In this month’s issue of BucketOrange Magazine, we sat down with Elodie Cheesman – a young lawyer, writer, and author of the new novel Love, In Theory to talk about ambition, creativity, and building a life in the law.

Keep your eyes glued to our Instagram feed early next week when we’ll be GIVING AWAY a copy of Elodie’s book to two lucky readers!

Your first novel, Love, In Theory, has just been released this month. Can you tell us a little about the storyline?

“Love, in Theory is a romantic comedy about a 24-year-old lawyer, Romy, who learns that she is at her ‘optimal stopping point’ (the mathematically designated point at which one should select the next ‘best person’ who comes along in order to have the best chance at happily ever after). Highly analytical and data-driven, Romy decides to get serious about her love life … by applying academic theories about love to her search for the perfect person. What could go wrong?”

Like the main character, Romy, you’re also a lawyer based in Sydney. Is the book inspired by any experiences from your own life?

“Love, in Theory is definitely fiction, but I did draw on my experience of navigating Sydney’s dating scene in my early twenties – the feelings of excitement and uncertainty, and wishing there was a formula or guidebook to help me in my search. I was also inspired by the world of big commercial law firms in Sydney; though thankfully, my actual experience of that world is very different from Romy’s!”

Can you tell us a little about your career pathway to date? 

“After completing my undergraduate law degree in Sydney and a BCL at Oxford University, I started as a graduate lawyer at a large commercial firm in Sydney. After a few years I took a leave of absence to work as an Associate to the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, after which I returned to the same firm. I work in the areas of general commercial litigation and dispute resolution, and administrative and public law.” 

Have you always wanted to write? Do you find it easy to access your creative brain after a long day at the office?

“I have always loved reading and creative writing, and it was a long-held dream of mine to have a novel published. It can definitely be difficult to muster the enthusiasm to write after a long day at the office – like physical exercise, it’s one of those things that is really invigorating once it’s done or underway, but requires a fair bit of effort to get started. I’m much more inclined to turn to Netflix after work, so I tend to write in the mornings or on weekends when I’m feeling fresh.”

How long did it take you to complete your novel, and how have you managed to balance full-time legal work while doing so?

“It took about 18 months to complete the first draft of Love, in Theory, and a couple more years to revise and find an agent and publisher. I balanced writing with full-time legal work by chipping away at my novel in the mornings before work. Slow and steady!”

Do you have any plans for a follow-up novel? 

“Yes, I’ve started work on another novel – another romantic comedy!”

What advice would you give other aspiring writers?

“My advice would be: Don’t wait for permission, a bolt of inspiration or the ‘perfect conditions’ to write – just start, and find out by trial and error what works for you. This might involve setting aside 15 minutes each day to jot down thoughts to develop into a story, signing up to a creative writing course or writers’ group for some external accountability and encouragement, or starting with shorter-form pieces … whatever enables you to flex your writing muscle!”

Elodie’s book, Love, In Theory, is available to purchase now through Pan MacMillan Publishing.

On 3 May 2021, the Australian Human Rights Commission released its final report on the Independent Review of Gymnastics Australia.

The review looked into culture and practice at all levels of gymnastics in Australia following the release of the documentary ‘Athlete A’. The documentary caused gymnasts worldwide to come forward on social media with reports of institutional abuse, with many reports coming from former Australian athletes and parents of athletes.

Shockingly, the findings of the report revealed a toxic culture at Gymnastics Australia that enabled serious sexual, physical, and other abuse of young Australian gymnasts for decades across the country.

Law firm Chamberlains is looking into current and historical incidents of institutional abuse in Australia.

The firm is urging victims, witnesses of abuse, or anyone with information about abuse that took place within Gymnastics Australia to come forward.

Many victims are not aware that they could be entitled to compensation, nor that it is possible to lodge a claim against an institution. We hope that by raising awareness among victims of institutional abuse, we can get more to step forth and to share their stories.

Chamberlains have offices in Canberra, Sydney, Perth, and Newcastle where anyone with information on these matters is encouraged to come in to discuss their potential claim.

We are urging witnesses Australia wide to contact us. Our specialists in institutional abuse, Directors Jon May and Alison McNamara are both operating out of our Canberra office, but we can remotely assist clients from anywhere in the nation.

Further Information

To contact a lawyer about your experiences with institutional abuse at Gymnastics Australia, contact Chamberlains Law Firm:

Alison McNamara

• Email: alison.mcnamara@chamberlains.com.au
• Phone: 02 6188 3600

Jon May

• Email: jon.may@chamberlains.com.au 
• Phone: 02 6188 3600

If you, or someone you know, is a victim of sexual or physical abuse contact the following services to seek support.

Lifeline Australia 13 11 14
www.lifeline.org.au

The Australian Institute of Sport Mental Health Referral Network (MHRN) The MHRN provides support to current and alumni athletes and their families, and current and former staff of the AIS and their families.

• Phone: +61 2 6214 1130 (Monday – Friday 9am-5pm AET)
• Email: mentalhealth@sportaus.gov.au
• www.ais.gov.au/mhrn

Beyond Blue 1800 512 348
Mental wellbeing telephone and online support service.

• beyondblue.org.au

Eheadspace 1800 650 893
Online and webchat support and counselling for 12-25 year olds, their family and friends.

• www.headspace.org.au/eheadspace/

MensLine 
Professional telephone and online support and information service for Australian men.

• Phone 1300 78 99 78 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week). 
• MensLine online counselling.

1800Respect
Confidential counselling, information and support for people impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence and abuse via phone or online chat.

• Phone: 1800 737 732 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week). 
• 1800Respect online chat

I race into the office at 9:07am, applying the final touch of lipstick and making sure I had brushed off the crumbs from my suit (breakfast in the car). And there was my peer, let’s call him Ben, diligently and peacefully working away with big Bose headphones on. He had evidently been at work for a while already, at least long enough to have finished his large long black.

