2009 AUSA Conference

Keynote Presenters

Prof Ron McCallum AO

University of Sydney

Portrait photograph of Prof Ron McCallum

Ron McCallum AO is Professor of Labour Law and former Dean of Law, University of Sydney. He has lectured and written on most aspects of labour relations law, and is the inaugural President of the Australian Labour Law Association. Professor McCallum has been teaching occupational health and safety law for more than twenty years. In 1996-7 he chaired a Panel of Review into the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1983 (NSW) which began the process for the enactment of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 (NSW). Ron is also a Deputy-Chair of Vision Australia,which is Australia's largest blind organisation. In November 2008 at the United Nations in New York, Professor McCallum was elected as one of twelve members of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, whose task it is to monitor the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. At the Committee's inaugural meeting in Geneva last February, Ron was elected as general rapporteur to the Committee. He is married to Professor Mary Crock, and they have one daughter and two sons.

Dr Chris Darling

Portrait photograph of Chris Darling

Manager Safety, Health & Risk

Australia & New Zealand Steel Manufacturing Businesses

BlueScope Steel

Dr Chris Darling qualified as a medical practitioner in 1975 and received his specialist qualifications in 1984. He specialised in Occupational Medicine, the study of the impact of work on health and of health on work. Since 1980 he has worked in a variety of industries including military aviation, iron ore mining, the oil and gas industry and, currently, the steel industry.

In 2001 he accepted a slight career change when he was appointed as the Manager - Safety, Health & Risk for BlueScope Steel overseeing these activities at the Port Kembla Steelworks and the New Zealand Steelworks. In 2008 his accountabilities expanded to include facilities in Hastings (Victoria) and all the operating facilities within the Illawarra.

Chris is accountable for all the activities of a broad Safety, Health & Risk team which includes not just task based safety but also process safety, health and hygiene, contractor safety, emergency response and fitness to work.

Jennifer Sims

BridgeClimb Sydney

Portrait photograph of Jennifer Sims

Jennifer Sims is the OHS & Environment Manager for BridgeClimb Sydney. BridgeClimb Sydney opened in October 1998 and were the world's first bridge climbing tourism operator. In just over ten years, they have welcomed over 2.3 million Climbers from over 137 different countries and territories to the summit of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Jennifer's current role at BridgeClimb drives the continual improvement of OHS, Injury Management & Environmental initiatives, whilst ensuring legislative compliance and best-practice standards are maintained. She came to BridgeClimb Sydney seeking out new challenges in workplace injury prevention following a career in the field of occupational rehabilitation. Jennifer possesses a Bachelor of Applied Sciences (Hons) in Occupational Therapy.

Ensuring the absolute safety of customers and team members is one of the "fundamental truths" of BridgeClimb's ongoing corporate success. Over the past ten years, BridgeClimb has bred a thorough safety culture through good old fashioned 'hard work' on policies and systems plus leadership of the team to take ownership of all safety initiatives.

Marc McLaren

Portrait photograph of Marc McLaren

B.Soc Stud, MAASW, MEAPAA, MAITD

Marc McLaren was the founding Director, and now Executive Manager of the Drake WorkWise Safety 4Life Division.

Marc specialises in developing and delivering innovative safety culture change initiatives, safety leadership development, training and coaching, belief based behavioural safety, strategic safety planning, safety management system design, and consultancy services within the workplace. Safety4Life provides a range of services for clients like, BHP Billiton, Brambles, CHEP Asia Pacific, BlueScope Steel, IAG, BMA Coal, and Loy Yang Power.

Marc has worked in the "people" side of the safety arena both in Australia and overseas during the past 10 years. He is a passionate advocate of the benefits to be gained through focussing on leadership, and people's beliefs and behaviours, to achieve real progress and sustainable outcomes on the Zero Harm safety journey.

