THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION

The 2021 COAT NSW Conference was held online on Friday, 26 November 2021, with the theme Accessible and inclusive justice – What can tribunals do better?

The exciting half-day program featured speakers and panel discussions and covered topics such as:

• Practical strategies for making tribunals accessible for people with disability
• The dos and don’ts of fact finding for tribunals
• Safe workplaces: bullying and harassment in legal environments
• Working effectively with people with challenging behaviours

Presentations will be available for viewing for registered delegates until 10 January 2021 via the online portal.  If you did not register for the conference and would like access to the recordings, please contact mail@conferencedesign.com.au.

We look forward to welcoming you to the COAT NSW Conference in 2022.

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This program is designed to meet the compulsory CPD needs of NSW legal practitioners who sit as Tribunal members.

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Dr Kate Anderson

Dr Kate Anderson is a senior lecturer and researcher at Deakin University, Melbourne. Originally a speech pathologist, Kate’s research interests focus around assistive technology, information access and capacity building for people with communication disability and their supporters. Kate teaches subjects on communication disability, assistive technology, accessibility and design, and enjoys helping students to explore their creativity and courage. She is a firm believer in inclusive research practice, and is always searching for new ways to engage people with disability as co-researchers and service designers.

Fiona Given

Fiona has an Arts/Law degree from Macquarie University. She has been a General Member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal since its inception. Previously, Fiona was a community member of the NSW Guardianship Tribunal. She sits on the boards of Assistive Technology Australia and Side by Side Advocacy.

Fiona lives with cerebral palsy including communication disability. She is a Research Assistant with the University of Technology Sydney.

Michael Hampton

Michael Hampton has been the Advocacy Program Manager at Synapse for 10 years. In this role, he has regularly assisted members in judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings.  He has focused primarily on assisting people with a cognitive disability arising from Brain Injury.

Prior to this, he worked with the Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association and a Tenancy Advocacy service.  Michael practiced as a Solicitor in NSW  from 1989 to 2001 and worked with Legal Aid practicing in the Criminal jurisdiction.

Aunty Donna Ingram

Donna’s Aboriginal family connections are the Wiradjuri of Central West New South Wales.   She is the Mother of 4 adult children and Grandmother of 5 (so far) and was born and raised in Sydney on Gadigal land.

Donna is proud to be a Cultural Representative for the local Aboriginal community in Sydney.  Donna has worked in Aboriginal affairs, Government and community organisations in Sydney for the past 35 years (mostly in education).  She was also elected to represent her community as a Councillor on the former Sydney Regional Council of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).

Dr Graeme Innes AM

Graeme Innes AM is a lawyer, author and company director. He has been a human rights practitioner for more than thirty years.

Graeme was a Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission for nine years, responsible for issues relating to disability, race and human rights. He led work on the ratification by Australia of a UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities and in the areas of accessible buildings and transport, TV and movie captions and accessible banking standards.

Anina Johnson

Anina has degrees in law and sociology from Murdoch University and a Masters (Research) in Law from the Australian National University.   She was appointed as the Deputy President (Forensic) of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal in November 2012, where she sits on Tribunal hearings in both its Forensic and Civil jurisdiction.  Prior to her appointment to the Tribunal, Anina worked as a solicitor and advocate in the public sector for more than 15 years in the areas of administrative law, criminal law, constitutional law, child protection and coronial inquiries.

Anina has published and presented in the areas of mental health, criminal law and administrative law.

Judge Paul Lakatos

Judge Paul Lakatos SC (LLB, Dip Crim, LLM (Hons) Sydney University) commenced his professional career working as a solicitor for the Aboriginal Legal Service in 1977. He continued his work in the Sydney metropolitan area representing indigent clients with the Public Solicitor’s Office from 1978.

In 1982 Judge Lakatos SC led a team of investigators including the AFP, ATO investigators and forensic accountants, investigating bottom of the harbour tax schemes at the Special Prosecutors Office.

In 1984 he was admitted as a Barrister, practicing in Criminal Law; Administrative Law: Coronial inquiries and before ICAC, Police Integrity Commission; counsel assisting ICAC and State Coroner and Appellate Law.

