Domestic Violence and Victims Compensation Network

Convenors: Sarah Dahlenburg (Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre) and Karen Mifsud (Women's Legal Service NSW)

 Open to all       Meeting not recorded 

 Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Substantive Law I Professional Skills

Monday 21 February
1:30pm-3.00pm

Admin and Finance Network

Convenor: Kerrith Sowden (Refugee Advice and Casework Service)

 Open to all       Meeting not recorded

 Practice Management & Business Skills

Tuesday 22 February
9:30am-11:00am

First Nations Justice Working Group

Convenor: Zachary Armytage (Community Legal Centres NSW)

 Open to all       Meeting not recorded

Ethics & Professional Responsibility I  Professional Skills         

Community and Social Worker Network (new network)

Interim Convenor: Evelyn Chan (Women's Legal Service NSW)

 Open to all       Meeting not recorded   

Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Professional Skills

Tuesday 22 February
11:30am-1:00pm

Coordinators & Directors (Part 1)

Convenors: Arlia Fleming (Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands Community Legal Centre) and Robert Pelletier (Macarthur Legal Centre)

 Meeting for C&D's       Meeting not recorded 

 Practice Management & Business Skills

Prisoner's Rights Working Group

Convenor: Carolyn Jones (Women's Legal Service NSW)

 Open to all       Meeting not recorded

 Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Substantive Law I Professional Skills

Tuesday 22 February
1:30pm-3:00pm

Coordinators & Directors (Part 2)

Convenors: Arlia Fleming (Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands Community Legal Centre) and Robert Pelletier (Macarthur Legal Centre)

 Meeting for C&D's       Meeting not recorded

 Practice Management & Business Skills 

Family Law, Care and Protection Network

Convenors: Kenn Clift (Intellectual Disability Rights Service), Luke Carr (Redfern Legal Centre), Symmon Andrews (Central Coast Community Legal Centre)

Training1.30pm- 2.30pm I Network Meeting 2.30pm-3.00pm

Care & Protection: s86 mediations, s87&s98(3) joinders and s90 restoration - what you should know?

Tim Mara I Head of the Care and Protection team at Rafton Family Lawyers 

 Open to all       Meeting not recorded I Training recorded

Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Substantive Law I Professional Skills

Wednesday 23 February
9:30am-11:00am

Law Reform and Policy Network

Convenors: Alistair Lawrie (Public Interest Advocacy Centre)

 Open to all       Meeting not recorded

 Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Substantive Law I Professional Skills

Youth Advocacy Network (NSW)

Convenor: Matthew Keeley (Youth Law Australia)

 Open to all       Meeting not recorded

 Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Substantive Law I Professional Skills

Wednesday 23 February
11:30am-1:00pm

Communications Network

Convenors: Finn O'Keefe (Redfern Legal Centre) and Stella Maynard (Community Legal Centres NSW)

 Open to all       Meeting not recorded 

Professional Skills

Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) Committee

Convenors: Ali Mojtahedi (Immigration Advice and Rights Centre) and Louise Coady (Western Sydney Community Legal Centre)

 Meeting for Principal Solicitors       Meeting not recorded

Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Professional Skills I Practice Management & Business Skills I Substantive Law

Wednesday 23 February
1:30pm-3:00pm

Regional, Rural and Remote (RRR) Network

Convenors: Cassandra Coleman (Warra-Warra Legal Service), Julia Adamski (Hunter Community Legal Centre) and Stacy Treloar (Far West Community Legal Centre)

Open to all       Meeting not recorded 

 Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Professional Skills

Employment and Discrimination Law Network

Convenors: Sharmilla Bargon (Redfern Legal Centre) and Anastasia Coroneo (Youth Law Australia)

Training: Intersection of Whistleblower legislation and employment law.