And so my day started – just like any other day at the law firm – madly whizzing through the work as if the Looney Toons Tassie Devil had a law degree.

At 4pm I start to feel the anxiety building. I had got through a few of the super-duper-urgent tasks already, but I was not going to be able to even think about the very-overdue-but-client-not-chasing-us things. I need to leave at 5pm. It is non-negotiable. Daycare closes at 5:30pm. Those tasks will have to go on the backlog, again and again, until they bubble up to the top of the to-do list.

But Ben will keep working away, until 7:30 or 8 in the evening. Clocking up his standard 11-12 hour day, staying largely on top of the backlog, and free to go on that business trip to Melbourne or Tokyo.

At some point – when I stepped out of the tornado – I realised that I couldn’t compete with Ben on billable hours. I couldn’t even get close. I had daycare pick up, sleepless nights, breaks to pump breastmilk, weekends full of playdates and swimming lessons.  I didn’t see how I could possibly squeeze in the extra 20 hours of work to keep up. Maybe I could, but it would probably be from getting 3 hours less sleep each night – and that was premised on the very perilous assumption that my small children would actually stay asleep at night. Or I could spend an extra $20,000 a year on nannies to buy me a few extra hours at work. In any event, I would burn out pretty damn fast.

But then things became clear …

Working longer and harder simply wasn’t my competitive advantage anymore.

I needed to find what I could do to “add value”, that didn’t involve an arms race of 6 minute increments. So instead I decided to aim for what I could do: I could be efficient. I could become a leader of a team. I could train and develop young lawyers. I could be a creative problem solver. I could use technology to my advantage. I could have innovative ideas. I could recruit great people to the business. I could develop my strategic vision. I could make meaningful connections with clients.

In fact, what I had seen as a terrible constraint – having to leave at 5pm – was actually a powerful transformative force. It propelled me to explore what my competitive advantage is. It has helped me start developing the non-legal and ‘soft’ skills which make me a more well-rounded and high-performing employee.

It is also ‘future proofing’: many of these attributes are the trending skills in demand for 2022 (lawyers are listed as a “redundant role” for the future). 

Are you doing something that allows you to have the most impact? Step back from the “busyness” of life and consider what your competitive advantage is. You may have more to contribute than you realise. 

by Ingrid Bremers

Ingrid Bremers is a corporate lawyer and mum of two based in Canberra, Australia. Ingrid is also the Company Secretary of Campbell Street Children’s Centre. Her work has been featured in Governance Directions, Women’s Agenda, Mamamia and The Pulse.

by Elias Tabchouri, Principal Lawyer at Macquarie Law Group

As a lawyer accustomed to spending every working day in court I sit contemplating what the future holds for the legal industry. What is not in dispute is that the legal industry is an essential service and therefore must continue. The way it will proceed is the real question that many of us are still coming to terms with.

Different areas of law offer different challenges and solutions for the lawyers that practice within them.

Technology allows most lawyers to work on most of their matters from home. The days of requiring face to face meetings have been replaced by any number of different audio visual programs, alleviating the need to be in one room.

Lawyers that practice in areas that centre primarily on drafting contracts and agreements will find working from home a fairly simple transition of what they already do in their offices, to their homes.

All resources required are available electronically, as the days of requiring access to books left us some time ago.

In theory, then it seems that all can go on smoothly, or so it seems.

The courts have now implemented procedures wherein physical appearances are now the exception rather than the rule. All jury trials have been vacated in all jurisdictions. Local court hearings for defendants on bail have been vacated. All mentions and adjournments are essentially being done electronically without the need for lawyers to attend court.

There is currently being put in place procedures for lawyers to attend to matters requiring argument in court to be done via audio visual capabilities, with all parties in different locations.

Even the High Court has decided that it will not hear cases until August 2020.

We live in a different legal world. What the future holds will be dictated by what happens in relation to the COVID-19 virus. Lawyers, like the rest of the community, are now in the greatest fight they have seen in 100 years.

The industry will rationalise and probably make changes that will become the norm well after the virus is gone.

About the author

Since the start of his legal career, Elias Tabchouri has practiced in a number of areas of law including Criminal Law, Commercial Law, Property Law, and Family Law.  Elias founded Macquarie Lawyers in Parramatta with partners in 1998. In 2006, he left the partnership and opened his own branch office in Burwood called Macquarie Law Group. An expert primarily in criminal law, Elias has been recognised as an accredited specialist in the area by the Law Society.

In the March issue of BucketOrange Magazine, we chat with Nicola Martin and Chiara Rawlins from McCabe Curwood Lawyers in Sydney to answer some of the internet’s most frequently asked questions for small business owners and employers in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.

What general obligations do business owners have to staff during the crisis? 

“At all times, employers owe an overarching obligation to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all its workers, including volunteers, and a duty to ensure the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out.  This requirement arises from section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), and includes an obligation for employers to identify risks at the workplace, and take whatever reasonably practicable steps to eliminate those risks.  In circumstances where it is not practicable to eliminate a risk, employers must take steps to minimise the risk.

Despite the unprecedented circumstances arising from the current coronavirus pandemic, it is important to remember that an employer continues to owe these general work health and safety obligations to its workers.”

Does an employer have a specific obligation to protect staff from coronavirus?

“As set out above, section 19 of the WHS Act imposes a general obligation upon employers to ensure the health and safety of its workers, so far as reasonably practicable.

To meet these obligations during the coronavirus pandemic, it is necessary for employers to adopt strategies to minimise the risk of employees being infected by coronavirus in the course of their work. 

