Public Sector
The Hall & Wilcox team brings deep expertise and a fresh perspective to our public sector clients, providing the full range of legal services to our government clients. We partner with clients at all levels of government, adding real value to each engagement.
Public sector organisations operate in a unique legislative and regulatory environment, with complex legal, commercial and political concerns. We have been advising government entities for many years, and our people understand the culture and dynamics of the public sector environment. We are practised model litigants, appreciating that the solution to a problem often requires a careful balance of policy, administrative and strategic imperatives.
Working with Government is a strategic priority, and our significant expertise has resulted in our practice continuing to expand nationally. We are on whole-of-State government legal services panels in Victoria, New South Wales and the Northern Territory, and we advise a large number of local governments across Australia. We support State and Commonwealth Governments on tax technical disputes and pre-litigation advice.
We wholeheartedly support government initiatives, from sustainability, gender equity and support for local business, to SMEs, First Nations organisations and vulnerable groups through our Pro Bono and Community practice. We have a dedicated Public Sector Practice, led by Partner Kathryn Howard, and provide a specialist quarterly publication, Public Law, for our public sector clients.
We provide a snapshot of our recent expertise and achievements below.
Commonwealth Government
We have a dedicated team of experienced Commonwealth practitioners who understand government. Prior to our appointment to the Whole of Australian Government Legal Panel, our team has undertaken strategically significant work on behalf of the ATO and Home Affairs, as well as acting for several Corporate Commonwealth Entities, FEG (DEWR) and key statutory authorities and government stakeholders.
Our industry-focused approach brings a fresh perspective to government clients. We understand the culture and dynamics of the public sector and are adept at delivering outcomes while complying with rigorous accountability frameworks. This includes being able to demonstrate value for money.
Our collaborative, cross-practice team appreciates the drivers, risk-appetite and the legislative and regulatory frameworks that apply to the Commonwealth. This includes balancing legal, financial and policy considerations with reputational risk, public sector values and community expectations.
We provide market-leading legal advice in areas such as employment, administrative law, commercial transactions and specialisation, health, education, property and infrastructure, planning, privacy, ESG and technology/cyber.
Our team was named finalist for ‘Government Team of the Year’ at the Australian Law Awards 2023 and 2024.
- Advising on judicial review proceedings for the Minister for Immigration conducted in the Federal Circuit Court, the Federal Court and the High Court of Australia.
- Appearing as a solicitor advocate in the Federal Court, defending challenges to visa and immigration decisions such as applications for urgent injunction, refused applications for extension of time to seek judicial review of a personal decision of the Assistant Minister, allegations of bias and other outcomes upholding Ministerial and Departmental interpretation of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).
- Providing tax technical litigation services under the ATO’s predecessor Tax Technical Legal Services panel. We are one of a limited pool of providers that can deliver this exclusive service to the Commissioner. We act in pre-litigation matters, such as audits and objections, including managing complex referrals to the ATO’s General Anti-Avoidance Rule Panel.
- Representing the Commonwealth in high-profile Coronial Inquests and Royal Commissions, including the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the UN Oil-for-Food programme (the Cole Inquiry).
- Advising Note Printing Australia (NPA) on the procurement, sourcing and licensing various images used on Australian banknotes and passports. NPA acts under appointment from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in some of these matters.
- Advising the Australian Federal Police in LPP disputes following execution of search/seizure warrants under the Crimes Act.
- Represented and advised the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner in proceedings in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the AAT challenging decisions made under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
- Acting for the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (FEG) in recovery against high-profile receivers in one of the first litigated matters (which settled) about the operation of the control provisions within sections 340-341 of the PPSA.
- Providing secondments to the Department of Home Affairs and the National Disability Insurance Agency and Services Australia.
- Providing legal advice and support to Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC) as trustee of the Public Sector Superannuation Accumulation Plan (PSSap), the Australian Defence Force Superannuation Scheme (ADF Super) and defined benefits schemes such as the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS) and Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS).
- Assisting Indigenous Business Association (IBA) with the acquisition of 106-112 High Street, Shepparton, Victoria, with an underlying land area of 1,200 sqm which has been pre-let to the Victorian Government Department of Treasury.
- Assisting Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to recover the costs of complying with an environmental action notice (EAN) issued by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) under section 274(1) of Environment Protection Act 2017 (Vic) from third party contaminators of ARTC land.
- Assisting the Australian Human Rights Commission to prepare guidance materials on Business and Human Rights.