Simon Lane

Offsite Human Resources

Portrait photograph of Simon Lane

Simon Lane has held senior Human Resources executive roles in Blue Chip Australian Companies - Commonwealth Bank, TNT, Coles Myer Department Stores Group, AWA, Mitsubishi Electric, Australian Airlines, and the State Rail Authority of NSW. His accomplishments include large scale outsourcing and merger/acquisition work, the successful negotiation of over 60 enterprise agreements, the development of work-based Masters of Business programs, and sizable organisational restructures. He is the author of the CCH HR Master Guide - Outsourcing HR (2002-2009) and HR Consulting (2009).

Simon is based in Sydney and has worked for over 30 years in the field of human resource management. As Managing Director of Offsite Human Resource, he specialises in mergers and acquisitions, change management, executive coaching, development of on-line HR solutions, and business strategy facilitation and development. Simon also provides strategic facilitation of teams, negotiations on enterprise agreements, design and delivery of people management development programs as well as a wide range of other human resources activities. Simon also is a Director or owner of 5 other organisations in Australia, the UK and the USA.

Simon has a Master of Commerce (Major in Workplace Relations), a Post Graduate Diploma in Employment Law, Diplomas in both human resources, and occupational health and safety. He is a member of the American Society of Training and Development, American HR Planning Society, Society for Human Resource Management (UK), Australian Institute of Training and Development, Australian Institute of Management, American Society of Human Resources, NSW Industrial Relations Institute, International Coach Federation and is a Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute. He is a member of the Advisory Council to the World HRD Congress.

Tony Morris

The Brief Group

Portrait photograph of Tony Morris

Tony is director and co-founder of The Brief Group, Australia's only workplace safety consultancy to blend both legal and practical experience. Prior to starting The Brief Group, Tony was a Senior Lawyer for WorkCover's OHS Prosecutions Branch. He now directs The Brief Group's consulting and training divisions with a team of technically strong, service focused safety professionals who offer clients the most complete and legislatively compliant solutions to OHS system and hazard specific risk. Tony has extensive, specialist knowledge and experience on OHS issues and the law.

 

Bruce Whitehead

The Brief Group

Portrait photograph of Tony Morris

Bruce is the co-founder of The Brief Group, previously employed as a WorkCover Lawyer and Police Prosecutor. Bruce's role involves strategic advice to clients, quality assurance, precedent development and training such as mock courts and due diligence briefings throughout Australasia to Boards and senior management teams of publicly listed and private corporations, employer associations, Chartered Secretaries Association, Universities (Guest speaker), The Executive Connection (TEC Resource Speaker) and business network groups.

Dr David Cooper

International SOS

Portrait photograph of David Cooper

BMed MMgt MBA FACEM

Regional Medical Director- Assistance- Australasia, International SOS, Sydney Australia.
Adjunct Associate Professor in Disaster Medicine
Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Dr David Cooper is the Regional Medical Director - Assistance, Australasia for International SOS the largest international medical assistance company. In this role he is responsible for the management of expatriates, clients and travelers health needs all over the world.

An emergency physician by clinical training, David was most recently the Foundation Chair and Associate Professor of Disaster Medicine at the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre in Darwin and is regarded as one of Australia's experts in mass casualty management and the organisational arrangements in disaster planning and response.

Dr Cooper developed the Australian Mass Casualty Burn Disaster Plan (AUSBURNPLAN) commissioned by the Australian Health Ministers following the Bali bombing of 2002 and the plan was activated during the recent Victorian bushfire disaster. He has also responded to many disasters on behalf of the Australian Government, including the tsunami and the Yogyakarta earthquake, where he led the AusAID medical team. He has also been responsible for the health aspects of many mass gatherings, including the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the 2003 Rugby World Cup and World Youth Day 2008.

His current role at International SOS gives him a direct understanding of the globalised work force, particularly the health risks staff and the complex logistics necessary to provide healthcare to injured and ill patients in challenging locations.

Costa Zakis

Marsh Risk Consulting

Portrait photograph of Costa Zakis

Costa Zakis is a National Manager within the Risk Consulting Practise of global insurance broker and risk advisor Marsh, specialising in the delivery of business risk management services including enterprise risk managment, business continuity, crisis management and supply chain risk. With over 20 years of practical experience in risk as well as a background in engineering, business and emergency management, Costa has been able to work with a number of private and public sector organisations to develop practical risk management solutions that complement business operations. He has worked across a wide range of industry sectors both in Australia and abroad and has consulted to a number of high profile clients including the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games. A regular conference presenter, Costa is also a trainer and industry technical adviser in specialist fields risk including business continuity management and emergency management and sits on a number of national advisory panels in these fields.