What control measures are implemented will largely depend upon the specific circumstances of your workplace, and what work is being carried out.  However, it is generally recommended that steps such as the following should be taken across all workplaces:

• Actively monitoring news and government sources for updated recommendations and restrictions
• Ensuring employees are aware of the symptoms of coronavirus, as well as how and when to take leave
• Require employees to practice good hygiene, including frequent hand washing and limiting contact with others
• Updating control measures as and when necessary – the situation globally is moving quickly, and employers need to ensure they remain agile in developing and updating control measures

Employers should also ensure that any decisions made in response to the pandemic are not considered discriminatory for a prohibitive reason, with health and safety laws providing offences for engaging in such conduct.”

What are employer obligations to provide a safe workplace for all staff, particularly those who are immunocompromised? Is there a greater obligation owed to vulnerable members of staff?

“If an employer is aware of a medical condition that may place an employee at greater risk of contracting coronavirus or otherwise at risk of severe complications from coronavirus, such as if the employee is immunocompromised or has a chronic medical condition, the employer will have a general obligation to provide a safe workplace to that staff member. 

Once an employer is on notice of any underlying condition, this underlying condition must be taken into consideration when giving directions or instructions to that particular employee. 

For example, if an employee notifies their employer that they are immunocompromised, it may be best practice to allow them to work from home where possible in order to minimise any risk associated with performing work in the office during the pandemic.

In order to ensure that the employer’s expectations and directions to the employee are appropriate in the circumstances, it would be reasonable for an employer to request an employee to provide medical evidence of any underlying condition or medication that may place the employee in the “at risk group”.

Is an employer liable if an employee contracts coronavirus while at work? 

“If the exposure to COVID-19 occurred in the work environment the work exposure was a significant contributing factor to the COVID-19 diagnosis then an employee may be entitled to workers compensation (which is leave, which is paid under a workers compensation insurance policy). 

Given exposure to coronavirus can occur anywhere, and particularly as Australia sees an increase in the number of cases, it may be difficult to, in fact, establish that the exposure occurred in the work environment and that employment was a significant contributing factor. Note that workers compensation laws vary from State to State and Territory to Territory. An employer could potentially be liable under WHS laws if an employee contracted coronavirus in the work environment because the employer did not take reasonably practicable steps to eliminate or reduce the risks over which the employer had control or influence.”

Can an employer force staff to take leave?

“Generally, an employer cannot force an employee to take leave, however, there are some exceptions. Under the Fair Work Act 2009, an employer can direct an employee to take annual leave if it is reasonable in all the circumstances.

Examples of this are when a workplace is having a shutdown (usually over the festive period but it does not have to be just at this time) or when an employee has ‘excessive leave’. Employees who are covered by Modern Award and Enterprise Agreements may have specific provisions relating to these issues. For example, in some Modern Awards there is the requirement for employers to provide employees with a minimum of 4 weeks of notice for any shutdown.  

For long service leave, the ability of an employer to direct employees to take long service leave depends on the relevant State or Territory long service leave jurisdiction. In NSW an employer can direct an employee to take long service leave once the employee has over 10 years of service on the provision of 1 month’s notice.

An employer may also ask employees to take annual or long service leave in an effort to reduce costs as a measure to avoid job losses. In this type of situation it is up to the employee whether they agree to take the leave or not.”

What leave entitlements are employers obligated to pay staff in these circumstances?

“If an employee has contracted the virus, or is caring for a family member who has contracted the virus, the employee will be able to access their paid personal/carer’s leave. If the employee has exhausted all paid personal/carer’s leave, an employer could agree with the employee that they could utilise any other kind of paid accrued leave.

There remains the question of whether employees would be able to access their personal leave if they have exhausted their accrued annual leave and long service leave and are unable to attend work. Typically employees are not entitled to use personal/carer’s leave if they are not unwell or caring for a family member, however, some employers are allowing employees in this situation to access their personal given the unprecedented circumstances.

As noted above, if an employee is in self-isolation because of a government directive, but is not actually unwell, they would be able to access their annual leave during their period of absence from work.

However, if an employee is directed to stay at home by their employer as a precautionary measure, yet they are ready, willing and able to work, the employee should be paid their ordinary wages for their ordinary hours of work.

That being said, employers should explore whether the employee would be able to work from home in the first instance.”

Can employer prevent staff from travelling?

“Employers should be following Government guidelines when determining whether their staff should be permitted to travel. Most employers should be directing their employees to not undertake business-related travel to mitigate the risk of their employees contracting the coronavirus. 

With respect to preventing staff from taking personal travel, this could be considered a lawful, reasonable direction if the employer has concerns about their WHS obligations. In any case, the employee should be notifying the employer of any travel plans (even domestic ones) before taking any leave. 

We are seeing States closing their borders and international travel extremely restricted. On this basis employers issuing a direction that is in-keeping with the guidelines regarding social distancing and non-essential travel would be acting reasonably.”

Can an employer direct staff to work from home?

“Yes, in the circumstances this would likely be considered a lawful reasonable direction and it may well be unreasonable to require employees to attend a workplace if they could otherwise perform their role effectively from home.

However, employers should note that their WHS obligations still apply even when employees are working remotely. Employers should consider sending out working-from-home guidelines to employees (which, in effect, act as a shortened risk-assessment of the home work environment) so employees are aware of their own responsibilities to set up safe work practices at home.”

Can an employer direct staff to come to work? What if that person is immunocompromised, or lives with someone who is vulnerable?

“Potentially, but there is no one-size fits all answer. It very much depends on the circumstances. The situation is changing daily.

Unless there is a Government direction for us to remain away from work, not travel (unless essential) or to isolate or quarantine, it may be a lawful and reasonable direction to attend work.  

