Beyond Compliance for Boards and Executives

Our tailored boardroom Beyond Compliance programs are designed to assist boards and executives with best practice corporate governance with a specific focus on keeping up to date with the constantly evolving regulatory environment.

From director duties foundations and not-for-profit board training, board inductions, masterclasses and applied hypotheticals, to ongoing training to keep your governance and compliance knowledge current, our award-winning corporate governance experts collaborate with clients to tailor training to meet board organisational needs, address issues before they arise and improve regulatory compliance while discharging director duties and minimising risk.

Our highly experienced team provide practical, interactive and comprehensive training sessions on a range of matters affecting boards and their organisations. Often utilised as part of annual board inductions and training programs, or for mini-updates on hot topics, we partner with you to address your business critical topics and prevent director liability, governance and regulatory compliance issues.

How we can help

Led by Suzie Leask, a Partner in our national corporate and commercial team, these sessions empower boards to recognise red flags, improve organisational compliance, governance and internal risk management processes, and upskill boards in key topic areas while better understanding critical risks and how to discharge their director duties in an increasingly complex regulatory environment.

Workshops are tailored based on board needs and can include:

• Director Essentials: Director duties, defences, and case studies
• Director Liability: Managing your risk profile
• Regulators and regulation: Stay up to date on key trends, risk and compliance areas affecting directors – ESG, Cyber Security Risks and Privacy laws, Whistleblowers, WHS laws, Modern Slavery, bribery and anti-corruption, safe harbour
• Director & Officer Insurance & Risk Management
• Good governance & Boardroom Tools: Best practice board minutes, policies, AGMs and director meetings
• Boardroom lessons: Critical learnings from Royal Commissions and Inquiries
• Board Governance Reviews & Investigations: Board composition, skills matrix, governance structure and how to respond to critical incidents
• Boardroom Culture, Disputes & Hypotheticals

All sessions include relevant case studies and exercises, providing participants with insight into the outcomes and consequences of common board and regulatory compliance issues and mistakes. We recommend sessions take place face to face, although we can always facilitate engaging online and hybrid sessions to meet your needs.

Bespoke sessions

Our expert team delivers bespoke sessions to ensure boards are prepared for emerging trends in corporate governance and regulatory compliance, including legislation changes and emerging case law. Being proactive enables directors to benefit from a greater level of comfort as to their organisation’s legal compliance, and importantly a reduced risk of legal liability. Please contact us to discuss key issues facing your board and how we can help tailor a program to suit your needs.

In our popular 'Business Contracts and Essential Competition & Consumer Law’ training, our award-winning industry experts collaborate with clients to tailor training for business stakeholders, senior management, in house counsel, contract managers and employees to meet organisational needs and improve regulatory compliance, protect your business and minimise risk.

Our highly experienced team provide practical, interactive and commercial training sessions on all aspects of commercial, contracts, IP, competition and consumer law, including the new unfair contract terms regime. We provide the necessary skills transfer to ensure that senior leaders, contract managers and businesses are developing the capability of their own people to prevent contract, liability and regulatory compliance issues before they occur, so that you’re in the best possible position around the negotiating table, and in the event of a contract dispute.

How we can help

Led by Suzie Leask, a Partner in our national corporate and commercial team, these sessions empower business stakeholders to recognise red flags, improve organisational compliance and contract management processes, and upskill teams in drafting and negotiation skills, while better understanding key risks areas of non-compliance with competition and consumer law when preparing, reviewing and negotiating contracts and other commercial deals.

Workshops are tailored based on business needs and include:

• NEW Unfair Contracts Law and Penalties + Competition & Consumer Law Essentials 
  Get up to speed on the new Unfair Contract Law changes and penalties that will affect your business contracts, as well as competition and consumer law compliance and regulatory breaches to watch out for when negotiating commercial deals to avoid regulator scrutiny.
• Contracts 101 – Key elements of an enforceable and compliant Contract
  With a focus on key contract terms, tips and tricks, enforceability and case studies, learn the essentials of best practice contract management for business, including how to future proof your contracts amid supply chain volatility and signing contracts electronically.
• How to limit and exclude risk – A guide to Warranties and Indemnities
  Break down the most technical and most important aspect of contracts, with a practical guide to limitation of liability, warranties and indemnities, including negotiation tips and drafting exercises.
• Technology contracts, IP protection, E-contracting and other digital trends
  Explore how to best engage with your customers to ensure you have enforceable, binding contracts, with an overview of trends in the digital and e-commerce marketplace, and other website terms and conditions and policies. Learn key tips for technology contracts and intellectual property protection and commercialisation strategies.
• International contracting plus Contract Negotiation Tips
  With an increasingly global, online marketplace, whether you are an international based business or may have international customers, suppliers, manufacturers, group companies, or do business online through your website, learn our expert tips for international contracting and participate in a practical commercial contract negotiation.
• Contracts gone bad: Breach, Termination and Disputes
  Learn how to effectively manage a breach of contract, with case studies to show you how to avoid and manage contract disputes, and how to lawfully terminate contracts.

