This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Specialist Accreditation Week 2020

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT 

Viewers are advised that this content contains graphic details that some may find distressing, including references to sexual offences, child exploitation offences/material/abuse and violence . Please use your discretion before proceeding. If you have experienced sexual assault, domestic or family violence and require assistance, please contact 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) to speak with a counsellor from the National Sexual Assault and Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service. 

If you are in distress, the Solicitor Outreach Service (1800 592 296) and Lifeline (13 11 14) offer 24/7 counselling support. If you are concerned for your safety or that of someone else, please contact the Police or call 000 for emergency assistance. 

In this session, barrister Will Tuckey will examine nuances of sexual assault offences. Topics covered will include the application of ss 32 and 33 in relation to mental illness, sentencing factors including in the case of historical offences, risk assessments, child protection prohibition orders and high risk offenders, and available treatments for clients both in custody and in the community.

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This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Specialist Accreditation Week 2020

Tendency evidence is a well-known but complicated area of law. It’s use at common law and in accordance with the Evidence Act has been the subject of much case law and a point of contention between different jurisdictions and even different judges. The Evidence Amendment (Tendency and Coincidence) Bill 2020, which commenced on 1 May 2020, recently changed the application and admissibility standards of tendency evidence, especially in child sexual offence cases.  This presentation delves into the origins and application of the tendency provisions in the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) and examines the recent changes and new provisions introduced by the 2020 Bill.

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• Early simplified prosecution disclosure 
  
• DPP charge certification 
  
• Abolition of Magistrates power to discharge at committal 
  
• Fixed discounts for pleas of guilty
  

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT

Viewers are advised that this content contains graphic details that some  may find distressing, including references to child abuse, sexual abuse, violence and suicide. 

Please use your discretion before proceeding. 

If you have experienced sexual assault, domestic or family violence and require assistance, please contact 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) to speak with a counsellor from the National Sexual Assault and Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service. 

If you are in distress, the Solicitor Outreach Service (1800 592 296) and Lifeline (13 11 14) offer 24/7 counselling support. If you are concerned for your safety or that of someone else, please contact the Police or call 000 for emergency assistance.

The Dean Waters murder trial in 1997 was a truly extraordinary case which resulted in the acquittal of Waters to the charges of murder and manslaughter, notwithstanding that, in admitting to the shooting of the deceased, he told police and gave evidence that he was following the commands of his father.

For an act to be criminal, the act must be voluntary: Woolmington v Director of Public Prosecutions [1935] A.C. 462; Bratty v Attorney-General Or Northern Island [1963] A.C. 386 (approved by the High Court in Ryan v the Queen 121 C.L.R. 205 [at pp214 and 215].

The converse is that, even if the accused had earlier formed an intent to commit the particular crime but subsequently, developed a mental state, for example, a dissociated state of the mind, such that, his or her actions were involuntary or unwilled, then the accused may be entitled to an outright or qualified acquittal. 

That may be the result, notwithstanding the common law [rebuttable] presumption that the act of the person is ‘willed’.

A careful analysis of the law of involuntariness will assist you in applying it to the alleged commission of any offence.

Overview:

• What is an electronic signature?
• Sale of land and e-signatures
• e-signatures, guarantees and deeds
• Savings and limitations
• Preventing emails forming a binding contract
• Cases

This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Government Solicitors week 2020

This presentation considers the current state of executive federalism in Australia in the context of the development and continuation of the National Cabinet comprising the Prime Minister, State Premiers and Territory Chief Ministers. The National Cabinet has generally been viewed as a success in coordinating and guiding governmental responses to the Coronavirus-COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation will look at the reasons for this outcome, including by considering past intergovernmental governance models, and identify the issues relevant to the National Cabinet continuing to provide a successful mechanism for facilitating a functioning executive federalism.

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This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Government Solicitors week 2020

During this panel session our expert panellists discuss the ways that rapid legislative changes to billing practices in response to COVID-19 impacted medical practice and consequently patients. Hear from our panellists as they explore the constitutional issues relating to this legislation, deep dive into examples of practical changes to medical services delivery, and explore the government’s current approaches to upholding the integrity of the Medicare scheme through medical practitioner billing compliance initiatives.

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Moderator: Karen Keogh, Partner, HWL Ebsworth

Margaret Faux, Founder & CEO, Synapse Medical Services

Bruce Topperwien, Executive Officer & General Counsel, Professional Services Review Agency

Dr Jamie Orchard, General Counsel, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Government Solicitors week 2020

It is common in the course of litigation for sensitive information to be sought from government agencies by compulsory process of the courts. Alternatively, government solicitors may come into the possession of sensitive material obtained in the course of litigation.

This presentation considers the process and principles to be considered in seeking to protect such information, with a focus on public interest immunity and protective orders.

The professional obligations of legal practitioners when managing such information will also be discussed The Presentation will include an analysis of the recent decision in Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v Smith [2020] NSWSC 769, which concerned a prosecution for a contempt of court arising from the improper disclosure of information obtained during litigation.

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Penny Csenderits, Director Community Law, Crown Solicitors Office

Brett Thomson, Special Counsel - Criminal Law, Crown Solicitors Office

The Listening Devices Act 1984 (which was replaced by the Surveillance Devices Act 2007) should have been a bastion of this State’s commitment to privacy, ensuring State use of electronic surveillance only when this genuinely in the public interest.

 However, the NSW Ombudsman’s Operation Prospect inquiry identified occasions where the judicial oversight that sits at the heart of the Act had be undermined. In this presentation the State’s first Surveillance Devices Commissioner canvasses the problems identified by Operation Prospect and how these are now being addressed to ensure the integrity of the SDA oversight regime.

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This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Government Solicitors week 2020

This panel session delves into case studies exploring key issues in youth justice and children’s law. Our expert panellists examine interagency cooperation, law reform processes and holistic service provision.

Chair: Melinda Graczol, Deputy Solicitor, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW)

Aaron Tang, Senior Lawyer, Children's Legal Service, Legal Aid NSW

Keisha Hopgood, Managing Solicitor, Children’s Criminal Practice, Aboriginal Legal Service 

Paul O'Reilly, Executive Director, Youth Justice NSW

This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Government Solicitors week 2020

Watch renowned barrister Bret Walker SC discuss the complexities of public interest immunity claims and solicitors’ obligation to ensure secrecy imposed by statute or common law is not used for partisan decision-making.

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This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Government Solicitors week 2020

In 2018 NSW was the first jurisdiction in Australia to legislate against modern slavery. At the heart of the legislation was the requirement for organisations to identify the risk of modern slavery occurring in their operations and supply chains and then take steps to address this risk. Watch Scott Alden, Partner at Holding Redlich, address updates on modern slavery legislation and its implications for procurement.

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