It will depend on a range of factors but the overarching duty for the employer is to take all steps reasonably practicable to eliminate, or if the risk cannot be eliminated, to reduce any risk.

Relevant considerations will be:

• Can the employee work from home?
• Why does the employer require the employee to attend the office?
• Does the employee work in essential services?

If the employee is immunocompromised, or lives with someone who is vulnerable, then an employer will likely need to adjust any general directions made to its workforce for these individuals.

As noted above, if an employer is aware of a medical condition that may place an employee at greater risk of contracting coronavirus or otherwise at risk of severe complications from coronavirus, such as if the employee is immunocompromised or lives with someone who is vulnerable, the employer will have a general obligation to provide a safe workplace to that staff member. 

Once an employer is on notice of any underlying condition, this underlying condition must be taken into consideration when giving directions or instructions to that particular employee.  For example, if an employee notifies their employer that they are immunocompromised, it may be best practice to allow them to work from home where possible in order to minimise any risk associated with performing work in the office during the pandemic.

In order to ensure that the employer’s expectations and directions to the employee are appropriate in the circumstances, it would be reasonable for an employer to request an employee to provide medical evidence of any underlying condition or medication that may place the employee in the “at risk group”.

If a staff member is being tested for coronavirus, should that person stay home until they receive their result, even if they feel otherwise well?

“Yes, an employee who has been tested for COVID-19 must self-isolate until the test results are known. Only if the test is negative will an employee be able to return to work.”

If a staff member tests positive for coronavirus, what are the employer obligations?  

“The employee must self-isolate for 14 days and cannot attend work during that period even if they are only displaying mild or even no symptoms.

An employer continues to owe WHS obligations to the employee and should do what they can to support the employee. The employer should allow the employee (if they are a permanent employee) to access their personal (sick) leave, assuming the employee has accrued paid personal leave and has provided appropriate medical evidence substantiating the absence.

If no paid personal leave is available, the employer should offer the employee the ability to use any annual leave or long service leave available. An employer may even consider offering some other type of paid special or isolation leave although not legally obliged to.”

What is ‘force majeure’ and can how can it affect small businesses?

“The expression “force majeure” refers to an event that was not contemplated by the parties when they entered the contract. A force majeure clause in a contract generally excuses “innocent parties” from performing their contractual obligations because a contractually defined event prohibits or thwarts contractual performance. Force majeure events that are commonly included in contracts include “acts of God” (extreme natural occurrences such as floods, tsunamis and earthquakes), strikes, riots, and acts of war.

Whether COVID-19 constitutes a force majeure event, thus entitling a small business to be excused from performing its obligations under a contract, will depend upon the specific wording of the relevant clause. The small business would also need to establish a causal connection between the emergence of COVID-19 and its ability to perform under the contract.”

Can the government force a business to close? 

“Yes, these powers exist at both a state and national government level.

In New South Wales, the Health Minister has powers under the Public Wellbeing Act 2010 (NSW) to put in place an order that businesses either operate in a restricted manner, or close entirely. At the federal level, similar powers exist under the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth), allowing the government to restrict all operation of businesses within a defined area (called ‘human health response zones’).”

Can the government force a business to stay open?

“As a matter of general principle yes, however, the relevant government powers are less specific than for business closures.

Under the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) the Federal Health Minister has an extremely broad power, during a human biosecurity emergency period, to determine any requirement that he or she is satisfied is necessary to prevent or control the emergence, establishment or spread of a human disease in Australian territory. This would include a requirement to keep businesses open or ensuring businesses continue to operate “as normal”.

More specifically, for pharmaceutical or medical products businesses, there are provisions in the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (Cth) which operate to ensure stock levels and supply of products related to current health emergencies such as COVID-19. These provisions could be used to force businesses to stay open to guarantee this supply.”

What are the penalties for failing to comply with a government direction under the Biosecurity Act 2015? 

“There are various penalties within the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) which depend on what sort of government direction is violated.

If the direction relates to disclosures or restrictions on entering Australia – the fine is currently $6,300.

If the direction relates to a behaviour or practice – such as mandated decontamination – the fine is currently $25,200.

If the direction established a human health response zone and required a businesses to close – the fine is currently $6,300.”

About the authors

Nicola Martin is a Principal at McCabe Curwood lawyers. She is a highly experienced employment lawyer and is experienced in representing clients in the Fair Work Commission, State Industrial Relations Commission, Federal Circuit Court and Federal Court as well as conducting mediations and conciliations. She has a particular interest in anti-discrimination and harassment issues.

Chiara Rawlins is a Principal in McCabe Curwood’s litigation and dispute resolution group. Her expertise covers commercial and general litigation and dispute resolution across a broad range of industries. Chiara has acted for major manufacturers, property developers, financial institutions, engineering companies and medium to large Australian and international businesses across a variety of practice areas. Chiara prides herself on working with her clients to achieve solutions tailored to their business and commercial needs.

Many young people seem to consider coronavirus to be a real impediment to their social life. I mean, how is dating going to work now?? Will we be FaceTiming dates over a dinner of supermarket ramen noodles? If you don’t like him/her, is it okay to just pretend that the connection was lost and to hang up mid-way through dessert?

What if you’ve just landed in an unexpectedly dreamy new relationship only to now find yourself abruptly “socially distanced” from that person?

On one hand, you can’t “self-isolate” together because one of two things will happen: either the virus will kill you, or you’ll kill each other.

On the other hand, being separated in the midst of the peak “honeymoon” phase, without knowing how long it will be before you can see each other again, is a formula for ample teen-style angst.

Will you survive the coming plague? If you do, will your relationship survive along with you? Before you go running for your Sia records, here’s some pro tips.

Play it kewl

Everyone is on edge at the moment. Don’t freak out. Or your partner will freak out.

Forget emotion; focus on facts

Keep it in perspective, dummy.