Key contacts
Rebecca Huleatt
Partner
Rebecca has over 20 years' experience in insurance litigation and extensive expertise in Commonwealth compensation claims.
More about Rebecca
Clare Kerley
Partner
Clare is an employment lawyer acting for a broad range clients, with expertise in workplace and industrial relations.
More about Clare
Alison Baker
Partner
Alison has more than 20 years’ experience in a wide-ranging employment and privacy practice.
More about Alison
David Catanese
Partner
David is an expert employment lawyer acting for private enterprises, State & Commonwealth Governments, and pro bono clients.
More about David
Matthew Needham
Partner
Matthew is a highly experienced statutory insurance lawyer specialising in claims management and workers' compensation.
More about Matthew
Graydon Dowd
Chief Executive Partner
Graydon Dowd was appointed Chief Executive Partner of Hall & Wilcox in July 2024. Prior to this appointment, Graydon has played a strategic role in driving the firm’s national growth for over 10 years.
More about Graydon
Jacqueline McGrath
Partner
Tax lawyer Jacqueline has extensive litigation experience acting for multinationals, enterprises and individuals.
More about Jacqueline
Nicola Johnson
Partner
Nicola has extensive subject matter expertise in administrative law, advising Commonwealth agencies on complex legal issues and the conduct of reputationally significant litigation. She regularly appears as solicitor advocate in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Federal Circuit and Family Court and Federal Court of Australia.
More about Nicola
Kathryn Howard
Partner
Kathryn leads the Public Sector Practice at Hall & Wilcox, and is a commercial dispute resolution practice partner.
More about Kathryn
Fay Calderone
Partner
A highly regarded employment lawyer, Fay advises on proactive compliance, discrimination and performance management.
More about Fay
Suzie Leask
Partner
Suzie is experienced in a broad range of areas including, business transactions, corporate advisory, commercial contracts, IT and intellectual property, privacy law and more.
More about Suzie
Philip Hopley
Partner
Philip is an experienced insurance and financial services lawyer who advises on commercial solutions to insurance issues.
More about Philip
James Morvell
Partner
James has particular expertise in equity capital markets, corporate transactions, and public and private M&A.
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John Gray
Partner and NSW Government Co-Lead
John is a corporate lawyer specialising in technology and IP law, particularly for IT, telecommunications and media clients.
More about John
Scott Butler
Partner
Scott is a leading commercial dispute resolution lawyer with over 25 years' experience in restructuring and insolvency.
More about Scott
Wayne Kelcey
Partner
Wayne is a leading litigation and insolvency expert specialising in large and complex commercial disputes in all jurisdictions.
More about Wayne
Jacqueline McGrath
Partner
Tax lawyer Jacqueline has extensive litigation experience acting for multinationals, enterprises and individuals.
More about Jacqueline
James Deady
Partner
James is an commercial lawyer specialising in technology procurement, privacy, data security and intellectual property matters.
More about James
Michelle Eastwell
Partner
Michelle is an experienced corporate lawyer specialising in mergers & acquisitions, capital markets and ASX listings.
More about Michelle
Ben Hamilton
Partner & Technology and Digital Economy Co-Lead
Ben specialises in technology law, intellectual property and commercial contracts, trade marks and commercialisation.
More about Ben
Jennifer Degotardi
Partner & NSW Government Co-Lead
Jennifer is a leading commercial property lawyer, advising the public sector, and the financial services and transport industries.
More about Jennifer
Meg Lee
Partner & ESG Co-Lead
Meg has over 20 years' experience as a property & projects lawyer, specialising in planning and environment law.
More about Meg
John O’Kane
Partner
John advises on the best joint venture and development arrangements and delivery mechanism for construction projects.
More about John
State Government
Redevelopment of Pasminco smelter site for the Hunter & Central Coast Development Corporation (HCCDC), NSW
Advised HCCDC in relation to the redevelopment of the former Pasminco smelter site at Boolaroo, which involved two separate projects – a proposed multi-staged residential development by Green Capital Group and Costco Wholesale Australia’s first NSW regional warehouse. The NSW Government estimates that the projects will inject approximately $300 million into the local economy.
Brompton Lodge, defence of financial loss claim for Head, Transport for Victoria (TfV), Victoria
Advised the Head, TfV in its successful defence of a $35 million claim for alleged financial loss on sale under s 106 under the Planning and Environment Act. At first instance and on appeal, the Court held that an owner must demonstrate actual loss as a consequence of the reservation. The owners received no award of compensation from the Court, and are obliged to pay the Head, TfV’s costs. Brompton Lodge is now one of the leading authorities in Victoria on s 106.
