This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.

Continue

Informa Australia is part of the Informa Connect Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 3099067.

informa

Register Your Interest

Close

Comments

Medico Legal Congress

Informa’s Annual Medico Legal Congress is Australia’s longest running event for medical and legal professionals.

22-23 March 2021 | Swissôtel Sydney

Book Now Register Your Interest Download Brochure

Early bird rate expires 22 January 2021 // see pricing below for details

overview

The 30th Annual Medico Legal Congress will be held on 22-23rd March 2021 at the Swissotel Sydney.

Join us as we mark the 30th anniversary of Australia’s premiere medico legal event and a highlight on the calendar of the nation’s medico legal professionals. The congress features wonderfully credentialed speakers addressing complex and thought-provoking medico legal issues, reviewing recent cases and discussing the future of healthcare and hospitals – from GPs to surgery in a post COVID world.

Featuring keynote speakers:
The Honourable Justice Ian G. Harrison

Covid 19 in Australia: Perspectives from the frontline
Dr Stephen Parnis, Emergency Physician, St Vincent’s Hospital, Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital, Werribee Mercy Hospital and former Vice President, AMA

Topics we are aiming to address include:

  • The future of healthcare and hospitals – from GPs to surgery in a post COVID world
  • The Aged Care Royal Commission
  • Covid class actions
  • Should Australia should adopt a duty of candour as the UK has done?
  • Doctors using social media – Recent changes, controversies and cases
  • Impairment in physicians: Often not total and permanent
  • Telehealth
  • Gaining consent for medical treatment for trans and gender diverse youth in Australia
  • Civil litigation or conduct actions relating to COVID 19
  • Boxell & Ors v Peninsula Health [2019] VSC 830 – Courts and the acceptance of clinical uncertainty
  • Medical Board updated Code of Conduct
  • Medical staff burnout POST COVID19
  • Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care new guidance for clinicians on how to obtain informed consent in health care
  • Civil claims area of causation
  • Changes in regulatory practice since independent review of the use of chaperones
  • Wrongful birth – Persisting questions about damages
  • The Patients behaving badly – Balancing duty of care and trespass to the person

speakers

Dr Stephen Parnis

Emergency Physician, St Vincent's Hospital, Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital, Werribee Mercy Hospital and former Vice President, AMA

The Honourable Justice Ian G. Harrison

Dr Kym Jenkins

Chair, Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges (CPMC), Immediate Past President, RANZCP

Bill Madden

Special Counsel, Carroll and O'Dea Lawyers

Professor Anne-Maree Kelly

Director, Joseph Epstein Centre for Emergency Medicine Research and Senior Emergency Physician at Western Health, Melbourne and Professorial Fellow, The University of Melbourne

Timothy Bowen

Manager - Advocacy & Legal Services, MIGA

Kylie Agland

Partner, HWL Ebsworth Lawyers

Dr Steph Jowett

Australian Centre for Health Law Research, School of Law, QUT

Annabelle Mann

General Counsel, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne

Richard Laufer

Chief Legal Officer, Northern Health

Janine McIlwraith

Principal Lawyer, Slater and Gordon Lawyers

Professor Susan Kurrle

Curran Professor in Health Care of Older People, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Clinical Director, Northern Sydney LHD Aged Care and Rehabilitation Network & Senior Staff Specialist Geriatrician, Hornsby Ku-ring-gai and Eurobodalla Health Services

Dr Vijay Roach MBBS MRCOG FRANZCOG

President, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Professor Damon Eisen

Acting Director Infectious Diseases and Infection Prevention, Peninsula Health

Associate Professor Tina Cockburn

Australian Centre for Health Law Research

Dr Eliana Close

Australian Centre for Health Law Research

Philip Bates

Barrister, Sir Anthony Mason Chambers

Vicky Antzoulatos

Practice Leader Class Actions, SHINE LAWYERS

Shari R. L. Liby

Accredited Personal Injuries Specialist, and Principal Lawyer in Medical Negligence, Slater and Gordon Lawyers

Dr Amanda Smith

Private Practice Anaesthetist Perth, Western Australia; LLB student, Murdoch University

Professor David Watters AM OBE

University Hospital Geelong, Barwon Health, Alfred Deakin Professor, Deakin University & Chair, Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council

Dr. Sam Bendall

Deputy Director WellMD Centre, SLHD, Emergency Physician, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Retrieval Specialist and Director of Education, CareFlight & NSW Ambulance State Retrieval Consultant

