8:45 AM - 9:30 AM

Conference Registration

9:30 AM - 9:40 AM

Housekeeping, Welcome & Acknowledgement of Country

9:40 AM - 10:20 AM

Where does a patient’s right to decline care end? - The conflict between a duty to act in a patient’s best interests and the patient’s right to self-determination.

Dr Michael Eburn

PhD (Law), MPET, BA (Hons), BCom.

Dr Eburn is the leading researcher in the area of emergency services, emergency management and the law. He is the author or co-author of three books and has made over 80 other contributions as book chapters, journal articles, professional publications and conference and professional development presentations. His blog, Australian Emergency Law is widely read and respected throughout the sector.

He has worked as an ambulance officer, a lawyer with NSW Health and he was, until 2022, an Associate Professor with the ANU College of Law. Dr Eburn is now an independent researcher continuing to work and write in the field of emergency response and emergency health care.

10:20 AM - 11:00 AM

Assessing and treating mature minors. Consent and disclosure issues in this age group

Kate Rowan-Robinson

RN BN PGradDipSexol MAppLaw MACN

Kate Rowan-Robinson is a registered nurse who specialises in clinical governance, with a background in sexology, and health and medical law. Kate works for the Australian government and within the private corporate health sector as an advisor on clinical governance, nursing and health service delivery. With a special interest in the intersection between legislation, regulation, best evidence-based practice, and operational delivery, Kate strives to simplify the complexities of law and professional obligations into practical solutions, that may be utilised to deliver high-quality healthcare. In addition to her usual work, Kate mentors nursing and healthcare students in her free time, and enjoys working collaboratively to develop their leadership skills and career pathways.

11:00 AM - 11:20 AM

Morning tea

11:20 AM - 12:00 PM

Coroners Act, the coronial processes and the considerations made by a coroner when hearing a case.

Sarah Linton

Deputy State Coroner, Western Australia. Bachelor of Laws at UWA, Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Anthropology

After completing a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Anthropology and a Bachelor of Laws at UWA, Ms Linton completed articles at a small law firm. She started at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions WA (ODPP) immediately after her admission in February 1997 as a professional assistant to the then Director, John McKechnie QC.

After about 18 months in that role Ms Linton transferred into a role as a Crown/State Prosecutor doing file and court work the position entailed. While still working for the ODPP, Ms Linton did two secondments to the Coroners Court as Counsel Assisting and also worked for six months at Victoria Legal Aid as a Solicitor. For the last period of her career at the ODPP, Ms Linton was involved in setting up the ODPP Appeals Team and then specialised in appeals until she was appointed as a Magistrate and Coroner in November 2013, commencing in the role in February 2014.

Ms Linton’s position as Coroner was renewed for another five years and, following Mr Barry King’s retirement, Ms Linton was appointed as the Deputy State Coroner on 1 January 2021.

12:00 PM - 12:40 PM

The Aishwarya Chavittupara inquest - from Aishwarya’s death to the findings of the Deputy State Coroner two years later. Incorporating tips for nurses and midwives about protecting your legal interests after a patient dies.

Belinda Burke

Director ANF Legal and Industrial Services, Bachelor of Laws (Hons) (UNE)

Belinda has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology (Curtin), a Graduate Diploma in Psychology (Curtin), a Masters in Business Administration (Edith Cowan University); a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) (UNE); and Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (ANU).

Belinda started working for the ANF in 2000 as an Industrial Officer where she ran the case to regulate nursing workloads for the first time in Australia outside Victoria in 2000, before the Full Bench of the Industrial Relations Commission, and subsequently studied law part time while continuing to work as an industrial officer, leaving the ANF for two years for her restricted legal practice before coming back to establish an in-house legal team for the ANF in 2011. That team began with Belinda alone and now comprises ten lawyers, led by Belinda, all working on a daily basis on behalf of nurse and midwife members.

Belinda has a vast wealth of experience spanning twenty-three years representing nurses and midwives confronting industrial, professional regulation, employment, criminal, and coronial matters and has appeared on behalf of nurses and midwives and the ANF in various courts and tribunals including the Industrial Relations Commission (now the Fair Work Commission); the State Administrative Tribunal; the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission; Workcover WA; the District Court of Western Australia; the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; the State Administrative Tribunal; the Magistrates Court; the Coroners Court of Western Australia; and the Federal Court of Australia.

Belinda most recently represented the nurses in the coronial inquest into the death of Aishwarya Aswath Chavittupara where the Deputy State Coroner adopted all of the recommendations put forward on behalf of nurses.

12:40 PM - 1:20 PM

International law and human rights – the dawn of a new age in maternity health care

Dr. Bashi Kumar-Hazard

Chair, Human Rights in Childbirth

Bashi Kumar- Hazard is Principal of BWLaw, Lecturer at Sydney University Law School and the Chair of Human Rights in Childbirth, an international NGO dedicated to defending the human and legal rights of women and newborns. She has represented families in coronial inquiries and represented women and infants who have suffered harm through health services. She completed a PhD on anti-competitive behaviours in Australia’s maternity health sector and has comprehensive legal and economic knowledge of Australia’s health systems and maternity health services. She works with the WHO and collaborates with lawyers in international jurisdictions to build human rights knowledge and legal capacity. She is committed to transforming maternity health services to health care that respects the human rights of mothers and babies across the globe. She has co-editted a book called “Birthing Outside the System: The Canary in the Coalmine”.

1:20 PM - 2:00 PM

Lunch

2:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Adverse Events in the workplace - How to prepare a statement, what to include, when to do it, how to do it, and what to do with it when it is done

Jennifer Lee

Senior Lawyer, ANF Legal and Industrial Services

Jennifer is a Senior Lawyer at ANF Legal Services, specialising in delivering legal advice and representation for nurses, midwives and carers on a range of work-related legal matters.

Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Psychology, from the University of Western Australia and a Juris Doctor and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (with Distinction) from the Australian National University. Jennifer was admitted to practise as a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 2013.

Jennifer has 10 years of experience practising in the areas of professional regulation, employment law, criminal law, and coronial inquiries and inquests. Jennifer has appeared as counsel before various courts and tribunals, including the State Administrative Tribunal, the Coroner’s Court, the Magistrates Court, the District Court and the Court of Appeal.

Outside of work, Jennifer enjoys hiking and she recently completed the Cape to Cape Track and the Cradle Mountain Summit Walk.

2:30 PM - 3:10 PM

Advance health directives

Associate Professor Meredith Blake

SFHEA, Deputy Head of School (Learning and Teaching), Director of International Partnerships and Exchange, Scholars at Risk National (Australian) Network UWA Representative

Associate Professor Meredith Blake is Deputy Head of School (Learning and Teaching) at UWA Law School. Meredith has been teaching and researching in the areas of health law and policy and criminal law for over twenty years, commencing her academic career at King’s College London. She has served on the Ethical Committee of the Genetic Council of WA, was a member of the UWA Human Research Ethics Committee for over 9 years and is currently an ambassador for Advance Care Planning Australia. Meredith was a member of the Advance Care Planning Education Reference Group, advising on the content of the documentation introduced in 2022. She was part of a National Health and Medical Research Council grant team which researched and created resources in relation to supported decision making and advance care planning for people living with dementia. She is the author (with Professor Sonia Allan) of Australian Health Law and Policy (2018) (Lexis Nexis).

3:10 PM - 3:50 PM

Discussion Panel

Your chance to ask questions of the assembled experts.

3:50 PM - 4:00 PM

Closing remarks