Kieren Pedler (Senior Solicitor, HRLC)

Open to all       Training session recorded

Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Substantive Law I Professional Skills

Thursday 24 February
9:30am-11:00am

Health Justice Partnerships Network

Convenors: Diane Anagnos (Kingsford Legal Centre) and Carolyn Odgers (Justice Connect)

 Open to all       Meeting not recorded

Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Professional Skills

Thursday 24 February
11:30am-1:00pm

Community Legal Education Workers

Convenors: Nalika Padmasena (Seniors Rights Service) and Melanie Kallmier (Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre)

 Open to all       Session recorded 

  Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Professional Skills 

Monday 28 February
9:30am-3:00pm

Yarn Up

For community legal centre Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to meet and discuss key policy and practice issues.

Convenor: Zachary Armytage (Aboriginal Legal Access Program Coordinator, Community Legal Centres NSW)

For CLC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander only      Meeting not recorded   Ethics & Professional Responsibility I Professional Skills         

Tuesday 1 March
9:30am-11:00am

Opening Plenary 

Welcome to country: Brendan Kerin 

Opening Plenary: Reflections: Responsiveness, Resilience and Reckonings

It’s been two years of continual disruption and uncertainty. As a sector and as individuals we’ve been challenged to change the way we work and have found new ways to engage with clients, stakeholders and each other. We’ve created new initiatives and projects, found funding, implemented new technology and have continued to assist over 55,000 clients. Join us to reflect on the amazing work the sector has done in the last two years and acknowledge the people that have done that work under difficult circumstances.

Panel Host: Tim Leach I ED I CLCNSW

Sarah Dale I Centre Director & Principal Solicitor I RACS

Deb McMillan I ED I  Central Coast Community Legal Centre

Melanie Kallmier I ED I Mid-North Coast CLC

Robert Pelletier I ED I Macarthur Legal Centre

 Open to all       Session recorded 

 Practice Management & Business Skills

Tuesday 1 March
11:30am-12:30pm

Showcase: Innovation, practice and technology: NALA, our chatbot 

A session where people can present on new projects, initiatives, wins and challenges. As the first recipients of the NSW Access to Justice Innovation Fund, Marrickville Legal Centre developed NALA, a chatbot that helps people with basic legal queries online. Since launch, NALA identifies high-volume, low-complexity matters and automates an appropriate response, effectively allowing Marrickville Legal Centre to reallocate its finite resources to assist complex, high-need clients faster.

Presenters: Justin Abi-Daher (Acting Managing Principal Solicitor, Marrickville Legal Centre) and Chris Anderson (Operations Manager, Marrickville Legal Centre). Presenting from the land of the Gadigal, Wangal, Guringal, Wallumedegai and Cammeraygal people of the Eora Nation.

 Open to all       Session recorded 

 Practice Management & Business Skills

Tuesday 1 March
1:30pm-3:00pm

Social Movement Lawyering: Reflective Practice

Reflective practice is more than navel-gazing and a rushed effort to complete an annual appraisal. It is recognised as a core professional capability that law graduates should demonstrate before admission to practice. (Admittedly, some of us have come a long way since then!) So, how do we do it, when do we do it, and how can we use it to reflect on our roles as individuals, and as a sector to effect more meaningful change?

In this interactive session you will be invited to share in breakout rooms your perspectives on the micro (a disorienting dilemma in practice, taking a look at our hidden biases and assumptions), and then the macro – why we do what we do, and how can we do it better?

Presenter: Hayley McEwen (Lecturer, Lawyer, Discipline Lead, Centre for Law and Justice, Charles Sturt University). Presenting from the land of the Wiradjuri, Ngunawal, Gundungarra and Biripai peoples.

 Open to all       Session recorded 

 Ethics & Professional Responsibility

Tuesday 1 March
3:15pm-4:45pm

ICT Tech for the Non-Techies: Commercial Case Management Systems: Do we make the move?

There is lots of talk about commercial case management systems. Take the tech out and let's talk about what they can do for workflows, risk management, efficiency, job satisfaction and their potential benefits to clients. And let’s talk about the pitfalls and the resources you might need. Join us for a lively discussion because our panellists have a lot to say, and we know you do too. Bring your insights, experience and questions.

