The County Court of Victoria has advised that from 17 October 2022, practitioners and other court users will not have to undergo mandatory surveillance rapid testing before entering the Court. Masks will continue to be worn inside the Court building as per the existing arrangements.
People are not to attend the Court if they are symptomatic or if they have tested positive for COVID-19, until they return a negative rapid antigen test. The Court will issue a new protocol shortly.
The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria has published Practice Directions 7 and 8 of 2022, with effect from 3 October and Practice Note 9 of 2022, with effect from 17 October 2022.
Links to each practice note can be found in the notice below.
On Tuesday, Amanda Utt and I met with the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner for our bi-monthly meeting. Matters discussed included the excellent working relationship between the Bar’s In-house legal team, led by Kai Li Zhu and the office of the Legal Services Commissioner, particularly in relation to the renewal of practicing certificates. Further work will be done by Bar Office and the LSC to achieve greater efficiencies for members in relation to the renewal process.
On Wednesday, 5 October 2022, I attended the launch of the University of Melbourne Law School Robin Chan Memorial Grant hosted by Robin’s Level 4 ODCW colleagues. The grant was launched by the Hon. Justice Michelle Gordon AC. Robin was a member of our Bar from 2013 until his premature death in 2020. Robin read with Frank O’Loughlin KC and was a long-time member of level 4 ODCW. Prior to his death, he had a busy practice in commercial, equity, probate, and administrative law, specialising in tax law. For further information on how members can support the grant, please see Robin Chan Memorial Grant here.
Nominations for the 2022-2023 Bar Council are currently open. Nominations close at 5:00pm on Thursday, 20 October 2022. I encourage all members to consider nominating for Bar Council. Service on Bar Council provides members with the opportunity to contribute to Bar policy and projects, as well as the opportunity to meet and assist others. For more information on the nomination process, see the notice below.
The Australian Labour Law Association will hold its national conference, The Regulation of Work in a 'COVID-Normal' World, in Sydney on Friday, 11 and Saturday, 12 November 2022. The keynote address, 'Defining Employment: Judicial Conservatism And Legislative Solutions,' will be delivered by Prof. Douglas Brodie from the University of Strathclyde. Registration is available via the conference website here.
Welcome sittings to mark the appointments of the new Victorian Magistrates will be held next week:
Wednesday, 12 October 2022
Magistrate David Langton and Magistrate Helen Spowart
Friday, 14 October 2022
Magistrate Brett Sonnet and Magistrate Greg Thomas
Róisín Annesley KC
The Annual General Meetings of Victorian Bar Inc and Barristers’ Benevolent Association of Victoria will be held on Monday, 24 October 2022, at 5:00pm in the Neil McPhee Room. Members will have received an invitation containing the agenda for each meeting and a link to register their attendance. Registrations close at 4:30pm on Monday, 24 October 2022.
Members are reminded that nominations for election to the 2022/2023 Bar Council close at 5:00pm on Thursday, 20 October 2022.
Nominations must be received by the Statutory Secretary on or before 5:00pm on Thursday, 20 October 2022 by email to ed@vicbar.com.au.
Please find attached the Candidate nomination form and Nominator form.
Nominations received out of time or in hard copy cannot be accepted.
His Honour Magistrate David Langton
Her Honour Magistrate Helen Spowart
A welcome sitting to mark the appointment of His Honour Magistrate David Langton and Her Honour Magistrate Helen Spowart will be held in Courtroom 1, Magistrates’ Court of Victoria on:
Wednesday, 12 October 2022 at 9:00am
Members of the profession are most welcome to attend the welcomes in person, a formal RSVP is not required. Masks are required in the public areas of the Court. The ceremony will be live-streamed via Webex here.
His Honour Magistrate Brett Sonnet
His Honour Magistrate Greg Thomas
A welcome sitting to mark the appointment of His Honour Magistrate Brett Sonnet and His Honour Magistrate Greg Thomas will be held in Courtroom 1, Magistrates’ Court of Victoria on:
Friday, 14 October 2022 at 9:00am
Members of the profession are most welcome to attend the welcomes in person, a formal RSVP is not required. Masks are required in the public areas of the Court. The ceremony will be live-streamed via Webex here.
Registration for the 2022 CommBar Conference in Albury on Friday, 18 November 2022, is now open. Tickets can be purchased via this link.
The early bird rate of $440 per person (inclusive of GST) has been extended to apply for registrations received before 5:00pm on Friday, 14 October 2022. After that time, the registration price will be at the standard registration fee of $495 per person (inclusive of GST).
