Expert Panel | Workplace Vaccination Q&A

Professor Andrew Stewart

Legal Consultant at Piper Alderman

John Bray Professor of Law at The University of Adelaide

Andrew is a leading expert in employment law, workplace relations and the general law of contract.

He consults exclusively to Piper Alderman in matters of legal practice while maintaining his position as the John Bray Professor of Law at the University of Adelaide. He has also undertaken consultancy work for Federal and State governments, the International Labour Organization, the Fair Work Ombudsman and other bodies, and was formerly the President of the Australian Labour Law Association.

His work for Piper Alderman clients includes presenting seminars on legal developments, and the preparation of advice on complex issues. He is particularly well known for his expertiseand public commentary on the Fair Work legislation.

This expertise is further enhanced with the publication of several books, including being lead author of the popular texts Creighton & Stewart’s Labour Law, Stewart’s Guide to Employment Law and Intellectual Property in Australia. His most recent work, Contract Law: Principles and Context (co-written with Warren Swain and Karen Fairweather), was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019.

He is also the author of Independent Contractors: A Practical Guide, published by CCH in 2013 and Parental Leave: A User-Friendly Guide, published by Thomson Reuters in 2011. Both were co-written with other members of Piper Alderman’s Employment Relations team. Other recent books include Cooperation at Work: How Tribunals Can Help Transform Workplaces (with Mark Bray and Johanna Macneil) and a co-edited collection, The Wages Crisis in Australia.

Magda Marciniak

Partner at Justitia Lawyers & Consultants

Magda assists her clients with a wide range of equal opportunity and employment law matters, including discrimination and sexual harassment complaints, enterprise agreements, modern award obligations and transfer of business. She has a particular interest in advising clients about compliance issues and interpreting industrial instruments.

Magda works with private, public and community sector clients across a range of industries, in particular local government, public entities, professional services, social and community services and information technology.

Magda regularly represents clients defending claims in the Fair Work Commission, VCAT and the Federal Court and assists her clients in their dealings with the Fair Work Ombudsman. She is also an experienced workplace investigator and is consistently rated highly for her training.

Nick Duggal

Partner at Moray & Agnew

Nick leads the national Workplace practice at Moray & Agnew. Having practised in the field of workplace law throughout his career, he has an excellent understanding of time and cost pressures facing employers, insurers and government. This deep insight makes him a highly sought after adviser, providing workplace solutions that span multiple legal disciplines and are responsive, pragmatic and commercial.

Nick acts for a diverse range of longstanding clients, ranging from start-up and small family-owned enterprises through to major insurers, multinational and publicly listed companies, statutory authorities, government departments, schools, hospitals, IT firms, financial institutions, industry associations, medical defence organisations, building and construction companies, councils and professional service firms. His broad experience extends to practising in London for a major European firm. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Nick has been a visible market presence on the frontline of assisting both Health organisations and commercial businesses manage both the dual health and economic impacts of the crisis.

Karen Ansen

Employment Law at Karen Ansen Consulting

Karen founded Karen Ansen Consulting in 2019 with the intention to create a consultancy firm that challenged the traditional perception of Workplace Law and Human Resources. Karen is approachable, rapport focused and ensures that she is easily accessible to her clients to provide timely solutions. Karen is passionate about delivering practical solutions and is an advocate for positive change.

With a career in Workplace and Industrial Relations spanning nearly two decades, Karen’s wealth of experience in this sector creates ease of mind for her clients. Before Karen Ansen Consulting, Karen worked in a number of Commonwealth and State Government roles before moving to the Department of Industrial Relations NSW. Following the completion of her law degree, Karen worked at Leading Aged Services Australia (LASA) and Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) as an Employment Relations Advisor. After this time, Karen moved to a Newcastle-based outsourced HR firm and worked as Head of Workplace Relations.

Karen’s career achievements include providing support and advice to the Fair Work Ombudsman on the implementation of the Modern Award and National Employment Standards, guest speaking engagements at ACSA National Conferences; and her involvement in both the ACSTemplate Enterprise Agreement negotiations and Modern Award Review 2013-2016.

Joe Murphy

Partner at Piper Alderman

Joe is an employment relations lawyer with over 20 years’ experience specialising in workplace relations at mid-tier and employer associations.

Joe’s experience extends to providing advice and representation in matters across Australian tribunals and courts, including the Fair Work Commission and the Federal Courts of Australia. Joe has also represented clients in various inquests and commissions of inquiry, including in the Independent Commission Against Corruption and various State Coroner’s Inquests and Inquiries.

Regular matters in which clients require Joe’s expertise, include redundancies, unfair dismissals, general protections (adverse action) claims, executive and complex dismissals and separations, discrimination claims, industrial disputes, managing long and short term injured workers, troublesome workers compensation claims, employee fraud, employee privacy and surveillance, investigations (including in connection with whistleblower complaints), and the defence of underpayment claims brought by employees, unions and the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Joe has extensive experience assisting clients with disputation between employers and their employees (whether dealing with employees collectively or individually).

Joe has spent the last 10 years working exclusively with businesses across a vast range of industries and sectors, including information technology, SaaS, retail, hospitality, transport, manufacturing, construction, social & community services, and financial services.