Andrea de Souza

Barrister, Greens List

Dr Anne Tonkin

Chair, Medical Board of Australia

Richard O’Keefe

Barrister, Maurice Byers Chambers

Dr Penny Browne

Chief Medical Officer, Avant

agenda

8:20 am

REGISTRATION

8:50 am

Opening remarks from the Chair

Janine McIlwraith, Principal Lawyer, Slater and Gordon Lawyers

9:00 am

KEYNOTE OPENING ADDRESS | Covid 19 in Australia: Perspectives from the frontline

Dr Stephen Parnis, Emergency Physician, St Vincent's Hospital, Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital, Werribee Mercy Hospital and former Vice President, AMA

9:40 am

This presentation will summarise key findings and recommendations from the Aged Care Royal Commission and look at how they will impact on how aged care is delivered in the future. It will also discuss the lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to how older people are treated by both the health system and the aged care system, and how we can do better in the future.

10:15 am

  • discrimination, bullying, sexual harassment and vexatious complaints
  • cultural safety, including a new definition, and
  • career transitions for doctors

10:50 am

Networking, stretch & refreshment break

11:20 am

Wrongful birth damages: To question even those things we thought we knew

Bill Madden, Special Counsel, Carroll and O'Dea Lawyers

11:55 am

  • How do protect against COVID-19?
  • How do we prove where HCW’s were infected?
  • How might HCW’s be affected by COVID-19

12:30 pm

  • Disclosure of adverse events – Ethics, policy and guidelines
  • Barriers and enablers for open disclosure
  • Consequences for medical practitioners of failure to disclose adverse events – Disciplinary consequences and civil liability
  • Do we need a statutory duty of candour in Australia?

1:05 pm

Networking & lunch break

2:05 pm

Doctors using social media – Recent changes, controversies and cases

Timothy Bowen, Manager - Advocacy & Legal Services, MIGA

2:40 pm

  • In most cases, parents agree with each other on the treatment to be provided to their child but how do we manage the cases where they don’t?
  • What does the law say about what to do when one parent objects to the recommended treatment?
  • How does this play out in practice and what are the ramifications for the clinician, the hospital and, most importantly, the child?

3:15 pm

  • History of reform efforts
  • Almost two years of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic): where are we now?
  • Status of reform efforts: WA law, Queensland Bill/law, Tasmanian law (if this passes)
  • Contrast Australian position with select international jurisdictions
  • Monitoring, reporting and oversight – Are current mechanisms sufficient and where are the gaps?

3:50 pm

Networking & refreshment break

4:15 pm

4:50 pm

  • It is uncontested that ED staff owe a duty of care to patients who are aggressive or violent but what constitutes a breach of that duty is less clear
  • Sometimes ED staff restrain and sedate aggressive patients against their will in order for tests to rule out serious illness to be done or for time to elapse and diffuse the situation
  • But could such action, in certain circumstances, be trepass to the person or false imprisonment?
  • What would be the ‘reasonable’ steps a clinician should take before deciding a course of action?

5:30 pm

Closing remarks from the Chair & Networking Function

8:30 am

REGISTRATION

8:50 am

Opening remarks from the Chair

9:10 am

KEYNOTE OPENING ADDRESS

The Honourable Justice Ian G. Harrison,

9:50 am

How do doctors and lawyers think differently about what is a ‘widely accepted competent professional practice’ that provides a defence to an allegation of negligent breach of duty in section 5O of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) and elsewhere in Australia?

  • This defence is adapted from the 1957 English case of Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee.

10:25 am

Covid class actions (Ruby Princess and Aged Care in Victoria)

Vicky Antzoulatos, Practice Leader Class Actions, SHINE LAWYERS

11:00 am

Networking, stretch & refreshment break

11:30 am

From a predominantly clinical perspective this talk will address;

  • What do we really mean by a physician being impaired?
  • Consideration of impairment as being state dependant and situation sensitive
  • The importance of recognising impairment in clinicians
  • Complexities in addressing physician impairment

12:05 pm

Medical staff burnout POST COVID19: What is it, why we should care and what is being done about it?