Attendance at the conference is open to all CommBar members and interested solicitors. Please feel free to circulate this registration link to colleagues and contacts whom you believe may be interested in attending.
Registration includes attendance at the conference and all social events, including:
The conference business sessions and the gala dinner will be held at The Atura Hotel in Albury.
Accommodation
The Atura Hotel is offering a conference accommodation rate for conference attendees at $190 per night for 17 and 18 November 2022. To access this offer, which is exclusive to conference attendees, you can either:
Expressions of Interest for Presenters
The conference program will be comprised of six one-hour panel sessions throughout the day on Friday, 18 November 2022. Each session will be chaired by a Silk or senior junior, with a panel of two to three junior commercial barristers and one regional solicitor from the Albury and District Law Society.
A reminder that expressions of interest for panel speaker presenters for sessions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 remain open until 5:00pm today, 30 September 2022. The topics for the sessions are set out in the program below. To submit an expression of interest, please email the Conference Organising Committee at commbar2022conference@vicbar.com.au and copy COC member Ella Zauner at ella.zauner@vicbar.com.au, identifying in that email which of the sessions below you are interested in co-presenting.
Conference Program
For more information, please click here.
Women Barristers Association is pleased to present a panel discussion on “Running for Bar Council”. If you’d like to find out more about what’s involved in being a member of Bar Council, how Bar Council works, and how you can contribute to the governance of the Bar, come along to this online session on Monday, 10 October at 5:15pm.
To join this meeting, please click here.
Jury Skills Workshop: What does the jury really think? is on 27 October 2022 from 5:00pm-7:00pm and a full day workshop on 5 November 2022 from 8:30am-5:30pm. This is a specialist workshop for those who undertake jury trials in both the Criminal and Common Law jurisdictions. The workshop will provide you with a unique opportunity to improve your jury advocacy skills in front of sitting judges, a jury and hear from the “jurors” themselves. This is an in-person event only. Click here to register.
Why Take Chambers with BCL? As a wholly owned subsidiary of the Victorian Bar, BCL provides a flexible and unique solution of chamber and technology support only available to members of the Bar. Click here to view our current vacancies.
The following are highlights of upcoming CPD and events for Victorian Bar members. You must be a member of the Victorian Bar and log into the VicBar website to view these events.
For more upcoming CPD events, please visit our listings here.
Studio 11 is delighted to host its current End of Year Exhibition featuring works by Robyn Wilson and Geraldine Richards at Level 11, Owen Dixon Chambers East.
This exhibition comprises some 43 works, all for sale directly from the artists, commission free. The exhibition runs from 3 October – 16 December 2022.
Robyn Wilson is a Melbourne based artist who graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and holds a Diploma of Visual Art. Robyn’s work draws inspiration from iconic and favourite Melbourne cafes, including Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar and Brunetti’s, a recent outback painting trip to Fowler’s Gap West of Broken Hill and Plein Air painting at Halls Gap. Robyn explores these works with a pervading interest in colour, geometry and patterning resulting in accomplished, balanced works.
Geraldine Richards is also a Melbourne based artist who is completing her Masters of Fine Art. Her works are lively, colourful and geometric. Her love of nuanced colour comes from her mother and her interest in form emanates from living in houses designed by architect Robin Boyd. Her landscape paintings are influenced by views of the Dandenong Ranges from East Ivanhoe and the shoreline of Port Phillip Bay at Mount Martha as well as travels around Victoria, in particular San Remo, the Bellarine Peninsula and the Macedon Ranges.
Please visit the exhibition at your leisure.
Dear Members,
The Club is pleased to announce that we will be hosting the Essoign Melbourne Cup Luncheon.
Details of which are as follows:
Venue: The Essoign Club
Date: Friday, 28 October 2022
Time: 12:45pm onwards
The cost of the event will be $100 per head for 3-course lunch and Sparkling on arrival, with beverage costs in addition.
There will be a sweep on the Melbourne Cup with tickets at $50.
Auction of a lunch in the VRC Committee Room on a non Cup Carnival race day with proceeds to go to Sacred Heart Mission, St Kilda.
Fashions on the field and all the usual fun of our much-loved event.
Ideally, those who are interested will organise a table of ten, but if that is not possible the Club can make arrangements to seat groups and individuals together in tables of ten.
If you are interested in attending please book now.
Click here for the flyer.