Life Journeys Program for the Department of Customer Service, NSW
Advising the Life Journeys program team, which uses digital platforms to enable NSW citizens to have seamless and connected interactions with the NSW Government at key life events, on programs such as the Australian Death Notification Service and the ‘End of Life’ (EOL) phase of the program.
Advice on industrial action and enterprise agreements for public sector rail operator, Victoria
Acting for a public sector regional rail operator in section 418 and 424 applications to stop unprotected industrial action and protected industrial action threatening the health and safety of the community. Drawing on our strong technical understanding of Fair Work Act, our litigation expertise and our extensive experience advising clients on industrial strategy and stakeholder management, we successfully assisted our client to prevent the most disruptive forms of industrial action from occurring. We subsequently provided legal support regarding bargaining for the new enterprise agreement, including advising on applicable State specific public sector industrial relations policies, applicable constitutional principles including the Melbourne Corporation principle and requirements under the Fair Work Act.
Solar Homes Program for the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Victoria
Advising the Victorian government on its $1.5 billion Solar Homes Program, under which grants and loans are made available to home owners to fund domestic solar installations (including recent battery installations). Innovative features of the scheme include making available loans and grants for tenanted properties and for distributed control of batteries (ie ‘virtual power stations’). We drafted the project framework and guidelines, as well as the various documents that recipients of funding enter into, and advised on compliance with energy regulatory requirements and matters such as the residential tenancies legislation.
Local Government
Concord Oval redevelopment for the City of Canada Bay, NSW
Advising City of Canada Bay on the $75 million redevelopment of Concord Oval, transforming it into a world-class sporting, recreation and community facility.
Werribee City Centre redevelopment for Wyndham City Council, Victoria
Advised Wyndham City Council on its largest development project undertaken, which will deliver two commercial buildings and two residential apartment buildings, including 3,000 square metres of Council space, a new public library and learning centre and approximately 1,000 new car parks. This was a complex project with multiple stakeholders.
Employment advice – COVID-19 and WHS for Tweed Shire Council, NSW
Advised Tweed Shire Council on COVID issues associated with the management and rental of council properties, liability issues that could arise in the event of a failure to apply or comply with COVID safety plans and advice regarding public liability and WHS connected with public events.
Providing advice on Local Government Code of Meeting Practice, for a local council, NSW
Providing a Council with ongoing advice regarding proposed Notices of Motion on a high profile and significant project. Political sensitivities associated with the project resulted in a complex Notice of Motion that required urgent legal advice on its legality and efficacy, including the power of the General Manager under the Code of Meeting Practice. We provided a matrix analysis that aided Council’s Executive Team to deal with the proposed notice of motion in a respectful and timely manner. There was a highly positive outcome that allowed Council to move the project to the next stage.
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Webinars
Watch our series of webinars that explored and offered practical insights on a range of key issues facing the public sector.
Public Law publication
Public Law is Hall & Wilcox’s key quarterly publication for our government clients. Edited by Industry Group lead, Kathryn Howard, it has a national readership and profiles topics of interest to our government readership.
If you have an initiative you would like us to profile, Kathryn would love to hear from you.
Key contact
Kathryn leads the Public Sector Practice at Hall & Wilcox, and is a commercial dispute resolution practice partner.
Our team
Related thinking
Public Sector| 22 Jul 2024
Public Law – Issue 21
The Hall & Wilcox team brings deep expertise and a fresh perspective to our public sector clients, providing the full range of legal services to our government clients. We partner with clients at all levels of government, adding real value to each engagement. Public sector organisations operate in a unique legislative and regulatory environment, with […]
Public Sector| 17 Jul 2024
Regulating the discretion to extend time: applying statutory extension of time provisions
At its core, administrative law is concerned with keeping those with power (be it the judiciary or the executive) within the limits of the conferral of that power.
Public Sector| 06 Jun 2024
Balancing act: procedural fairness and protecting the public interest – exploring statutory non-disclosure provisions
We explore the tension between procedural fairness and public interest in statutory non-disclosure provisions.
Public Sector| 14 May 2024
The adequacy of judicial review as a means of overseeing the use of automation in administrative decision-making
Judicial review is an important mechanism for promoting accountability in executive action and protecting individual rights and interests.