Public Legal Webinars Archive

In the ever-evolving landscape of religious organisations, conflicts and disputes among members and directors can arise, posing significant challenges and the risk of expensive litigation. If you are involved in the governance of an incorporated association or a company structure, it is crucial to understand how to effectively address and prevent such disputes.

In this webinar, our legal professionals will provide invaluable insights and practical guidance on avoiding and managing church disputes. From member disagreements over governance decisions, director conflicts arising from differing visions, and dealing with difficult members, this session will equip you with the necessary knowledge and tools to navigate these complex issues with confidence.

Key topics covered will include:

•  Understanding the legal framework for incorporated associations and public companies in the Australian context.
• Identifying common triggers and types of disputes within church organizations.
• Implementing effective conflict resolution strategies and alternative dispute resolution methods.
• Strengthening governance practices to minimise the likelihood of disputes.
• Ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and regulations.

PRESENTER: Simon Mason, Senior Associate

Register to view a replay of the webinar Here

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Simon Mason spoke on the  process for both Applicant and Sponsor, and outlined requirements for an Australian employer and an offshore/onshore teacher, including:

• eligibility criteria
• required and supporting documentation
• fee obligations & important timelines; and
• increasing favourable prospects.

PRESENTER: Simon Mason, Senior Associate

Register to view a replay of this webinar Here

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Jessica Lipsett (Director) and Andrew Lind (Consultant)  unpacked and reflected on the practical implications for existing and new charities of three 2021 court / tribunal decisions that have much to reveal for charities – especially charities with more than one charitable purpose; religiously motivated charities (for example Christian schools); and PBIs (and whether PBIs can now be registered for more than just a PBI sub-type for example also for the advancement of religion).

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NOTE: Corney and Lind does not currently provide migration legal services.

This webinar discussed:

• Options for Medium to Long-term Workers outside the Minister of Religion Labour Agreement
• Onshore Study and the work restriction.
• Occupations and study pathways that work well for church organisations
• Labour hire and outsourcing arrangements
• What to do when a Nomination is refused?
• AAT and Ministerial Intervention

Options for Short-term Visitors, Speakers, Entertainers, Volunteers and/or Consultants

• There are a number of visa options for specific purpose visits.

Options for Medium-term Religious Workers

• The primary path here is the Religious worker stream of the Subclass 408.
• We also look at creative options for part-time workers under a student visa.

COVID-19 Specific Travel Restrictions

• There is a specific travel exemption currently available for highly skilled religious workers.

Options for Medium to Long-term Workers

• There is a specific pathway for Ministers of Religion and Religious Assistants.
• There are a number of visa pathways for occupations associated with the work performed by religious organisations that religious organisations may wish to consider.

Presented by Senior Associate,  Simon Mason.

This webinar discussed:

• General overview of the family law system
• Schools obligations in family law matters
• Subpoenas & schools
• An overview of the impact of separation and divorce on children’s mental health and adjustment.
• The complications of divorce that impact children’s mental health.
• Practical ways schools can support students and families experiencing separation and divorce.

Presenters:

• Melissa Sidney
• Louisa Mason, Provisional Psychologist. Louisa hold a BA Min. BA Science (Psychology)(Honours) and she will have complete a Masters of Psychology (Educational and Developmental) in 6months.

NOTE: Corney and Lind does not currently provide migration legal services.

This Webinar  discussed:

Options for Short-term Visitors, Speakers, Entertainers, Volunteers and/or Consultants

• There are a number of visa options for specific purpose visits.

Options for Medium-term Religious Workers

• The primary path here is the Religious worker stream of the Subclass 408.
• We also look at creative options for part-time workers under a student visa.

COVID-19 Specific Travel Restrictions

• There is a specific travel exemption currently available for highly skilled religious workers.

Options for Medium to Long-term Workers

• There is a specific pathway for Ministers of Religion and Religious Assistants.
• There are a number of visa pathways for occupations associated with the work performed by religious organisations that religious organisations may wish to consider.

Presented by Senior Associate,  Simon Mason.

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This webinar will discuss:

• General overview of the family law system
• Can a church be subpoenaed?
• Can a chaplain be subpoenaed?
• The difference between legal advice and good support

Presenter: Fadzai Mamvura & Dr David Ham, Retired General Psychologist

This Webinar discussed:

• General overview of the family law system and how the Courts handle Domestic and Family Violence; and
• Providing information to the Court
  • What to do when a client asks for a letter for the Court;
  • What an expert report writer or Family Report may ask;
  • What to do when provided with a subpoena; and
  • Preparing for cross-examination.

