| Date | 19 August 2026 |
| Time | 11.30pm-3.00pm AEST (Syd time) |
| Venue | Live Online with recording (recording access expires 19 September 2026) |
| Pricing | $440 Price includes gst. |
| Sector | NSW State (DoE) Schools |
| CPD | Addresses 7.2 of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers |
Register
Program
11.30 LawSense Welcome
11.35 Chairperson’s Introduction
Dr Joanne Bellette, Principal, Corowa High School; SPC Reference Group Leader, Staffing/HR
Lila Mularczyk OAM, Education Consultant; former Director, Secondary Education, NSW Department of Education; Past President, NSW Secondary Principals’ Council
11.40 Staff Claims During Performance Management, Disciplinary or Other Action: Effectively Navigating, Rights, Obligations and Staff Claiming Psychosocial Hazards
- Exploring potential claims by staff in response to performance management or disciplinary action and outlining current laws including:
- discrimination
- bullying
- psychosocial safety or hazards
- adverse action
- Understanding the intersection between performance management, disciplinary action, psychosocial hazards obligations and workers compensation claims
- Effectively navigating challenging scenarios, including:
- a staff member claims they are not “psychologically safe” in response to questions raised during an investigation or performance management processes or because of the conduct of another staff member
- a workers compensation claim is lodged in response to performance management
- other claims are made by the staff member, including bullying or adverse action
- Implementing strategies to help:
- manage processes to avoid claims, including regarding breach of psychosocial hazards laws
- optimise your position regarding claims by the staff member, including obtaining and assessing the evidence you need to successfully defend a claim
- avoid the staff member de-railing performance management, disciplinary or other processes
Christa Lenard, Partner, Kingston Reid
12.40 Break
12.50 Staff Ill or Injured Outside Work: Dealing with Staff Experiencing Personal Life Circumstances or Developing Mental Illness Affecting Work Performance or Conduct
Outlining the Basis for Legal Obligations
- Reviewing your legal obligations to staff ill or injured outside work and understanding the relationship between performance management, lack of capacity, recovery from injury and return to work
- What are the differences between work related injuries and non-work-related injuries in getting a worker back to perform pre-injury inherent requirements?
Staff Experiencing Personal Life Circumstances, Mental Illness
- Examining the extent of your obligations where staff experience personal issues affecting performance or conduct such as divorce or other circumstances
- Dealing with medical evidence from GPs or other professionals
- Responding to claims that work demands are aggravating stress or an illness from personal circumstances
- Reasonable adjustments:
- what are you required to implement and for how long? When can you remove leadership responsibilities, or reduce hours or pay
- how should you manage frequent sick leave or repeated absence requests?
Impacts on Other Staff, Staff Complaints, Privacy
- Examining your obligations and options where the performance or behaviour issues affect other staff
- Navigating privacy issues – what are you able to tell other staff about the staff member?
Case Studies and Scenarios
- Learning from case studies and scenarios
Tim McDonald, Principal, McCabes Lawyers
1.50 Break
2.00 Navigating Obligations to Staff Regarding Difficult Parents
Legal Framework, Including Psychosocial Hazards Laws
- Outlining the legal framework applying to staff and difficult parents, including:
- duty of care
- psychosocial hazards laws
- Inclosed Lands Protection Act 1901
- Community Charter and Code of Conduct
Understanding When a School is Obliged to Act
- Dealing with challenging scenarios, including:
- assessing whether a parent is “vexatious” or bullying staff
- parents sending constant emails/excessive demands
- parents making negative or disparaging remarks about staff on social media or WhatsApp groups
Implementing More Robust Options
- Understanding when and how you can implement more robust options:
- restricting or limiting communication with the parent
- restricting the parent from involvement in school activities
- banning a parent from a school
Best Practice Policies
- Exploring best practice policies to manage difficult parents and interactions with staff
John Makris, Partner, Kingston Reid
2.55 Closing Remarks
3.00 Event Close
Presenters / panelists include:
Christa Lenard is a workplace relations and employment lawyer with extensive experience in advising public sector departments and agencies at both Commonwealth and state level, as well as large and medium private sector companies. Christa has extensive experience in the education sector.
Tim McDonald practises in employment and industrial law, work health and safety, discrimination, bullying and harassment, management of injured workers and termination of employment. Over the last 20 years, Tim has advised and represented private and public sector employers, including schools and higher education.
With over 20 years’ experience working in regulatory workplace health and safety, environmental and heavy vehicle compliance, dealing with regulators, and providing advice and representation on numerous issues, John Makris is regarded as a notable senior leader in the industry. John expertly guides clients through the uncertainty and complexity of dealing with workplace incidents, including police and regulator investigations, prosecutions and coronial proceedings.