ALPMA Response to COVID-19

There has been a significant amount of discussion within the legal industry in relation to the potential risks associated with a more significant outbreak of COVID-19 across Australia and New Zealand. An article on our findings and a list of helpful website links can be found here.

ALPMA is following the COVID-19 situation closely and monitoring the appropriate government and health authority updates in order to minimize and manage our delegate risks at local seminars.

We have implemented measures to work closely with our State Branch Committees including our New Zealand Committee and will seek their local recommendations to host events on a weekly basis.

Event Guidelines

Some general guidelines for attendees at seminars in the coming weeks are below. We recommend:

• Those who are unwell or have cold or flu-like symptoms not to attend our local events.
• Those who have travelled overseas, to high risk regions, to self-isolate for a period of 14-days and to not attend local events within this 14-day period.
• Following the Governments advice, we recommend not to shake hands with others in attendance.
• Healthy hygiene practices and will have, where we are able, hand sanitizer (or disinfectant wipes) available at events. In the event supply of these products makes us unable to provide these at events, we recommend hand washing prior to and after the event.

ALPMA Action Plans

If COVID-19 escalates, and our local seminar schedules are interrupted, ALPMA will move our seminars online and open access for our members and other delegates to attend remotely. ALPMA has a been operating a regular and well attended Webinar program successfully for a number of years and this approach will work particularly well for those who are continuing to work within their offices and for those who are working remotely from home.

Further Updates

We will continue to update our website with information in relation to our response to COVID-19 on a weekly basis (Monday). The health and safety of our members and seminar attendees is our priority and we will act to minimize the risk to you where we can.

If you have any queries or concerns please reach out to either your local Branch Committee Members, your local Secretariat or to our General Manager, Emma Elliott directly.

Helpful Resources

•  Article: "Law Firms response to COVID-19". Outlines measures law firms are taking in response to COVID-19
•  Pandemic Plan Template - Member Only Resource
•  Risk Register Template - Member Only Resource
•  Summit 2019 Seminar: "Prepare or Panic? Business Continuity Planning Essentials" - Available free for ALPMA Members here.
  Non-members  can access this session here for $199.
•  Article: "Remote Working: 8 Top Tips to implement remote working quickly and efficiently"