety policy matters, particularly in the mining, building and construction sectors.
William Marshall
William is a Partner in the Workplace Advisory and Disputes team at Gadens. He has significant experience advising clients on employment law, employment litigation and industrial relations issues. William works closely with HR, WHS specialists and industrial relations advisors across all industries and sectors, delivering timely and practical advice to his clients. He has a deep understanding of the need to deliver clear, practical and commercial solutions to the often-complex legal issues in these areas of the law. William’s employment litigation experience includes assisting a range of publicly listed and large privately owned businesses. He assists businesses in relation to a raft of industrial relations, litigation and general employment and safety issues. William was nominated and recognised as a Best Lawyer in the area of Labour and Employment Law in the 2023 and 2024 editions of the Best Lawyers in Australia.
Michaela Moloney
Michaela Moloney has over 20 years expertise acting in all aspects of employment, industrial and discrimination law matters. A key part of her practice includes providing litigation support for both public and private sector organisations. Michaela conducts workplace investigations and has also assisted a number of clients manage outsourced investigations. Michaela also provides advice in relation to performance management, disciplinary issues, managing ill and injured workers, enterprise bargaining and termination of employment. Michaela manages a large litigation practice and has developed significant expertise in quickly identify key legal issues in dispute, working with key stakeholders to determine an appropriate litigation strategy and where matters are unable to resolve, determining an approach to proceedings to ensure that they can be run in a cost effective manner and taking into account organisational objectives. Michaela has successfully defended a number of unfair dismissal, discrimination, general protections and breach of contract in the state courts and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and Federal Court of Australia. Michaela is highly regarded by clients for her ability to think outside the square taking a practical and proactive approach in seeking to achieve a favourable and early resolution of matters. In addition, Michaela is a mediator and is able to facilitate mediations in all areas of employment and industrial law including bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment.
Venue
InterContinental Melbourne
495 Collins St
Melbourne 3000
VIC Australia
Parking information
Valet Parking is only available for Resident Guests.
Nearby Parking:
Wilson Parking - View locations and rates here
Directions
Nearest Public Transport:
- By train: Southern Cross Station (5-minute walk)
- By subway: Southern Cross Station (5-minute walk)
- By Tram: Trams on routes 12, 109, 11 and 48 all pass the hotel along Collins Street, get off at the William Street stop (3-minute walk). The hotel is located within the free tram zone which means travel within the CBD on the tram is free.