All sessions include relevant case studies and exercises, providing participants with insight into the outcomes and consequences of common contract issues and mistakes. We recommend sessions take place face to face, although we can always facilitate engaging online and hybrid sessions to meet your needs.

Bespoke sessions – hot topics in demand

Our expert team delivers bespoke sessions to ensure management, senior leaders and in house legal teams are prepared for emerging trends in contract management and regulatory compliance for business, including legislation changes. Being proactive enables leadership teams and boards to benefit from a greater level of comfort with legal compliance, and importantly a reduced risk of legal liability. Please contact us to discuss key issues facing your business and how we can help tailor a program to suit your needs.

In the 'Building safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces”  series our award-winning industry experts collaborate with clients to tailor training for boards, leadership members and employees to meet organisational needs.

Our highly experienced team provide engaging and practical training sessions on all aspects of employment and industrial law. We provide the necessary skills transfer to ensure that boards and leaders are developing the capability of their people to ensure compliance and high performance.

How we can help

Led by Fay Calderone, partner in our national employment and workplace relations team, these sessions empower the transformational cultural change required to move beyond box-ticking compliance to become diverse, healthy, inclusive and respectful workplaces.

Workshops are tailored based on leadership and workplace needs and include a mix of compliance and beyond compliance topics including:

• COMPLIANCE
  • Discharging the Positive Duty in the Respect@Work laws enforceable by Australian Human Rights Commission
  • Investigating and addressing workplace bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment
  • Navigating unfair dismissals and general protections under the Fair Work Act
  • Fair Work Act, Award and Enterprise Agreement compliance and managing underpayments
  • Modern slavery risks and reporting
  • WGEA reporting
  • Whistleblower complaints
• BEYOND COMPLIANCE
  • Respect @ Work: building safe, respectful and inclusive workplace cultures and high-performing teams
  • Safe @ Work: eliminating toxic workplace behaviour, managing psycho-social hazards and mental health in the workplace
  • Flex @ Work: Best practice flexible and hybrid working to build safe, inclusive and high performing workplaces
  • Leaders @ Work: empowering leaders to manage employee conduct and performance from compliance to high performance

All sessions will include relevant case studies, providing participants with insight into the outcomes and consequences of common workplace issues. We recommend sessions take place face to face, although we can always facilitate engaging online and hybrid sessions to meet your workplace needs.

Bespoke sessions and hot topics in demand

Our expert team delivers bespoke sessions to ensure boards and senior leaders are prepared for emerging trends, including legislation changes in employment law that employers need to watch.

These sessions empower leadership teams to ensure compliance, reduced legal and reputational risks for organisations, officers and leaders and create workplaces where people thrive and organisations prosper.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is a rapidly growing and complex landscape with constant media coverage and commentary about the need for companies and boards to be more aware of their ESG responsibilities.

From diversity to supply chain due diligence to reducing carbon emissions, ESG cuts across vastly different corporate functions, including workplace health and safety, stakeholder engagement, executive remuneration and board diversity, among other issues. It’s clear that it has implications for all boards and directors.

This evolving understanding of ESG is driving responsibility for ESG into the boardroom and increasingly requires that directors build ESG considerations into their organisation’s strategy and risk framework. There is growing recognition among directors that making decisions with regard to ESG issues makes good business sense, and leads to long-term value creation.

By thoughtfully considering the impact their organisation is having on the environment and on the community, and proactively taking steps to ensure they are maintaining trust, brand and reputation through sound governance, directors protect their organisations’ social licence and long-term commercial success.

ESG Training for boards: How we can help

Our expert team have developed a six-part series comprising of 1.5 hour sessions to assist directors grapple with the complex issues presented by ESG.

The series steps through applicable directors’ duties, highlights some of the global trends underlying the meteoric rise of ESG and outlines why these trends are making ESG a boardroom priority. It also outlines the board’s role in setting ESG strategy, understanding the risks and ensuring the appropriate governance and oversight is in place.

Modules

Modules can be tailored pending the need of the board and current policies in place.

1. E – ESG reporting and climate disclosure requirements
2. E – ESG and greenwashing
3. S – Modern slavery training
4. S – Whistle-blower training
5. S – Diversity and inclusion: creating healthy and inclusive workplaces training
6. G – Governance and leadership training

Generative AI is rapidly evolving, while its potential and risks are still uncertain. Boards advising their organisations on its use are faced with the question:

Are we equipped to provide that support?

Unless board members understand generative AI and its implications, they will be unable to judge the likely impact of a company’s generative AI strategy and the related decisions regarding investments, risk, talent, technology and more on the organisation and its stakeholders. Yet, our conversations with board members and senior executives reveal that many of them admit they lack this understanding.