Colin Sakinofsky

S2F

Portrait photograph of Colin Sakinofsky

Colin Sakinofsky brings 25 years experience in the architectural field and has been a leading contributor to many landmark building projects in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and South Africa. He provides projects and clients alike with strong Design Brief Management and Conceptual Planning Skills and brings to his projects a sound knowledge of building design and construction principles.

Colin's extensive knowledge and experience in High Technology and Controlled Environment and Containment Design includes most laboratory types, such as, Biology, Chemistry, Structural Biology (900 NMR and Cryo Microscopy), cGMP Human Applications and Animal Research. This includes Biological Containment, OGTR & AQIS approved Research Facilities.

In addition to his specialist laboratory skills, Colin provides Value Management Facilitator services and carries out Laboratory Compliance Inspections. The diverse nature of his experience in highly serviced buildings offers invaluable depth and understanding into building services and construction alternatives and achieves innovative solutions to the challenges presented by our Clients.

Colin's extensive list of pharmaceutical and laboratory projects include the design and construction of $100M GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) pharmaceutical facilities in Tianjin, China. This large construction project is regarded as one of the finest pharmaceutical facilities in China and one of GSK's premier facilities worldwide. Colin also played a major part in the laboratory design at one of Australia's showcase research facilities, the $100M University of Queensland / CSIRO Queensland Biotechnology Precinct.

 

Luis Martinez

S2F

Portrait photograph of Luis Martinez

After graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Degree (Electrical), Luis was awarded a cadetship at the Electricity Commission of NSW. During this time, he was employed in the Transmission Plant Engineering Division on substation design projects including Waratah West, Newcastle and Bunnerong substations.

In 1990, Luis moved into the position of Technical Consultant and then NSW Technical Manager at Festo, an industrial automation company. During his time at Festo, Luis was responsible for the electronic product range as well as design and project management of control systems. He gained broad experience in project engineering whilst working on a variety of projects at Alstom. His major projects involved acceptance and site testing, inspection plans, installation and commissioning of equipment and writing of specifications. Luis was involved in the installation and commissioning of the Paint Facilities Allen Bradley Process Control System and Citect SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) at Ford in Broadmeadows.

Luis gained valuable experience working with sterile environments through his role as Electrical Engineer at AstraZeneca. He was responsible for ensuring compliance with GAMP and also has experience with a wide range of specialised equipment including: control and instrumentation of the site's solution preparation suites. During his time at AstraZeneca, Luis gained experience in Siemens PLC and Wonderware SCADA.

During his time at S2F, Luis has worked on numerous general light and power projects both for general office, laboratories and manufacturing areas.

Most recently, Luis has been the Senior Electrical Engineer on both the DSTO Rationalisation Stage 2 at Fisherman's Bend and the RAAF Amberley Redevelopment Stage 3 for the Department of Defence.

Luis completed his Postgraduate Diploma in Management at Macquarie University in 2006, achieving a distinction average. Luis brings a great deal of project management and design experience to a project team and is valued for his functional approach to problem solving

Adam Garnys

CETEC Pty Ltd & Foray Pty Ltd

Adam Garnys is a Senior OH&S and Environmental Consultant for CETEC and Manager of the NSW operations. Five years experience in this role along with a BSc(Hons) degree qualification and previous employment with Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals in the UK have equipped Adam to conduct routine and highly specialised occupational and environmental risk assessments, such as laboratory design and decontamination, indoor air quality and hazardous material assessments, including radiation. In the Universities sector, Adam has led multiple large projects at UNSW and Sydney University, including decontamination of the Heffron, Dalton and Wallace Wurth Buildings and Bank, Badham and Physics Laboratories. At CETEC, Adam also works with Federal and State Governments and large corporate and construction companies to assist them in controlling their OH&S, environmental and property risks.