In 2005 Judge Lakatos was appointed as senior counsel and in 2008, was appointed as a Judge of the District Court of NSW.

Most recently, Judge Paul Lakatos SC commenced as the President of the Mental Health Review Tribunal in 2019, where he oversees its functions. He also sits on Tribunal hearings in both forensic and civil jurisdictions.

Fiona Meagher

Fiona Meagher was admitted as a solicitor in 1989. She practiced in commercial litigation and corporate law before working in house as General Counsel and Company Secretary for Telecom New Zealand Australia, a joint venture between Bell Atlantic and Telecom New Zealand during the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in Australia. She also worked as the Chief Operating officer of McCullough Robertson for a number of years. Fiona has worked in Tribunals since 2014 – for the Queensland Mental Health Review Tribunal between 2014 and 2018 and was appointed as a part time member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (Migration and Refugee Division) in 2015 and assigned to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Division at the AAT in 2017. She was appointed a full time Senior Member of the AAT in 2018 and has had management responsibilities for the NDIS Division since that time.  She was recently appointed a Deputy President and Division Head of the NDIS Division at the AAT.

Kylie Nomchong SC

Kylie graduated with an LL.B and B.Econ (Hons) from the University of Sydney. She worked as a tutor and part-time lecturer in the Department of Industrial Relations at the University of Sydney before commencing employment as a solicitor practicing in industrial law and personal injury.

Kylie came to the Bar in 1997 and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2012.  Her practice is in employment and industrial law, workplace health and safety prosecutions, coronials, personal injury and medical negligence.  She is an expert in discrimination law.

Judge Gerard Phillips

Judge Phillips is the inaugural President of the Personal Injury Commission of NSW, Australia’s newest tribunal. Prior to his appointment to the District Court bench in 2019, Judge Phillips was a solicitor in private practice for over 30 years. He specialised in employment and industrial law and was a partner in the global law firm K & L Gates and served on its global management committee. While in practice, Judge Phillips was a frequent author in the Australian Financial Review on a range of legal and industrial relations topics. He is currently a council fellow at St John’s College within the University of Sydney.

Kay Ransome

Kay Ransome is a Senior Member of the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal and a Member of the Torture Claims Appeals Board/Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office (Hong Kong). She was the Principal Member of the Migration Review Tribunal and Refugee Review Tribunal in Australia from 2012 to 2015. Prior to that appointment, Kay was the Chairperson of the New South Wales Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal for ten years.  She was previously Principal Registrar of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and was a member of the Refugee Review Tribunal from 1993 to 1995. Kay has had a lengthy career in tribunals against a background of government policy experience.

Dr Peter Santangelo

Peter is a credentialed mental health nurse with the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (ACMHN), a Fellow and past President. He has worked as a registered mental health nurse for over 40 years in community mental health, health service and project management.

Following his hospital based nursing training, Peter completed a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Graduate Diploma in Health Services Management, a research Master of Nursing degree and a PhD. He holds Conjoint/Adjunct appointments as Senior Lecturer with the Universities of Newcastle and Tasmania, is a member of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal and provides clinical supervision as an independent practitioner.

Jim Simpson

Jim Simpson is a lawyer who has worked in the disability field for 35 years. He is a Senior Member on the Guardianship Division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and does systemic advocacy work for the Council for Intellectual Disability.

Jim took a central role in establishing the Intellectual Disability Rights Service in Sydney. He was formerly Deputy President of the Community Services Appeals Tribunal NSW and a member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal. He is a recipient of the Justice Medal of the NSW Law and Justice Foundation.

Theresa Simon

Theresa Simon is a Principal Member of the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). She joined the former Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal as Member in 2012 and continued with NCAT with the amalgamation of Tribunals in NSW. She was appointed a Principal Member in 2019 and she was initially appointed to the Consumer and Commercial Division. Recently Theresa has taken up a position as Principal Member in the Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division. She has primarily practised as a solicitor in private practice in Western Sydney and established the Home Building Advocacy Service at Macquarie Legal Centre. She has lectured in Law at Western Sydney University. From 2011-2013 she was appointed as a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner with Legal Aid. Theresa was previously a secondary school teacher in Western Sydney and continues to have a passion for education.