How we can help

Companies need to start applying a safe framework to AI development, use and deployment, but we understand that it can be difficult without knowledge of the risks.  Led by Lisa Ziegert, Director – Client Solutions, our expert team delivers sessions that empower boards and senior leaders to be prepared for emerging trends from the use of generative AI including the legal, ethical and regulatory risks.

Being proactive enables leadership teams and boards to benefit from a greater level of comfort with legal compliance and importantly a reduced risk of legal liability.

Please contact us to discuss key issues facing your business and how we can help tailor a program to suit your needs.

Generative AI – questions for boards to ask

1. What is our company’s perspective on how AI will disrupt our industry and who are the global leaders in AI in our industry?
2. What risks associated with AI does our company need to consider and do we need to have a documented AI incident response plan?
3. Who is responsible for managing those AI risks?
4. What are our legal and regulatory requirements regarding AI?
5. How is AI being used by the company?
6. What policies and procedures does our company  need to have in place to manage the risks associated with AI?
7. What guidance should we give our people about their use of AI and do we need to provide roles based training?
8. How does AI affect intellectual property rights?
9. How are we using data with regards to AI?
10. What are the data security risks?

Following recent high-profile cyber incidents impacting Optus (see our article No Optus – Australia’s largest data breach) and Medibank, Australian organisations should be taking steps to mitigate cyber risk and ensure they have an adequate and tested cyber incident response plan (IR Plan) in place.

With the Optus breach, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority have announced a coordinated investigation into Optus’ storage and management of its customers' data. One law firm has already filed a class action against Optus with the OAIC, with another assessing the issues.

As cyber attacks become more prevalent, a rapid, planned and holistic response is crucial. This ensures that incidents are identified, contained and investigated in a timely manner.

Cyber Incident Response Plan

A key part of being well prepared is understanding that cyber risk cannot be eliminated. While there are various steps that can materially reduce the risk, all businesses should be prepared for a cyber attack. When attacks occur, businesses should rely on a prepared and tested IR Plan to respond promptly and decisively to a cyber incident, limiting its impact and supporting recovery.

Simulation training

Many businesses are yet to prepare an IR Plan or only discover gaps when they are responding to an incident. When there is no plan or gaps are only identified during the crisis, businesses are less prepared to effectively manage the complex processes and coordination that takes place in combating an incident.

The most effective way to train organisations to handle cyber risk is to run through a simulated cyber incident and test an IR Plan. This will help identify vulnerabilities – which can then be patched and strengthened.

Be prepared: how we can help

Led by Eden Winokur, Partner & Head of Cyber, our expert cyber team are delivering half-day or full-day workshops tailored to help businesses implement and test their IR Plan.

Now is the time for businesses to invest in being prepared. This is a small price to pay when considering the devastating effects a cyber incident may have on your organisation and its customers or clients.

Workshops are bespoke and can include:

• Assessment of your IR Plan
• Detailed report identifying gaps and areas where further work can be undertaken
• Scenario / simulation training

Now is the time to Prepare your estate planning.

Your needs are unique and planning is essential. It may be confronting but it’s important to carefully consider questions about your goals and protect your family’s future. Our Private Clients team have supported many boards and senior executives navigate through all the issues providing an easy to understand, step by step process to get your plan in shape – and importantly, ensure your wealth is well managed and protected.

Why Prepare?

We have been working with a number of professional service firms to assist partners and key staff with these arrangements. It provides certainty, avoids issues where people die without anything in place, and also shows a commitment by the firm to their key people and families.

How we can help

Our goal is to make the estate planning process as simple as we can.

Led by William Moore, partner and national leader of our Private Clients team, Prepare is a tailored personal estate planning service to assist boards and senior leaders put in place arrangements for their personal planning, including Wills, powers of attorney and documents to deal with control of trusts and other structures. Prepare can also examine and provide asset protection advice.

Prepare provides certainty and ensures you have the best plan in place. Operating through a clear, stepped process, our team works exclusively on a fixed priced basis to assist leaders put in place or update their estate planning.

8 good reasons to Prepare or update your estate plan

1. Having children/family changes
2. Relationship changes
3. Illness
4. Promotion/retirement/superannuation changes
5. Inheritance
6. Assets overseas
7. Investment changes
8. Buy/sell real estate

These are just some of the reasons to plan. It is crucial that the plan you have is appropriate for your unique circumstances and meets your needs.

Time to Prepare – let’s get started

Preparing and updating your succession planning documents ensures that your wealth is managed in accordance with your intentions. Our experts will provide:

• A presentation – to you, the board and/or senior leadership team:
• A two-minute video snapshot outlining the service and its benefits
• Prepare material

Our checklist helps you to prepare or update your estate plan.

Find out what to consider in preparing or updating your estate plan.