 

Dr Robert Schiller

CETEC Pty Ltd & Foray Pty Ltd

Since completing his PhD in Physical Chemistry he has worked as an Industrial Scientist with over twenty years experience. As Senior Consultant for CETEC and Technical Manager for FORAY Laboratories, Robert conducts OH&S and environmental risk assessments based upon AS4360. He incorporates the same approach in laboratory design risk assessments with the addition of AS2343, AS1940 and AS2430. He has worked with clients such as CSIRO and SA Water.

Robyn Hickie

Partner (Insurance Law & Litigation)

Lander & Rogers

Portrait photograph of Robyn Hickie

Robyn has developed extensive public liability, workers compensation and motor accident expertise, having acted on behalf of a range of licensed insurers, scheme agents, specialised insurers and corporate entities.

Robyn has been involved in implementing incentive projects for insurers, conducting claims audits, and delivering training programs for claims staff and employers. Robyn has also assisted insurers and employers with submissions to the Insurance Council of Australia, the Workcover Authority of NSW and the Law Society of NSW, in relation to proposed legislative amendments.

Robyn's particular areas of expertise include:

  • public liability disputes;
  • complex multi-defendant litigation, involving assessment of liability and damages under different statutory schemes, as well as contractual and indemnity issues;
  • workers compensation disputes in both Workcover and coal mining jurisdictions;
  • work injury damages disputes;
  • early settlement strategies;
  • s.151Z recoveries;
  • death claims;
  • premium/estimate disputes;
  • claims risk management strategies.

Robyn commenced private practice in 1989, specialising in liability insurance and workers' compensation matters and was promoted to senior associate in 1992. In 1994, Robyn transferred to an in-house legal department within a large insurer, specialising in the conduct of personal injury litigation, recovery matters, risk management, tail management strategies and alternative dispute resolution.

Trish Cavanagh

Employers Mutual

Portrait photograph of Trish Cavanagh

Trish has twelve years workers compensation experience and joined Employers Mutual in 2000. Prior to this Trish has worked extensively in Occupational Rehabilitation providing return to work services to Injured Workers, Employers and Insurers/Agents as well as OHS consulting services.

Prior to commencing the role of Senior Group Case Manager, Trish has worked in a variety of roles with Employers Mutual including Senior Injury Management Advisor to Provider Relationship Manager. Trish has extensive experience in managing workers' compensation for Universities.

In her current role Trish is responsible for the pro-active and effective management of the NSW Claims management department.

Mark Shoesmith

Workers' Compensation Specialist
Oxley Workers Compensation Solutions, Oxley Insurance Brokers Group

Portrait photograph of Mark Shoesmith

Oxley Workers Compensation Solutions Pty Ltd is a business located on the Mid North Coast which was established in 2002 with the main aim of working with Employers to assist them in reducing their workers compensation premiums!

Manager/Director Mark Shoesmith has nearly 25 years experience in the Workers Compensation Insurance industry. This career started with an Employer dealing with their Workers Compensation Insurance claims, then moving to an Insurer where he spent 17 years managing claims and business accounts before moving to Port Macquarie to establish a Workers Compensation Division now known as 'Oxley Workers Compensation Solutions'.

Oxley Workers Compensation Solutions has clients from Sydney in the south to Tweed Heads in the North and their service is completely mobile so that they come to you and work 'solely in your interest' to ensure that your workers compensation premiums are minimised wherever possible!

As they specialise in workers compensation insurance they are able to keep up to date with all of the legal requirements and ensure they fully utilise the legislation to their advantage to reduce their client's workers compensation premiums. OWCS prides itself in providing excellent customer service which includes expert advice on all aspects of your workers compensation insurance and budgeting tools to project the impact of claims on premiums and the strategies required to reduce this impact.

Their team can offer excellent assistance to ensure that your businesses profitability is improved through expense reduction strategies. They have a proven track records of saving their clients thousands of dollars on their Workers Compensation premiums which in turn makes their business more profitable and their cost structures are flexible to suit their clients needs.