Presented by: Barry Klopper, Practice Leader – Family Law

This webinar discussed the following questions:

• What do some Christians believe God commands in Scripture regarding divorce?
• What does that look like in the practice of family law?
• What is the Role of the Wider Church?

Presented by: James Tan, Director and Brooke Nickerson.

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This webinar discussed

1. Understanding your structure
2. Understanding your governance obligations
3. Establishing processes to ensure compliance

The  webinar was Presented by: Nina Flewell-Smith

This webinar discussed

• Understanding the Commonwealth Redress Scheme for survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse
• Who is eligible for Redress
• When is an institution responsible
• Civil Litigation reforms

The  webinar was Presented by: Alistair Macpherson, Managing Director

This webinar will discuss:

• how to respond when you find out domestic or family violence is occurring within your church
• how churches can best respond to community members seeking assistance due to domestic or family violence
• DV resources for pastors during COVID
• Government response and having your say (as an organisation): COVID-19 Domestic and Family Violence survey
• Referral to QLD Govt’s $2m injection to assist

This webinar will be Presented by: Eustacia Yates, Special Counsel

Download the presentation Here

This Webinar discussed  the JobKeeper Scheme in light of the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Rules 2020. Broadly, the following will be covered:

• What the Scheme seeks to accomplish.
• Who is an eligible employee?
• Specifically, for church organisations:
• What is included and excluded in GST turnover: gifts and donations.
• How benefits are treated in terms of remuneration:
• Some more points specific to religious organisations:
• Mission and overseas aid organisations
• Further risk factors:
  • Urgency of legislation introduced
  • Issues of definition/interpretation/discretion
  • Urgency in registration and payment
  • Cashflow considerations
  • Pressure from employees to participate
  • Record keeping
  • Penalties for overpayment
• What should the Board require?
• Does it make a difference if an employee has been asked to or is on leave? What is the difference between annual leave and long service leave?

This webinar presentation was delivered by James Tan (Director) & Hongi Han

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BOOST SESSION: How the Stimulus package benefits Churches / Charities

Presenters: James Tan (Director) & Barry Klopper (Practice Leader – Family Law)

• Moratoriums, other available government relief and negotiation tools for:
  1. Low Interest Loans / Lease negotiations for mortgage and rent relie
  2. Putting a ministry arm into hibernation
• Additional Benefits (rebates against electricity, water, rates / freeze on State Government taxes and fees etc)
• Cash-flow management discussion
  1. tips for negotiations with banks, landlords suppliers and creditors
  2. Getting your house in Order – BAS, Single Touch Payroll
• Q&A session of 15 minutes

EMPLOYMENT SESSION: Churches and staffing during COVID-19

Presenters: Presenters: James Tan (Director) & Barry Klopper (Practice Leader – Family Law)

Emptying out the office – is your WFH policies, cyber-security and managing data protection

• What do you need to consider?
• Job keeper Allowance for Employers
• Who qualifies
• Who is the employer in a complex church structure?
• Employers/employees – how it works; how do you apply?
• The difficult choice of Standing down employees
• Charities and volunteers – what should be the position with regard to volunteers working in church / charity facilities
• Advice re Op Shops and Food Bank, Community Care Services
• Q&A session of 15 minutes

THRIVE SESSION: Enabling Church operations in a restrictive COVID-19 environment

How to help your congregation when they come to you with family law issues?

• The role of church staff when a congregation member(s) are facing family law issues
• Practical tips for dealing with families experiencing family breakdown
• First steps in responding to a family law and domestic violence crisis in the church
• Basic family law.

Presented by: Eustacia Yates, Special Counsel

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The webinar discussed:

• When the External Conduct Standards (ECSs) apply and when they don’t – what overseas operation is caught?
• The ESCs apply to all charities even Basic Religious Charities
• What does ‘reasonable steps’ mean?
• Practical ‘how to comply’ tips for each ECS including what internal policies, processes and MOUs with third parties need to be considered.
• How to respond to the ACNC ECS guidance that the ECSs must be complied with by the Australian charity right through the supply chain of multiple third parties?
• What reporting to the ACNC is required?
• What happens in the event of non compliance? How regulatory action by the ACNC against your charity can lead to ultimate loss of registered charity status (and commonwealth tax exemption) and suspension of governors.

