Education Law Conference 2021 in Auckland
213NZA31: A not-to-be-missed opportunity for you to hear the latest updates and critical areas affecting schools including: the knock-on effect of new Education and Training Act, red flags for students and staff relating to social media platform and family law issues, and the complex and at times unpleasant situations that arise during the employment lifecycle. Leading practitioners in the education sector will take you through everything you need to know right now in this information packed day.
Description
Attend and earn 7 PLD Hours
Session 1
Education Law: The Current State of Play
Chair: Fiona McMillan, Partner, Lane Neave
CRITICAL UPDATES IN EDUCATION LAW
8.45m to 9.45am Education Law Update
- Education and Training Act 2020 overview
- Resolving “serious disputes” under the new Act
- Dealing with parent complaints
- Dealing with difficult Board members
Presented by Gretchen Stone, Partner, Harrison Stone
9.45am to 10.45am Board of Trustee Complaints, Privacy and Information Law
Changes you know about and consequential changes you may not have seen coming …
- Changes under new Privacy Act in respect of access to personal information
- Expanded rights
- greater expectations of information law obligations
- what are they and where are they likely to lead
- Overlap with section 23 of the OIA
- the likely rise of the right to a statement of reasons
- Complaints and disputes resolution under the new Act – perspective of a former Ombudsman
- What is the new system for resolving “serious disputes” attempting to fix
- What are the likely challenges for the new system and the parties involved
- What are “icebergs” in the current system that will still be there in the new system
Presented by Leo Donnelly, Principal, Chen Palmer
10.45am to 11.00am Morning tea
STUDENT, FAMILY ISSUES AND PRIVACY AND TECHNOLOGY DANGERS
11.00am to 12.00pm Family Law in the Education Law Context
- Children’s rights
- Oranga Tamariki Act and processes
- Dealing with Parenting Orders
- Family Violence and Protections Orders
- Working with the lawyer for the child
- Understanding parenting arrangements and shared parental responsibility
Presented by Ian Telford, Barrister, North Shore Legal Chambers
12.00pm to 1.00pm Privacy in Schools in the Age of Facebook, YouTube and Tik Tok
- Students and social media
- Harmful content
- Education vs regulation
- Changes under new Privacy Act
Presented by Gareth Abdinor, Partner, Malley & Co
1.00pm to 1.45pm Lunch
Session 2
Navigating the Employment Lifecycle in Schools: Hiring, Firing and Restructuring
Chair: James Crichton, Employment Law Specialist, Three60 Consult; former Chief of the Employment Relations Authority; Former Acting School Commissioner
1.45pm to 2.45pm SPOTLIGHT ON EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS: Employment Agreements in the Education Context: Important Clauses
- Suspension with or without pay
- Informal resolution clauses
- Disciplinary vs competency track
- Consultation provisions
- Restructuring: requirements of the collective employment agreements re surplus staff
- Plus how clauses in agreements fit in with policies and statutory provisions
Presented by Anthony Russell, Partner, SBM Legal
2.45pm to 3.45pm Organisational Change and Termination of Employment
- Restructuring not involving redundancies: applicable employment law principles
- Termination of employment for serious misconduct (outside competency and bullying contexts): procedural requirements and avoiding pitfalls
- Abandonment of employment
- Interrelationship of professional disciplinary processes in the Teaching Council and employment disciplinary processes
Presented by John Hannan, Barrister, Bankside Chambers
3.45pm to 4.00pm Afternoon tea
4.00pm to 5.00pm Dealing with Competency and Allegations of Bullying Staff
- Dealing with issues of teacher competency and navigating the procedures leading to termination of employment
- Genuine bullying vs. reasonable managerial actions
- Approaches in responding to bullying allegations: When is an investigation necessary?
- An analysis of relevant case law
Presented by Rachael Judge, Senior Associate, Simpson Grierson
Presenters
Fiona McMillan, Partner, Lane Neave
Fiona commenced her career with Lane Neave in 2007 and specialises in assisting employers with all employment law related advice including collective bargaining and human rights commission matters. Fiona regularly represents employers in Mediations, Employment Relations Authority Investigation Meetings and the Employment Court. Fiona was Counsel in the leading case on penalties, Borsboom v Preet PVT Limited. Fiona is often instructed to undertake external investigations for employers and regularly completes HR Audits for her clients. Although Fiona is based in Auckland she works with clients in all parts of the country. Fiona regularly presents employment law seminars around New Zealand. Fiona was nominated for Young Lawyer of the Year at the 2016 New Zealand Law Awards.
Gretchen Stone, Partner, Harrison Stone
Gretchen Stone specialises in employment and education law. She advises secondary principals through the Secondary Principals Association of New Zealand and with primary principals as the Honorary Solicitor for Auckland Primary Principals Association. Gretchen has extensive experience advising Principals and Board of Trustees in relation to employment and disciplinary issues, governance and management, student discipline issues, social media, and all areas of legal liability within the education sector.