It sucks right now, but focus your attention on problems that you can solve. Like finally having so many delicious guilt-free hours to dedicate to your long-neglected project or side hustle.

You should probably also tend to your indoor plants that have been languishing ever since you selfishly decided to get a social life.

Accept the status quo

Yes, this has emotionally winded you, but it is temporary.

Don’t try to forecast the future. Just deal with today.

Disregard anxiety and “what ifs”

Nobody in the world knows what events will unfold tomorrow.

Don’t burden your brain with ‘what if’ scenarios, most of which, are likely to never eventuate.

The most you can hope to achieve during social isolation is to keep yourself sane enough for your significant other to still want to date your little butt once this is all over.

And with this in mind …

Get off the couch

Use this opportunity to get into the best shape of your life.

If you don’t have a post-pandemic 6-pack, you’re doing it wrong.

Technology. No brainer.

FaceTime, Skype, and Google Hangouts are about to become a big part of your daily routine.

How you choose to use them is up to you *awkward wink*

Worst-case scenario plan

If all else fails and your relationship happens to not survive the viral apocalypse, just consider how many new singles will be hitting the dating market.

Oh hey, post-quarantine divorcees!

Silver linings

While right now life is a challenge, consider it a great opportunity to test your resilience.

By sitting out self-isolation apart, you’re probably preserving the overall longevity of your relationship and giving it a better chance of survival in the long term.

More on BucketOrange Magazine

• 6 things to do before you potentially die of coronavirus
• What is the penalty for refusing self-quarantine?

Recent research has shed new light on the critical importance of providing mentally healthy workplaces for business professionals in 2019.

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that mental and behavioural health conditions were the most prevalent chronic illnesses recorded throughout Australia in 2018, leaving more than four million Australians suffering from anxiety and depression.

With workplace mental illness costing the economy over $60 billion per year, it’s time that Australian businesses start to focus on investing additional resources on the development of effective mental health workplace strategies.

Founder of Breathing Space Counselling Practice, Gabriel Edwards, says

CEOs and executives have the greatest influence and impact on the state of an organisation’s mental health and wellbeing, and are rightly required to drive the many mental health initiatives being rolled out across a growing number of organisations.”

In many organisations, however, ongoing stress, late nights and a lack of adequate support can contribute to poor mental health outcomes for senior staff and leaders. Research shows that CEOs and Executives are loathe to utilise standard company EAP services when (not if) they need support. They don’t trust the confidentiality of a company-wide counselling service – an irrational but understandable fear – and they lack confidence in the ability of some call centre counsellors to understand the unique context that Business Leaders live and work within – a reasonable assumption. However, Ms Edwards says:

The top team must live and breathe a commitment to the principles that support and enable positive mental health … they’re the role models for all values and behaviours throughout an organisation.” 

The Australian Government and Productivity Commission have confirmed the importance of exploring the role of mental health in the Australian economy over the next four years as well as the most effective ways to support and improve national mental wellbeing.

I welcome the recent wave of awareness and support for mentally healthy workplaces. The discussions, the programs, and funding being applied to creating mentally healthy workplaces is encouraging, especially given Australia’s concerning suicide rates. But I worry about the gap in support and resources for our top-tier leaders” says Ms Edwards.

Having provided support and treatment to senior leaders and CEOs across Australia, Gabriel Edwards is well-versed at creating healthy work environments, starting with the CEO and Executive team:

As a counsellor specialising in working with high performing professionals in the business arena, I provide a safe confidential space for leaders to drop the game face. To stop, check in, and reflect on the state of their health, their relationships, and their peace of mind.”

Breathing Space offers an exclusive counselling service and a range of resources to Boards,
CEOs and their teams:

• One on one confidential counselling for issues such as depression, anxiety, grief, anger and career transition, as well as coping with the pressures of work when faced with a life crisis such as divorce, death of a family member, illness etc
• 24 hour on-call crisis counselling
• Crisis debrief for individuals and Leadership Teams
• Coaching leaders to manage crisis situations with employees
• Regular tactical debriefing for leaders managing complex high profile issues/crises
• Developing robust leadership team mental health: developing values, creating positive relationships, conflict resolution etc.
• Bespoke learning experiences and resources to address issues and topics specific to the team and/or the organisation
• Creating mentally healthy workplace strategies – starting with the leadership team
• Tracking and Reporting team and organisation issues and trends.

Into the Wild

In September every year, Gabriel runs a Leadership Mental Health retreat called ‘Into the Wild’
specifically designed for Leaders. Into the Wild embraces and explores the following core belief
within a natural wilderness setting:

You are more than the job you do each day…more than the next deadline, project or
problem. When we embrace this truth, we become better professionals!”

Further Information

For a confidential counselling session, contact Gabriel Edwards, Founder and Principal Counsellor at Breathing Space:

• Phone: +61 4085 56264
• Email: space@gabrieledwards.com.au

Gabriel Edwards possesses strong counselling skills and 25 years senior leadership and Board experience across the private, public and NFP sectors.

A purpose-made CV and cover letter from beyondblue provides Australian businesses with skills to create mentally healthy workplaces!

beyondblue has launched its fourth Heads Up campaign by responding to a series of live job advertisements to give Australian businesses the tools to create mentally healthy workplaces.

More than 12 million people spend one-third of their week at work and 1 in 5 employed Australians experience a mental health issue. The imaginative campaign enlivens the traditional hiring process by engaging managers and professional leaders in a surprising, yet simple way.

This year’s Heads Up campaign ensures HR professionals and business owners have the information and tools to foster a mentally healthy work environment. The information is presented in a handy CV and cover letter application, which outlines the nine attributes of a healthy workplace.

beyondblue delivered the ‘mock’ job applications to companies currently hiring across HR and recruitment, management and telecommunications, health and education, media and publishing, and finance and law.