Presenters:

• Andrew Lind, Co-founder and Consultant
• Jessica Lipsett, Director

General: The #MeToo Movement Brought into Focus Sexual Harassment That Can Occur Anywhere Including Churches, Ministries and Christian Workplaces

This webinar discussed:

• What is sexual harassment?
• Preventative measures
• Complaints handling process

Presenter: Fran Keyes

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This webinar looks at how churches can support Chaplains as they transition from Church to School.

It looks at questions like:

• How churches can help Chaplains prepare for recruitment
• Difference between chaplains v youth leaders
• Social media appropriateness
• Walking the straight line: work within boundaries
• What to do when breach in a code of conduct is not a breach of employment law

Presenter: Alistair Macpherson

Download PDF slides.

Has the following been sufficiently addressed in the enrolment contract:

• What happens in the event of a family separation?
• Does the contract consider the family law and domestic violence legislation?
• Have relevant privacy laws been addressed?
• How do school policies form part of the contract?
• Does the contract adequately set out the rights and obligations of the school, of the student and of the parent throughout the course of the enrolment relationship?

The content will be relevant for schools Australia-wide.

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Chaplains are becoming an important feature in Schools.

Chaplains assist in holistic care and provide a supportive environment to children in situations of family turmoil. However, we are regularly asked about the employment status of Chaplains.

Are Chaplains treated as an independent contractor, employee or can they be a spiritual appointment?

This webinar discusses the role of Chaplains; what is the best employment appointment for a Chaplain; the advantages and disadvantages of being an employee, contractor or spiritual appointment; and how such appointment will have a bearing on a Chaplain’s performance.

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Disputing parents can unwittingly drag Schools into their conflict. Sometimes, parents take their disputes online mentioning the School as a place of common ground for children.

This webinar will look at the legal implications that communications in times of conflict and crisis can have on Schools. In conflict, reference to Schools is made either directly or indirectly by disputing parents, which warrants a response.

We discuss: the laws on defamation responding to statements without breaching privacy policy; and how to negate a conflict situation with a robust social media policy.

This webinar is suitable for Principals, School Boards, Business Managers.

Presented by Matt Shearing.

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Australia’s new notifiable data breach scheme (‘the Scheme’) introduced significant amendments to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) on 22 February 2018.  Part of the Scheme introduced mandatory data breach notifications, that is, a requirement by Schools to notify individuals and the Australian Information Commissioner in relation to certain data breaches.

We have added an additional webinar to our School Law Series 2018 to explain how the Scheme changes will affect Schools and Colleges in the management, collecting and handling of personal information for students, parents and staff across a School environment.

This webinar will discuss:

• Risks under the Scheme
• What is a notifiable data breach?
• What is the likely harm in the event of a notifiable data breach?
• What are a School’s responsibilities relating to the Scheme?
• How to manage risks with third party providers to a School
• What are the penalties for failure to comply?
• How to put a data breach plan in place

Presenter: James Tan

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Parents are understandably protective of their children. However, it can be the case that when a parent perceives that their children’s rights have been impinged upon, their interactions with the School can escalate. This webinar looks at:

• how to deal with high-conflict parents
• how do you protect your staff from ongoing verbal and/or physical abuse?
• how do you deal with conflict that attacks the professionalism of staff as individuals and the ramifications beyond the School gate?

This webinar is suitable for Principals, School executives, School Boards, School front line staff.

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There is often a fine line between enforcing compliance with policies and the need to accommodate a student’s cultural and/or religious beliefs in a School environment.

Failing to understand when indirect discrimination may arise can be a source of real difficulty for Schools across Australia, and can be particularly pronounced in Schools with a religious background or mission perspective.

In this webinar, we discuss discrimination direct and indirect, how to draft uniform policies considering discrimination laws; whether Schools can rely on exemptions; tension that may exist between uniform policies and having School open enrolments.

This webinar is suitable for Principals, Business Managers, Registrars, Bursars.

Presented by James Tan

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The effects of a parent’s separation frequently spill over into the school community. Blended families can result in complex arrangements in relation to school fees. Emotions can rise when schools and parents clash over “who pays what”, “who has to consent to what”, “who gets what information/reports” and “he/she said that”.

In this webinar, we cover help schools understand who really has to pay for the enrolment fees, who needs to consent to what, who is entitled to what information, and strategies and solutions that schools can implement into both their enrolment contracts, and their interactions with parents, to maximimise profit and minimise stress.

Who will benefit from this Webinar:

• Principals
• Business Managers/Bursars;
• Enrolment Officers;
• Accounts Payable;
• Other School Executive Leaders;
• College Board/Council

Download PDF slides.