Dr. Sam Bendall, Deputy Director WellMD Centre, SLHD, Emergency Physician, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Retrieval Specialist and Director of Education, CareFlight & NSW Ambulance State Retrieval Consultant

12:40 pm

  • Chest pain is common in ED. A very rare cause is aortic dissection that, if undiagnosed, is usually fatal. Aortic dissection is over-represented in coronial and medical litigation cases
  • For chest pain, Emergency Departments aim to rule out to a reasonable extent serious causes while balancing the risks of investigations. In about 70% of cases, no firm diagnosis is made
  • The estimated prevalence of aortic dissection in ED chest pain patients is 1:1000. About 40% are ‘missed’ on initial assessment
  • What level of risk is reasonable and how can that be communicated to courts?
  • Duelling experts and the peer professional practice defence

1:15 pm

Networking & lunch break

2:05 pm

  • The Australian legal framework for consent to medical treatment for trans and gender diverse (TGD) youth has occupied a controversial and shifting landscape
  • It sits alongside advancing medical knowledge and an increasing incidence of young TGD people seeking treatment
  • This presentation examines the case law governing consent for medical treatment of TGD youth, recent key cases and practical difficulties the current law presents for TGD youth, their families and treating doctors

2:40 pm

  • Day surgery has become commonplace over the last 30 years
  • Patients are asked to have someone they know take them home and stay with them after their surgery, but some patients choose to go home alone
  • What are the risks for a patient who goes home alone and are patients informed of their risks?
  • Who is responsible for an adverse outcome if a patient chooses to go home alone?

3:15 pm

The civil claims area of causation

Richard O’Keefe, Barrister, Maurice Byers Chambers

3:50 pm

Networking & refreshment break

4:10 pm

4:40 pm

CLOSING PANEL DISCUSSION | The future of healthcare and hospitals – From GPs to surgery in a post COVID world - What will the next 5/10/20 years present?

Moderated by: Richard Laufer, Chief Legal Officer, Northern Health

Dr Vijay Roach MBBS MRCOG FRANZCOG, President, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Professor David Watters AM OBE, University Hospital Geelong, Barwon Health, Alfred Deakin Professor, Deakin University & Chair, Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council

Janine McIlwraith, Principal Lawyer, Slater and Gordon Lawyers

Dr Penny Browne, Chief Medical Officer, Avant

5:20 pm

Closing remarks from the Chair & END OF SUMMIT

sponsors

Silver Sponsor

Partners

Supporting Partner Supporting Partner

pricing

Packages Price
Package(Two Days)$2295$1995+GST Early Bird Rate Early Bird Rate
Organisation Rate$9000+GST
Virtual Pass$950+GST
Packages Price
Package(Two Days)$1895$1695+GST Early Bird Rate Early Bird Rate

Early bird rate expires 22 January 2021

Organisation Rate: Groups of up to 6 delegates can register for $9000 + GST (Approx. $1500 + GST per ticket)

Insights

Wrongful birth damages – an interview with Bill Madden
Read more >>

Professor Euan Wallace’s keynote address at the Medico Legal Congress
Read more >>

The role and major challenges of a medical legal counsel
Read more >>

What are the Trends and the Future of Medical & Health Law?
Read more >>

The black, white and grey area of assisted suicide
Read more >>

Health & Safety

Informa Australia’s events will be organised in accordance with Informa’s AllSecure health and safety standard. As the world’s leading events’ organiser, Informa has developed a detailed set of enhanced measures to provide the highest level of hygiene and safety at its events, providing everyone with reassurance and confidence they are participating in a safe and controlled environment.

Placing your safety at the heart of our events
When you join our event, you can expect to see that health and safety is a priority, and that a range of measures are in place to ensure everyone involved is able to enjoy a safe, hygienic, productive and high-quality organised event experience.

All Informa events will be run according to official government and local authority guidance in the first instance, as well as any venue or location-specific regulations. In addition, Informa Australia will follow ten Informa AllSecure priority commitments.

For more information about Informa Australia’s AllSecure Key Commitments and further details, please visit:
www.informa.com.au/allsecure

when & where

22 - 23 Mar 2021

Swissotel Sydney
68 Market St
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: +61 (02) 9238 8888

Get Directions
Get Directions

contact

Still have a question?

Kate Twentyman
Conference Manager
kate.twentyman@informa.com.au

Danielle Newman
Senior Business Development Manager
+61 2 9080 4432
Danielle.Newman@informa.com

Get all the latest on Informa news and events

Informa Connect Australia is the nation's leading event organiser. Our events comprise of large scale exhibitions, industry conferences and highly specialised corporate training.

Find out more

COVID-19 Informa Connect Update + Policy
Learn More
close-image
Book Now