Leo Donnelly, Principal, Chen Palmer
Leo is a former Ombudsman from 2016-2018, and Deputy Ombudsman from 2004-2016. He has also occupied the roles of Assistant Ombudsman, Senior Investigating Officer, and Investigating Officer with the Office of the Ombudsman, and previously worked for the Parliamentary Counsel Office. Leo co-leads Chen Palmer’s Education Team with Marina Matthews. In practice, Leo advises early childhood centres, school boards, principals, teachers, parents, tertiary education organisations including polytechnics and private training establishments, tertiary staff, students and education government bodies on how to achieve fair, just and transparent outcomes through the Ombudsman Act, the Official Information Act, the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, the Protected Disclosures Act, the Privacy Act and the Education Act.
Ian Telford, Barrister, North Shore Legal Chambers
Ian specialises in the law relating to children and appears regularly in the Family Court. Ian is regularly appointed by the Family Court to act as lawyer for child and counsel to assist the court (providing advice and representation in complex matters). The bulk of Ian's caseload is acting directly for children in court proceedings - in both private and public law cases. As former counsel to Oranga Tamariki, Ian has a particular interest in complex care and protection/child abuse matters, which often involve Oranga Tamariki and the Police. In the past, Ian has worked in a wide variety of legal settings (in the UK and NZ) including a small provincial firm, international firm and in-house for local government and a commercial organisation. Prior to entering the law, Ian worked as a registered nurse, primarily in the areas of child psychiatry, mental health and intellectual disability. Ian has also worked as a senior manager and funder in healthcare.
Gareth Abdinor, Partner, Malley & Co
Gareth is an employment law specialist and advises employers and employees on all aspects of the employment process. Gareth sits on the Employment Law Committee of the Canterbury/Westland branch of the New Zealand Law Society and regularly delivers presentations to clients and the legal profession on employment law issues. Gareth is also one of New Zealand's experts in privacy, information and technology law. Gareth provides specialist advice and education in relation to compliance, data privacy, data and privacy breaches, social media & technology, and cyber-bullying. Gareth has delivered privacy training for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and is the co-founder of the South Island Privacy Network. He has also delivered training on cyber-law issues for the New Zealand Law Society's Continuing Legal Education and at the annual Education Law conference.
James Crichton, Employment Law Specialist, Three60 Consult; former Chief of the Employment Relations Authority; Former Acting School Commissioner
James Crichton logged his first appearance in an employment institution in 1978. His first 10 years of working life were spent in management, culminating in a period as general manager of a local authority. When he commenced legal practice, he developed an interest in working in schools, acting for teachers against schools, and for schools against teachers. He was appointed as a Commissioner or Limited Statutory Manager of a public school on four occasions. In 2004, James was appointed a temporary Member of the Employment Relations Authority and he was reappointed regularly thereafter as a permanent Member of the Authority. After 15 years of service to that institution, culminating with the last four years as Chief, he left the Authority to return to the Bar, specialising in employment law and practice, and alternative dispute resolution.
Anthony Russell, Partner, SBM Legal
Anthony Russell is an experienced employment law practitioner. Anthony specialises in providing expert employment law advice, and has provided quality advice across a range of sectors. Anthony has been practicising law since 1991 and has represented a wide range of employment law clients, particularly in the health, education and infrastructure industries. In addition, Anthony has lecturered at the University of Waikato at both the undergraduate and Masters level. Anthony has also had experience as a Prosecutor for the Serious Fraud Office and as a Senior Solicitor. Anthony also has an active interest in sports law and is a member of Australia New Zealand Sports Law Association.
John Hannan, Barrister, Bankside Chambers
John has a broad range of experience and expertise as a commercial litigator, including in employment law, education law and property disputes. Prior to joining Bankside Chambers, was senior litigation partner in global law firm DLA Piper. John is an employment law expert and regularly ranked as a leading individual in Chambers and Legal 500 Directories. John is a specialist in Education Law advising on governance, employment, enrolment schemes, student discipline including suspension, stand downs, exclusion and expulsion, discrimination and privacy complaints. John has Arbitration, Mediation and Tribunal experience as Deputy Chair, New Zealand Teaching Council Disciplinary Tribunal – 2022 – 2020 and is a trained mediator.
Rachael Judge, Senior Associate, Simpson Grierson
Rachael Judge is a senior associate at Simpson Grierson, specialising in employment and education law. Rachael acts for several independent and state schools on matters such as terms of enrolment, student disciplinary issues, student human rights claims, school policies and the Children’s Act 2014. She also advises schools in relation to their employment agreements and staff disciplinary issues. Rachael regularly attends mediations and represents clients in Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court and Human Rights Review Tribunal matters.
Venue
Cliftons
Level 4/45 Queen Street
Auckland CBD
Auckland 1010
New Zealand
Parking
Parking is not included in your registration. Nearby options are:
- Downtown Carpark (4 min walk) Click here for rates
- Britomart Carpark (10 min walk) Click here for rates
Directions
CLOSEST TRAIN STATION - Britomart Station, 600m (5 min walk)
CLOSEST BUS STOP - Multiple stops on Queen St and Customs St (1 min walk)