Heads Up takes an educational approach to workplace health – and this year is no different,” says beyondblue CEO Georgie Harman.

We’re excited to see the recipients’ reactions to our ‘mock’ job applications from beyondblue. It’s an engaging and creative way to bring a serious and hugely important topic into conversation.

Heads Up is for big and small businesses alike, from sole traders to multinational corporations. No matter the business size, the role of leaders is crucial to create and sustain positive mental health.

Through Heads Up, we also have a host of online materials, backed by evidence-based information, tools and resources to help businesses manage mental health and employee wellbeing.”

Heads Up has accessible resources for employers, employees, managers and small business owners.

Further Information

To find out more, visit headsup.org.au

Download your copy of Developing a workplace mental health strategy: A how-to guide for organisations.

To learn more about beyondblue, visit beyondblue.org.au.

If you, or someone you know, needs to speak with a mental health professional contact beyondblue’s free Support Service.

• Phone 24/7 on 1300 224 636 or
• Online chat at beyondblue.org.au/get-support (3PM – 12AM AEST)

The 2018 ALPMA Summit is the largest legal management conference and trade exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere.

Join more than 350 law firm leaders and managers and 50+ market-leading vendors from across Australasia in Sydney for an action-packed three days of intense professional development, networking and fun!

The 2018 ALPMA Summit brings together senior legal management professionals, world-class industry and subject-matter experts and leading industry suppliers to hear about best-practice, find out what is new, share experiences, make contacts and have fun.

Who?

The Australasian Legal Practice Management Association, (ALPMA), is the peak body representing managers and lawyers with a legal practice management role. ALPMA provides an authoritative voice on issues relevant to legal practice management. Members of ALPMA provide professional management services to legal practices in areas of financial management, strategic management, technology, human resources, facilities and operational management, marketing and information services and technology.

What?

The Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) Summit 2018.

The theme of this year’s Summit:

Shaping the future firm – it starts with you.”

Registrations for the Summit are now open! Early bird registrations close on Tuesday, 31 July 2018.

When?

Wednesday, 19 September to Friday, 21 September 2018.

Where? 

International Convention Centre, Sydney, Australia

More Information

The full conference program is available here: http://alpmasummit.com.au/program

• Website: www.alpmasummit.com.au
• Contact: info@alpmasummit.com.au

This week we caught up with Sam Flynn co-founder of Josef Legal to talk legal innovation, law tech and how his new legal chatbot builder, Josef, is set to increase access to the law for the general community.

What is Josef and how does it work?

“Josef is a digital lawyer backed by a chatbot builder.

On our no-coding-required platform, legal organisations can build and launch their own chatbots without the need for expensive developers. These chatbots can help people resolve a legal problem, including by preparing a personalised document for them (such as a letter or agreement). Because all of these interactions are automated, it allows legal organisations to provide their services at scale.”

How did the idea for the platform first come about?

“Josef was borne out of a meeting in late 2016 with the heads of the major community legal centres in Australia. We were invited to help figure out how technology could be used to deal with access to justice issues.

The answer that we arrived at was a legal chatbot that could provide legal information and assistance to help people resolve their own legal problems.

That soon evolved into a chatbot builder which any legal organisation could use to build their own bot.”

What problem has Josef been developed to help solve?

“Josef was developed to bridge the access to justice gap.

This problem is demonstrated by the fact that of the 8.5 million Australians who face a legal problem every year, only 4 million seek any kind of legal assistance. The problem is worse in the US and the UK, where we are also operating.

For our business clients (such as law firms), this also represents an enormous latent market and an extraordinary opportunity which can be captured by using Josef to automate and scale services, streamline their organisations and connect with clients.”

What is Josef’s potential utility for community legal centres and law firms?

“Josef’s utility is to allow legal organisations to automate and scale legal services, streamline their organisations and connect with potential and current clients.

For community legal centres, this allows them to help as many people as possible, particularly in the face of a disconnect between increasing demand and decreasing funding. For law firms, this allows them to help more people while also letting them access a huge, unaddressed market, which in the US alone is valued at USD$50B.”

How can members of the public use your technology to find legal answers and who ensures the accuracy of legal information supplied?

“The content of the chatbots is developed by the community legal centres and law firms that build them. In this way, Josef brings expert legal knowledge to end users.

At the moment, all chatbots will be launched by the community legal centre or law firm, such as onto their website.

The first chatbot that has been launched on Josef is Health Complaints Assist.

This is a free chatbot which helps users make a complaint about health services, including by automatically drafting a letter for them! This chatbot is improving health services, one experience at a time, and could help thousands of people each year.”

What sort of reception has Josef received among the legal industry? Has the response surprised you? 

“We have had an extraordinary response from the legal industry.

In a few short months, we have signed up clients across Australia, the US and the UK, from CLCs to a large fintech company in New York.

Some people have found this surprising, because the legal industry is renowned as a conservative industry. However, we think it makes perfect sense given the ongoing conversation about the need for the legal industry to technologise and modernise and the fact that it doesn’t make sense that so many people are not getting the legal help they need.

We have the legal expertise, and now we have the technology, so why wouldn’t we help them?”

What are a few long-term goals that you would like to achieve?

“In the long-term, we want to change the way that legal services are provided to ensure that people get help whenever and wherever they need it. We want to get to the stage where people who have a legal problem seek legal assistance, just like people who have a health problem see a doctor.”

What are the cost implications for users?

The Law Society of NSW’s “Just Art” exhibition opens tonight. The exhibit is a unique collection of artworks that reflect on the concept of justice and our justice system.

President of The Law Society of NSW, Doug Humphreys, says “Just Art” gives artistic members of the legal profession and artists who share a motivation for justice the opportunity to celebrate the rule of law through a creative medium.

