Seminars

Upcoming Seminars/Conferences

 

Australian Charity Law Association Annual Conference
Dates: Friday 10th - Saturday 11th September 2010
Venue: Novotel Brighton Beach, Sydney

This Conference will be a great opportunity for anyone with an interest in charity law to network and learn abour the latest legal issues faced by charities.

David Ford will be presenting on the topic of "Tax issues of Schools, School Building funds and Public Ancillary funds - scholarship funds" on the first day of the Conference.

Click here for further information and/or to register.

 

2010 ANZELA Conference
Dates:  Wednesday 29 September - Friday 1st October
Venue:  NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre, 37 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills

This conference will be a great opportunity for teachers, school principals and others who have an interest in education law to connect with each other and gain valuable insight into current education law issues. 

David Ford, together with Andrew Knott and Professor Sally Kit, will be hosting a symposium on cyberbullying. The question “Is the law part of the solution to the problem of cyber bullying occurring in schooling contexts?” will be discussed on Friday 1st October in the afternoon. This interactive session should spark some interesting discussions. The symposium will be chaired by Professor Patrick Parkinson of the Faculty of Law at the University of Sydney. Patrick is a specialist in family law and child protection and has authored several books in this and related areas.

Click here for more information and registration details.

 

Recent Seminars/Conferences


Legalwise School Law 2010
Date: 4 June 2010
Venue: Hilton Sydney, 488 George Street, Sydney

David Ford presented a paper on the topic of Managing the Risks in Off-Campus Activities. His talk covered issues such as:

The duty of care; a non-delegable duty;
The standard of care, foreseeability and probability;
Practical guidelines and principles and the risk management process;
Can the risks be managed? 

Click here to view David Ford's seminar paper "Managing the Risks in Off-Campus Activities".
 

ADAPE NSW/ACT Workshop
Date: 26 May 2010 at 3pm

David Ford presented a workshop on current tax implications that are relevant to school and university fundraisers, particularly relating to capital works, scholarships and bursaries. Main issues discussed were:

Maintaining your DGR funds
Building, Library and Scholarship funds
What is a gift?
Undue influence and gifts
Tax effective structures for donors


UNSW School Law Alert 2010
Date: 20 May 2010 at 8.30am - 1.00pm
Venue: Grace Hotel, 77 York Street, Sydney

David Ford presented on the topic of "Parents in Education", covering such issues as:

What if they mislead the school?
Do they have a duty of care to their children?
Can they take discipline of other children into their own hands?
Are they free to sound off about teachers?
Can they come and go as they please?
 

Click here to view David Ford's seminar paper "Parents in Education".

 

National Centre Against Bullying Conference 2010
Navigating the Maze:  Cybersafety and wellbeing solutions for schools
Venue:  Hilton on the Park, Melbourne
Date:  8-10 April 2010

David Ford, Sally Kift and Andrew Knott will be presenting a workshop on Cyberbullying. 

Targets of face-to-face bullying have increasingly turned to the law for redress, and it is likely that targets of cyberbullying will seek to do the same.  Generally, the law struggles to keep apace with advances in technology and cyberbullying is no diffferent.  This presentation will explore the application of legal responses to cyberbullying in schools and will examine how effective the law is likely to be for prevention and intervention, in its criminal, civil, and employment aspects.  It also looks at the reasonable steps a school should take to minimise the risks of students and teachers being bullied in cyberspace.  For more details visit http://www.amf.org.au/NCABConference/


Ways Youth Services
Youth Forum 2010 - "Cybersafety and Bullying"
Venue: WAYS at Bondi, 63a Wairoa Avenue, Bondi Beach
Date: 25th March, 2010 between 10am-11am

 

David Ford will be presenting an information session on Cybersafety and Bullying. The forum will be an interactive and fun exploration of the topic so that the knowledge gained is able to be applied by students in their day to day lives.
 

Association of School Business Administrators Conference 2009
5-9 October 2009
Venue: National Convention Centre, Canberra, Australia

David Ford presented the topic “Handling Future Legal & Risk Management Directions”.

“The ASBA09 Conference committee are establishing a program which aims to be highly educational and thought provoking and reflective of challenges facing today’s learning environments. The Conference program will also include some exciting and interesting social options taking advantage of the unique setting.” For more details visit the ASBA2009 website www.asba2009.com.


ANZELA Twilight Seminar
Tuesday, 24th November 2009, 4.45-6.00pm
Venue: Sydney Grammar School


Dr Marilyn Campbell, Associate Professor of the School of Learning and Professional Studies (QLD University of Technology) presented a talk on Cyber Bullying in Schools.


ANZELA 18th Annual Conference
(Australia & New Zealand Education Law Association)
30 September - 2 October 2009
Venue: Victoria University Conference Centre, Melbourne, Victoria

Garry Pritchard and David Ford both spoke at this conference. Garry's presentation was on the topic “Business Continuity Management for Schools” and David presented on the topic “Managing the Risks in Off-Campus Activities”.

 “The theme (of the conference) focussed on the nature and types of risk involved in education generally and in particular in schools, tertiary institutions and policy. New areas such as sport, construction, employment law and ICT were included to reflect the ever changing challenges facing educators and administrators in this context.”


Association of School Business Administrators Conference 2009
5-9 October 2009
Venue: National Convention Centre, Canberra, Australia

David Ford presented the topic “Handling Future Legal & Risk Management Directions”.

“The ASBA09 Conference committee are establishing a program which aims to be highly educational and thought provoking and reflective of challenges facing today’s learning environments. The Conference program will also include some exciting and interesting social options taking advantage of the unique setting.” For more details visit the ASBA2009 website www.asba2009.com.

 

School Law Update 2009
Date: 25 June 2009
Venue: Grace Hotel, 77 York Street, Sydney

David Ford was one of the presenters at this School Law seminar. His topic was the Enrolment Contract and he covered:
 

  • Misleading & deceptive conduct;
  • Contract with whom?;
  • The application form;
  • Steps before making an offer;
  • Disability discrimination issues;
  • Terms of enrolment contract dealing with “helicopter parents” confiscation/searching student possessions, use of images;
  • Interest on unpaid fees;
  • Privacy issues;
  • Family law issues.

Other seminar topics were:
 

  • Navigating the Intellectual Property minefield;
  • Effect of Wood Commission on Privacy and Employment;
  • Changes to the Child Protection regime following Wood Commission;
  • Bullying in schools - the limits of liability.

     

NSW Ombudsman Symposium 2009
Dates: 25-26 May 2009
Venue: Mercure Hotel, 818-820 George Street, Sydney?

David Ford was one of the presenters at the NSW Ombudsman Symposium in May 2009. David’s topic was Practical Issues for Investigators. He dealt with several issues that often arise in the course of investigations of allegations of reportable conduct against employees in schools. These include:

  • The extent to which the formal rules of evidence should be applied - it is easy to say they do not apply but does this mean they have no application at all?
  • The degree to which the investigator must be satisfied before making a finding of sustained or false - what does the burden of proof really mean?
  • How to deal with allegations of incidents which are said to have happened many, many years ago? Are the recollections of witnesses reliable? Are there recovered memories? Are there sincerely held but false memories? Can such allegations ever be sustained?
  • Whether and how to take into account prior allegations or findings of misconduct - are they relevant to the investigation or simply prejudicial to the person against whom the allegation has been made?
  • How to distinguish negligence from neglect - when is an allegation of neglect reportable conduct?
  • How exhaustive must an investigation be? Should the investigator follow up every lead? Is it appropriate to ask about the cost benefit when investigating allegations of reportable conduct?