Or book here:
Victorian Bar members are encouraged to use the Member Benefits online portal, where you can access a wide variety of discounts, special offers, and member-only deals as part of your Bar membership.
The exclusive benefits are available Australia-wide and are not generally open to the public.
To activate your account and access the benefits, please click here. You must log in using your vicbar.com.au login details.
Click here for the monthly Best Buys!
Consistent with the change in community circumstances and continual improvement in the health environment, the Court will remove the requirement for surveillance rapid testing prior to any in-person attendance at the Court.
This change will be effective from Monday, 17 October 2022.
From 17 October 2022, practitioners and other court users will not have to undergo mandatory surveillance rapid testing before entering the Court.
However, practitioners and other court users are not to attend Court if they are symptomatic or if they have tested positive to COVID-19, until they return a negative rapid antigen test.
Masks will continue to be worn inside the Court building as per the existing arrangements.
We are continuing to monitor developments in relation to public policy concerning COVID-19 and we are taking steps to obtain advice on these developments.
The approach commencing on Monday, 18 October, outlined above, will be in place until further advised.
A protocol will be released on the Court’s website closer to the date.
The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria have published Practice Directions 7, 8 and 9 of 2022.
The Judicial College of Victoria continues to publish updates to Scholarship for the Legal Community, a curated selection of research summaries of recently published academic writing from local and international journals.
Research on a range of topics, including sentencing, civil appeals, equity, estates and trusts, and the value of legal scholarship, has been added to the collection.
Among recent highlights:
The Digital Library goes with you, allowing you to work remotely and still have access to subscriber-only content 24/7. Log in to the Digital Library for access to:
The right resources can help you succeed – in your client work and career. Register now for your Digital Library login – powered by Law Library Victoria.
You are invited to hear Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen, Dr Shireen Morris, Director of The Radical Centre Reform Lab and Professor Mark Rose, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Indigenous Strategy and Innovation at Deakin University, as they explore the current drive for recognition of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in the context of our history on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights.
This opportunity will allow you to hone your understanding of the issues encompassed by the Statement from the Heart in anticipation of a referendum that is now on the agenda.
Deakin Law School is delighted to host this event as part of its 30th anniversary. Please join us after the panel event for drinks and canapes.
When: Wednesday, 19 October 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Where: Deakin Downtown, Level 12, 727 Collins St, Melbourne
Click here to register.
The Council of Australasian Tribunals Victoria (COAT) is holding its annual conference on Friday, 21 October 2022, at Oaks Melbourne on Market Hotel (60 Market Street Melbourne)
NAVIGATING THE SEA OF HEALTH AND JUSTICE NEEDS IN THE DELIVERY OF TRIBUNAL SERVICES
This year’s conference will:
Enquiries:
Fotini Panagiotidis
fotini@vicbar.com.au
9225-7444
Resolution Institute Mediation training | Adelaide | 24-28 October 2022
Attend Resolution Institute's five-day mediation training for a practical learning experience built on sound theory.
The training meets the requirements for the National Mediator Accreditation System (NMAS) in Australia. The course has a strong skills development orientation. You will engage in demonstrations, simulation role plays offering experiential learning along with personalised coaching and receive feedback from highly skilled mediators.
You will learn the following:
Click here to register.
Australian Arbitration Week 2022: Resolution Institute’s Expedited Process for Domestic Arbitration
Join Amber Williams (CEO, Resolution Institute) and an esteemed panel to learn more about the Resolution Institute expedited arbitration process.
Wednesday, 9 November 2022 | 7:45am (8:00am start) – 9:00am AEDT | MinterEllison Collins Arch, Level 20, 447 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
A renewed emphasis on ensuring arbitration delivers a cost-effective, timely and efficient path to resolving disputes (particularly those with a low-value quantum) has resulted in various approaches to fast-track or expedited arbitration rules from arbitral institutions over recent years.
With 15 years of experience from 2007, when IAMA (Resolution Institutes predecessor body) first launched its fast-tracked arbitration rules, Resolution Institute is introducing a refined and modern approach to expedited arbitration supporting the Resolution Institute 2020 rules.
Click here to register.
ACICA and CIArb Australia will be hosting the 2022 International Arbitration Conference during Australian Arbitration Week on Monday, 7 November 2022.
Our one-day program includes a Keynote Address from The Hon. Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC, and features a host of eminent speakers and expert practitioners from around the globe.
If you would like to contribute relevant news, events, and updates for barristers and the legal profession to In Brief, please send an email with your content to inbrief@vicbar.com.au or complete this submission form.