These artworks fuse the world of law and expression to produce perhaps the most powerful collection of art in NSW exploring the concept of justice and the strengths and vulnerabilities of our justice system,” Mr Humphreys said.

Artworks include paintings, prints, digital illustrations, photography, video and portraits including those of the Honourable Justice Michael Kirby and the Honourable Justice James Macken.

A percentage of proceeds from “Just Art” will be donated to the President’s 2018 Charity, The Butterfly Foundation.

The People’s Choice Award will be presented on opening night tonight, Wednesday 27 June, 6:30pm.

When?

“Just Art” opens tonight, Wednesday 27 June 2018 @ 6:30pm and runs until 1 July 2018.

Opening hours: Thursday to Friday (8.30am – 6.00pm) and Saturday to Sunday (10.00am – 4.00pm)

Where?

The Law Society of NSW, Level 2, 170 Phillip Street, Sydney.

Can’t make it?

The catalogue can be viewed on The Law Society of NSW website.

Modern slavery is a crime that almost always goes unpublished and unreported.

The Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia handed down its recommendations a few short months ago. With new legislation set to be introduced in State and Federal Parliaments this year, Australia could soon be a world leader in stamping out modern slavery. So what better time to learn more about the issue and the proposed new legislation?

World Law Forum invites you to register for a one day conference on the subject of modern slavery on
29 June 2018. The conference provides a unique platform for discussion and debate.

Where?

St. Bennedict’s Hall, 104 Broadway, Chippendale NSW 2008.

When?

Friday, 29th of June, 2018

Why?

The aim of the conference is to:

• Create a dialogue between businesses, civil society, policymakers and other key stakeholders, and to strengthen efforts surrounding the issue of modern slavery
• Present ideas and resources to help or support those interested in working in this field
• Provide a platform of collaboration across a diverse group of attendees.

Agenda

• Addressing modern slavery with legislation
• Recognition of modern slavery in Australia
• Identifying modern slavery: forms, signs, response, and support
• Organ trafficking and transplant tourism in the Asia-Pacific Region
• The extent to which existing laws cover modern slavery
• Panel discussion on regulating human rights in global supply chains
• Gender and modern slavery – protecting women’s rights
• Facilitating transparency and changing company culture
• Panel discussion on the next steps necessary to tackle modern slavery

Current list of speakers

• Hon. Jose Ramos-Horta, Co-recipient of Nobel Peace Prize 1996 & Former President of Timor-Leste (VC)
• Hon. Chris Crewther, Member of Parliament (VC)
• Hon. Paul Green, Member of Legislative Council NSW
• Jenny Stanger, National Manager, The Freedom Partnership
• Carsten Primdal, Founder, Vantage Compliance
• Amy Sinclair, Regional Representative (Australia, NZ & Pacific), Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
• Madeleine Bridgett, Barrister, 6 St James Hall Chambers & Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
• Bronwyn Byrnes, Barrister, 6 St James Hall Chambers
• Benedict Coyne, Executive Counsel, Anderson Fredericks Turner
• Monica Ramesh, Independent Ethical Supply Chain Consultant
• Kate Eastman SC, Barrister, New Chambers Sydney
• Professor Justine Nolan, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, UNSW Sydney

Register

BucketOrange Magazine readers receive a 20% discount!

Use the promotional code “OFF20” when registering.

More Information

For more information about the conference and registrations, click here.

For corporate bookings (or bookings for more than 3 delegates):

• Email pbakshi@worldlawforum.org for discounted rates; or
• Phone: +61 449 886 930

This conference has been designed to meet the CPD needs of lawyers, according to the Legal Profession Uniform CPD (Solicitors) Rules 2015. You may claim 1 CPD unit for each hour of attendance (breaks not included).

This June, we caught up with Peter Jidesten, CEO of new tech startup iDefendo, to talk file transfers, blockchain technology, and how his company is helping individuals and businesses to protect their intellectual property rights.

What is iDefendo and how can the platform help individuals or businesses?

“iDefendo is a file transfer service that targets IP intensive and creative businesses.

In addition to just transferring files from sender to recipient, we also create a digital timeline of events that can be used to prove that you really did send a specific file at a specific date and time and that a recipient really did download it at some other specific date and time.

These time stamps are then inserted into a blockchain to make them immutable so that you can use them to prove that what you claim happened really did happen. We call these logged timestamps ‘Digital Witnesses’ because that’s really what they are. They don’t prove anything by themselves, but they corroborate our users’ side of the story, and as an iDefendo user you can access them all in an Evidence Binder that we create automatically for you.

We believe that it’s generally good for business and progress when people dare to share their ideas.

It’s our hope that our system can help generate needed trust by making it transparent to the parties in a transaction that everything is logged and provable, and that our digital witnesses are present as a deterrent for anyone who might otherwise think about behaving badly.”

How to did you come up with the idea for iDefendo and what made you decide to use blockchain technology for file transfers?

“We, the founders of iDefendo, have a background as content creators and buyers and sellers of publishing and usage rights. In that space, creators have a very real fear of getting their music, images or ideas stolen. We also talked to inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs and found the exact same worries in those spaces.

It became clear to us that the point in time when people feel the most unprotected is when they send out their content without a contract in place, so we designed iDefendo to be the tool that you use at that exact point.

Making use of blockchain technology was really almost unavoidable; trust-between-parties-who-don’t-know-each-other is more or less what blockchains are all about, with their distributed ledgers that can be verified by all parties.”

Blockchain technology has been around for a while. What is iDefendo’s key point of difference?

