Resilient Practice Forum | Navigating Trauma and Family Violence Matters
As part of the FCFCOA Family Violence Best Practice Principles, all professionals working in or appearing before the Courts are expected to undertake ongoing training and professional development to ensure that they have a sound and contemporary knowledge of family violence (see p.14).
The program for the Resilient Practice Forum, Chaired by Family Law Section Treasurer and WA Executive Member Nicola Watts, features prominent speakers who will discuss family violence and discuss fundamentals regarding trauma-informed practice for family law practitioners.
Tickets are strictly limited so book now to secure your spot and earn up to 4 CPD points relating to professional skills.
About the Sessions
- The mental health continuum, and enablers and derailers of wellbeing
- Understanding vicarious trauma
- Responses to potentially traumatic events and coping mechanisms
- Practical ways to mitigate the risk of vicarious trauma and promote positive wellbeing
- Provide a brief overview of TIP principles, including the supporting evidence base
- Explore the impacts of trauma, including the neuropsychological bases of these impacts
- Highlight how trauma may present in a legal context, including impacts on attention, concentration and memory, emotional regulation, and witness demeanor
- Discuss the role that trauma informed practice plays in effective delivery of justice
Judge Burt
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2)
Judge Alison Burt was appointed to the Federal Circuit and Family Court on 6 April 2022. Before that date, she practiced exclusively in family law at the Victorian Bar, where she specialised in cases with an international element and complex parenting disputes. In 2021 she was listed by Doyle's Guide as one of the leading family law junior Counsel in Australia. Judge Burt has twenty years’ experience as a solicitor in England, where she was admitted to practice in 1993. In 2010 she was appointed as a Deputy District Judge with a broad civil jurisdiction. Judge Burt studied law as an undergraduate at Queens’ College, Cambridge. Until her appointment, she was the Victorian Bar representative on the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section.
Professor Nicole Sadler AM CSC
Director, Phoenix Australia - Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health
Nicole Sadler is a Clinical Psychologist and the Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health and an Enterprise Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne. For over three decades she has worked with military members, veterans, emergency services workers, judiciary and frontline health care professionals, and communities impacted by disasters and large scale events. She is an expert in trauma-related mental health and wellbeing, suicide, and disaster mental health. Nicole served over 20 years in the Army and continues to serve as a Brigadier in the Army Reserves. She has been recognised with the Member of the Order of Australia and the Conspicuous Service Cross for her leadership in mental health.
Dr Jessica Seamer
Senior Family Violence Researcher
Dr Seamer works at Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS) as a Senior Research Officer (Death Review), she previously worked for No to Violence, as a Project Lead researching the workforce capability of those working directly with people using family violence, prior to this role she was a National Trainer. Dr Seamer completed her PhD through the Monash University Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre, her thesis was on 'Investigating family violence perpetrators – interventions, masculinities and accountabilities', she also holds a Masters in Criminology and Criminal Justice with first class honours from Griffith University.
David Miller
General Manager - Mental Health Consulting, Communicorp
David is a qualified and practicing senior organisational psychologist and commercial leader who drives people risk and WHS strategic change across in-house and professional services environments. He brings an unparalleled passion and for optimising the health, safety and performance of organisations and their people to deliver strong commercial growth.
David regularly draws on his broad consulting and commercial expertise having worked in both consulting and operational leadership roles over the past 15 years. This experience has enabled him to lead and deliver business transformation projects in some of Australia’s largest organisations including Telstra, Australia Post and Commonwealth government departments.
David is a seasoned facilitator and presenter and regularly delivers keynotes at numerous industry forums and conferences across OHS, mental health and broader organisational insights and innovation practices.
About the Host
Nicola Watts
Treasurer, Family Law Section
Nicola joined the Section Executive as the Western Australian representative in November 2016 and was elected Treasurer in June 2021. Nicola was the Chair of the Organising Committee for the FLS 20th National Family Law Conference which was held in Perth in October 2024.
Nicola completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Tasmania and was admitted to practice in 1993, after completing articles in Hobart. After working in Launceston for several years, Nicola moved to Melbourne where she worked exclusively in family law between 1997 and 2013.
Whilst in Victoria, Nicola trained as a Mediator and Collaborative Lawyer. Since moving to Perth she has also trained as an Arbitrator. From 1995 to 2018 Nicola acted as Independent Children's Lawyer in Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. In 2011 Nicola was made Citizen of the Year by the City of Stonnington for her service to youth. She has been recognised by Doyle's Guide as a Leading Parenting & Children's Matters Lawyer in Western Australia.
Nicola moved to Western Australia in June 2013 and joined O'Sullivan Davies in July 2018 and was made a partner in January 2020. O'Sullivan Davies has been listed as a First Tier Family Law firm in Doyle's Guide each year since 2012 and is the only nationally recognised Western Australia firm. It has a long history of supporting FLS with 3 partners acting as WA Representative, and as a major sponsor at National Conferences for many years.
Nicola has served on the Board of the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators (AIFLAM) and sits as FLS Representative on the Council of the Family Law Practitioners Association of Western Australia (FLPA). Nicola also sits on the Legal Aid WA Review Committee
Event Pricing
| Category | Standard Rate |
|---|---|
FLS Member Price | $250 |
NZ FLS Member Price | $250 |
Early Career Practitioner* | $150 |
CLC and Legal Aid Commission Employee | $150 |
Judicial/ Court Staff | $200 |
SJRs/JRs/FCWA Registrars | $200 |
Non Member Pricing | $350 |
* For lawyers admitted to practice less than 4 years
Event Inclusions
Event is Open for Registrations
When:
Where:
RACV City Club 501 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Contact:
Your Host