10th Annual Practitioners Professional Development Day

Joe Murphy - Piper Alderman

Joe is an employment relations lawyer with over 20 years’ experience specialising in workplace relations at mid-tier and employer associations.

Joe’s experience extends to providing advice and representation in matters across Australian tribunals and courts, including the Fair Work Commission and the Federal Courts of Australia. Joe has also represented clients in various inquests and commissions of inquiry, including in the

Joe has extensive experience assisting clients with disputation between employers and their employees (whether dealing with employees collectively or individually).

Joe has spent the last 10 years working exclusively with businesses across a vast range of industries and sectors, including information technology, SaaS, retail, hospitality, transport, manufacturing, construction, social & community services, and financial services.

Commissioner – Janine Webster – Industrial Relations Commission of NSW

• Commissioner Webster holds both a B-Commerce and LLB –University of Wollongong - with majors in Law, Economics and Industrial Relations. In the following years following graduation the Commissioner held the roles of:

• In addition to the above experience, Commissioner Webster has presented at past IRS conferences and at our Practitioner Professional Development Days.

Christa Lenard - Partner - Kingston Reid - WHS and Managing injured workers

Christa is regarded as a dynamic, insightful and approachable lawyer who is focused on finding the very best outcomes for her clients. Clients value Christa’s pragmatism and commitment to really understanding them, relevant stakeholders, their statutory  and operating environments. She is renowned for her ability to think outside the square when needed and is focused on delivering pragmatic solutions and value to her clients.

Whether it be providing practical advice on day-to-day employment and discrimination matters, or conducting complex fact finding investigations or litigation, Christa is able to distil the issues, work with her instructors and produce high quality outcomes that can be relied on to deliver results. She has a large Government practice as well as a busy private sector practice working across multiple sectors

Penny Thew - Barrister - Greenway Chambers - General Protections developments

Penny was called to the Bar in 2005 and regularly advises and appears in federal and most state courts and tribunals for corporate, government and individual clients primarily in employment, discrimination and commercial matters.

While Penny’s particular expertise includes all matters arising under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW), as well as claims involving discrimination law, contractual disputes and restraints of trade, she also appears regularly in litigation involving succession law, disposition of assets and possession.

Kellie Edwards - Barrister - Denman Chambers - Discrimination Law Developments

A large proportion of Kellie’s practice is in the various employment and discrimination jurisdictions. Kellie also accepts briefs in administrative, trade practices, common law, and restraint of trade cases. She is a qualified arbitrator and mediator and has appeared in coronial inquiries.

Prior to becoming a barrister, Kellie dabbled with the idea of becoming an architect and gained an Honours degree in Communications, however, she commenced Law and found her calling.

As a solicitor, Kellie was an Associate at Dibbs Barker Gosling (now Dibbs Barker), and specialised in employment and discrimination law. From 1997 to 2003, Kellie was a member of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal, sitting in the Equal Opportunity Division.

Ian Latham  - Barrister - Denman Chambers - Industrial Action

Ian Latham specialises in industrial, employment, administrative law and inquiries.

Ian has appeared in a number of important industrial cases including the Tristar litigation, which was the first case about the Independent Contractors Act, the first case about the sham contractor provisions and a major case about accessorial liability under the Fair Work Act 2009.  

Ian writes for the Lexis Fair Work Act and NSW Industrial Relations Act loose-leaf services. He also writes on industrial law and Australian Rules Football

Luis Izzo - NSW Manager - ABLA - Enterprise Agreements

Luis oversees ABLA's Sydney Workplace Relations practice and has over a decade’s experience practicing as a specialist employment and industrial relations lawyer acting for a broad range of employers across both the private and public sector.

His advocacy experience in State and Federal Courts and Tribunals is extensive. In addition to achieving successful outcomes for clients as an advocate in numerous unfair dismissal and industrial dispute arbitrations, he acted as one of the lead employer advocates in the 2014/2015 Fair Work Commission Annual Leave Test Case as well as the highly publicised 2016/2017 Penalty Rates Test Case. Following heavily contested hearings in both proceedings, Luis ultimately succeeded in securing a raft of amendments to modern awards in respect of both annual leave and weekend penalty rates.

Tim McDonald - Partner - McCabes - Unfair Dismissal Developments

Tim practises in employment and industrial law, work health and safety, discrimination, bullying and harassment, management of injured workers and termination of employment.

Over the last 20 years, Tim has advised and represented private and public sector employers from a broad range of industries, such as insurance, security, clubs, hospitality, retail, health, manufacturing, clerical, transport and logistics, real estate, building and construction, schools and higher education. These clients include some of Australia’s largest companies.

Matt Robinson - Partner - FCB Lawyers - Confidentiality and restraints of trade
Matthew specialises in: Providing strategic advice on various labour structures, along with recommendation on

• their strengths, weaknesses and implementation

• Negotiating and drafting employment contracts, policies, enterprise agreements and
• individual statutory agreements
• Managing and mitigating lawful/unlawful industrial action and picketing
• Managing termination of employment cases
• Defending breach of contract and wage/entitlement claims
• Advising on corporate restructures, redundancies, and transfer of business and industrial
• instruments
• Proactive and reactive defences to discrimination and harassment issues.

NB ALERA - Interstate Members please email membership@irsnsw to make your booking

 All registrants, Please note the Event Terms and Conditions