Sharlene Wellard

Partner
Australian Business Lawyers

B.Hosp, LLB, M.Com (HR/IR)

Portrait photograph of Sharlene Wellard

Sharlene joined Australian Business Lawyers in February 2000. She spent the previous five years advising and representing employers in the hospitality industry on a broad range of industrial relations, employment services and training issues.

While working with Australian Business Lawyers, Sharlene has acted for employers in a wide range of industries including manufacturing, mining, logistics, pharmaceutical, security, clerical and retail.

Sharlene is an experienced advocate and advises and represents clients in many areas of industrial relations and employment law, including industrial disputes, enterprise agreements, underpayment claims, breach of contract claims, discrimination complaints and unfair and unlawful dismissals. She provides strategic advice to employers in relation to managing workplace change, including advice in the areas of restructuring, redundancies, drafting and implementing policies and employment contracts.

In August 2005, Sharlene was elected to the Executive Committee of the Industrial Relations Society of New South Wales, and is currently the Assistant Secretary.

Marilyn Scott

Senior Lecturer in Dispute Resolution (UTS) & Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of NSW

Portrait photograph of Marilyn Scott

Marilyn Scott graduated as one of the first UTS Master of Laws students majoring in Dispute Resolution. She later joined the Faculty in 1995 as the Director of the Centre for Dispute Resolution. In this position, Marilyn pioneered the Faculty's distinctive dispute resolution program.

Her qualifications as a lawyer, arbitrator, practicing mediator and negotiation strategist bring practical experience to her teaching. Marilyn has been a Visiting Scholar at the Strauss Institute, Pepperdine University, California and has been trained in Mediation and Negotiation at Harvard Law School, Boston to the Advanced level.

Marilyn is currently a Vice-President of Collaborative Professionals (NSW) Inc, a not-for-profit organization promoting the new developing Collaborative Practice. The first training in Collaborative Practice by an Australian university was presented in the Faculty's Professional Development program under her guidance. Marilyn has also held membership of both the NSW Law Society ADR Committee and the Arbitration Liaison Committee over many years and is a member of the Society's panel of mediators.

Michael McQueen

The Nexgen Group

Portrait photograph of Michael McQueen

Michael McQueen is a Sydney-based speaker, social researcher and business owner. Graduating from the University of Wollongong in 2002, he is the founder of a training and consultancy company called The Nexgen Group.

Nexgen's mission is to partner with employers, parents and schools to assist young people in making a successful transition from school to work. Over the past 4 years, Michael and his organisation have worked with over 85,000 people around Australia and South East Asia.

Michael has written two bestselling books. His first book, The 'New' Rules of Engagement focuses on demographic trends and strategies for engaging with Generation Y, while his second book Memento; The Gift of a Lifetime is designed to help parents and grandparents pass on a legacy of wisdom to the next generation. Michael is sought after internationally as a conference keynote presenter and features regularly on Television and Radio programs. In addition to his work in the government and education sectors, Michael's corporate clients have included Vodafone, Pepsi and Lenovo.

Gary Rowe

Chief Executive Officer, Safety Action Pty Ltd

Gary Rowe is the CEO of Safety Action Pty Ltd, an innovative safety consultancy based in Melbourne, and was previously the inaugural safety co-ordinator for Swinburne University (formerly Swinburne Institute of Technology), one of Melbourne's universities, at the start of his safety career. Gary is a Certified Practicing Risk Manager (CPRM), with over 20 years experience in safety management. His qualifications include:

  • Bachelor of Civil Engineering
  • Graduate Diploma in Education and
  • Graduate Diploma in Occupational Hazard Management.

Gary has conducted risk management and safety assignments around Australia and overseas including China, Sweden, Thailand, US, Malaysia and South Africa.

Today Gary is going to tell us about influencing change as a safety professional in tertiary educational institutions. His session will include tips on:

  • Building professional capability and credibility
  • Separating facts from opinions
  • Indentifying, managing and influencing your key stakeholder groups
  • Effective communication techniques including dealing with criticism, the "4 to 1 Rule" and more.