“Indeed, blockchains are not new anymore, and the hype around them is slowly starting to fade. Personally, I welcome that as I think it will make it easier for people to see where blockchains really are the better solution instead of just the hottest buzzword. I’ve seen more than a few implementations where blockchains were shoehorned into solutions where virtually any other data storage technology would have made more sense.

That said, in the right place a blockchain database that can be verified by all stakeholders can create the trust that acts as the grease that makes business run smoother.

But blockchains are highly technical and not necessarily easy to wrap one’s head around. That’s what we hope iDefendo will change by making blockchains useful to all and greasing the wheels of whatever business they are in.”

Being able to prove authorship of documents, when documents were sent and downloaded (and by who) can be critical to a favourable outcome in litigation, particularly in an intellectual property dispute. Has iDefendo experienced much traction in the legal sector and was this something you anticipated before launching?

“When we set out to build iDefendo, our primary target was people in our own backyard – freelancers of all kinds, photographers, songwriters, designers and software developers among others. But when, in preparation for the launch, we spoke to several different lawyers, it soon became clear that legal professionals not only very quickly grasped what we were trying to achieve, they also saw the use for it within their own areas of expertise. Because it’s exactly as you say: being able to prove something is often key. Sure, as a creator of something you generally own the copyright to that something, but how do you prove that? If the something happens to be sensitive or secret, you can’t really register it anywhere. And it’s not always clear from the outset what will be valuable in the future, so even if you could register it you might not be aware that you should until it’s too late.

iDefendo addresses both these problems. First, our digital witnesses are based on cryptographic hashes of whatever content they represent. That means that we don’t have to know anything about the content, or even see the file itself. All we need is the hash – the fingerprint – of the content. And secondly, we automatically log everything so that our users don’t have to worry about forgetting to log something that later will prove to be important.”

In the light of the recent Facebook privacy scandals involving Huawei and Cambridge Analytica, many users are concerned about sending information, particularly commercially sensitive information, using online services. How does iDefendo address these concerns?

“Information security is extremely important to us, for obvious reasons. We’ve built the system using best practices in all areas, with industrial strength end-to-end encryption both while files are in transit and when they are ‘at rest’ within our system. As soon as we don’t need the files anymore because the share has expired, they are securely wiped from our system.

We keep only the files we must keep in order to fulfill the file transfers. And as I mentioned earlier, for highly sensitive information that should never leave the security of the computer or local network, our digital witnesses can still be used without our servers ever seeing the content at all. All we need is a cryptographic hash, and that hash can be created locally within the user’s browser. Cryptographic hashes are the result of one-way hash functions, meaning that they can’t be ‘decrypted’ or leak any information about the content they represent.”

How much does it cost to use iDefendo?

“We have a subscription-based fixed per-seat-per-month pricing that allows virtually unlimited use of the service.

So there are no per-instance fees, once you’re a subscriber you’re free to use the system as much as you want. A subscription costs $120 per user and year, or $12 per month and also includes all necessary storage of the files you send. There is a free tier as well, where we offer much of the same service but that doesn’t include the blockchain-based Digital Witnesses that are automatically created for our paying customers.”

You mention that iDefendo logs everything. How is this compatible with companies’ data retention policies?

“Blockchain records are, as you probably know, immutable. That’s a core feature of the technology, and it’s the primary reason why we use them in iDefendo.

But the immutability might be a problem when you need to clean out something, for compliance or any other reason. To counter that, we’ve built technology that lets users invalidate records that should no longer point back to their owner. By doing so the records are effectively rendered unreadable, and only the owner can re-validate them later as long as they retain the key.

So basically, to remove a record, the user only needs to throw away the validation key in a manner that is consistent with their retention policies. iDefendo does not store these keys in our system at all, so we cannot be called upon to divulge them even if we are subpoenaed.”

Further Information

To learn more, visit iDefendo.

Love lawyering, writing essays, and unleashing your competitive spirit?

Well, have we got the comp for you!

The Australian Accident Helpline’s essay competition “Australia’s Next Top Lawyer” is aimed at undergraduate law students around Australia. The award aims to encourage, reward and recognise young talent and to give the winning applicant an edge in a highly competitive junior legal sector.

Topic:

What do you think is the most important development in Australian legal history?”

Length:

3000 words. A word length of 10% above or below 3000 words will be accepted.

Deadline:

Entries close Monday 1 October 2018. All entries will be judged by a panel of senior lawyers. Winners will be announced in late October.

Eligibility:

To be eligible, you must be an Australian resident undergraduate studying law.

Prize:

$5,000 to assist with studies and bragging rights as “Australia’s Next Top Lawyer!”

To enter:

Fill out your details in the online form and upload your essay here.

This competition is sponsored by Australian Accident Helpline.

Lawyering: it’s a physical and psychological scrimmage.

Official advice focuses on workplace best practice guidelines. Pace yourself, take regular work breaks, get enough food, sleep, and exercise. But the reality is that law life is a combat zone – you do what you can in the time that you have and in the circumstances that you find yourself in.

Often this means sacrificing food, sleep, and personal needs, not to mention pulling all-nighters right before exams or that major work deadline. Hurl.

While toiling under extreme work or study conditions is not something we endorse, if you must do it then make sure you’re doing it right.

According to a study of children and teenagers following major surgery, music was capable of reducing physical pain. The effects were even more pronounced where children chose their own music.

Dr Lynn Webster from the American Academy of Pain Medicine says music:

Can generate not only a focus and reduction in anxiety, but it can induce a feeling of euphoria.”

In another study, two daily sessions of music relieved chronic pain symptoms related to conditions such fibromyalgia, inflammatory disease, or neurological conditions as well as anxiety and depression linked to chronic pain.

So if you find yourself in worlds of work or study hurt, here are our picks of the best tracks to ease your legally burdened mind.

Think we’ve missed any classic legally-themed songs? Let us know in the comments!

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