Presenters

• Camilla Pandolfini (Principal Solicitor, Public Interest Advocacy Centre)
• Greg Rohan (Director and Solicitor, Immigration Advice & Rights Centre) 
• Lee Bunney (Principal Solicitor, Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre) 
• Cath Evans (Chief Operating Officer, Wotton + Kearney)

 Open to all       Session recorded 
  Practice Management & Business Skills

Wednesday 2 March
9:30am-11:00am

An overview of social security entitlements: How to do a health check for your clients to ensure they are receiving what they should be

This session will outline the basics of social security law. It will address both payments and processes, aiming to help volunteers, community workers and solicitors spot situations where their client may have an issue with Centrelink - including situations where the problem may not be obvious. It will address criteria integral to eligibility including residency, age, relationship status, income and assets, children, waiting periods, illness and injury, and family and domestic violence. The session will also cover common reasons for debts, and the appeals/review process.

Presenter: Sally Cameron (Community Legal Education & Communications Officer, Welfare Rights Service)

Presenting from the land of the Gubbi Gubbi people

 Open to all       Session recorded 
  Substantive law

Wednesday 2 March
11:30am-12:30pm

These two separate sessions run concurrently, select one.

Showcase: Protecting and empowering whistleblowers: Introducing the Human Rights Law Centre's new whistleblowing project

A session where people can present on new projects, initiatives, wins and challenges. When Australians speak up about wrongdoing, injustice and unlawful conduct, they make the country a better place. But Australia's whistleblowers are suffering. 80% of people who speak up about wrongdoing at work suffer some form of retaliation. Australia has had whistleblower protection laws in different forms for decades, but there have been just a handful of cases - few successful. This session will explore the the potential for different areas of law to protect and empower whistleblowers. The aim of the session is to give all lawyers an understanding of how, in a wide range of contexts, whistleblowing protections might be helpful to their clients. The session will also introduce a new whistleblowing-focused initiative from the Human Rights Law Centre.

Presenter: Kieren Pender (Senior Lawyer, Human Rights Law Centre). Presenting from Gadigal land.

 Open to all       Session recorded 
  Substantive Law

Showcase: Community Legal Centres Australia - What we are working on: Power BI

A session where people can present on new projects, initiatives, wins and challenges. More information to follow. 

Presenter: Suzanne Slegers (Data Manager, Community Legal Centres Australia). Presenting from Gadigal land. 

  Open to all       Session recorded 
  Practice Management and Business Skills

Wednesday 2 March
1:30pm-3:00pm

Trauma Informed Practice: It's a Hard "No"

How hard is it to say "no" to someone who really needs help? How much time do you spend in appointments, at reception or on the phone listening to someone tell their story with that sinking feeling that you know you can't help but you can't say "no"? The situations we find ourselves in are because of systemic issues, circumstance, our own empathy and compassion and the way we run our practices. Join the discussion about how we work with empathy and give our time and resources to those we can help, without feeling bad for those we can't? A session full of dilemma, stories and hard learnt strategies for all staff.

Facilitator: Ken Beilby (Senior Solicitor, Central Coast Community Legal Centre). Presenting from the land of the Darkinyung people.

 Open to all       Session recorded 
  Ethics & Professional Responsibility Professional Skills

Wednesday 2 March
3:15pm-4:45pm

Legal Practice Issues: Assessing Client Capacity

Assessing a client's capacity for providing instructions and witnessing documents particularly in outreach and health-justice partnership settings is a sensitive and legally challenging issue. Our colleagues from Sparke Helmore have worked in the Cancer Council's Legal Clinic and routinely work with people who need to finalise wills, enduring powers of attorney or appointments of enduring guardianship. Learn from their experience and expertise of working with clients in difficult circumstances.

Presenters: Andrew White, Partner and Aimee Dash, Senior Associate Sparke Helmore). Presenting from the lands of Gamilaraay and Whadjuk Nyoongar people.

 Open to all       Session recorded 
  Ethics & Professional Responsibility