Minds Count Annual Lecture 2024

The 2024 Minds Count Lecture will be held in-person at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney and televised via closed web-cast on Thursday 29 August 2024, starting at 5.30pm.

This year's keynote titled "When Minds Are Traitors" will be delivered by The Honourable Justice Jacqueline Gleeson, of the High Court of Australia.

Justice Jacqueline Gleeson will join The Honourable Associate Justice Mary-Jayne Ierodiaconou, Supreme Court of Victoria, His Honour Judge Frank Gucciardo, County Court of Victoria and His Honour Magistrate Andrew Sim, Magistrates' Court of Victoria for a Q & A panel session following the keynote, facilitated by David Field, Chief Legal Counsel and Director, People & Finance at Canon Oceania and Minds Count board member.

T he Honourable Justice Jacqueline Gleeson, High Court of Australia

Jacqueline Sarah Gleeson was appointed to the High Court of Australia in March 2021. At the time of her appointment, she was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, having been appointed to that position in April 2014.

She has Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degrees from the University of Sydney. She was admitted as a solicitor in 1989 and practised as an employed solicitor at Bush, Burke & Company in Sydney from 1990 to mid-1991. She then practised as a barrister from mid-1991, leaving the Bar at the end of 2000. From 2001 to 2003 she was General Counsel at the Australian Broadcasting Authority. From 2004 to 2006, she was a Senior Executive Lawyer with the Australian Government Solicitor.

She returned to the Bar in 2007 and was made Senior Counsel in 2012. Her Honour is an Honorary Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.

The Honourable Associate Justice Mary-Jayne Ierodiaconou, Supreme Court of Victoria

The Hon. Associate Justice Ierodiaconou is the Principal Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Before her appointment to the Court in May 2015, Associate Justice Ierodiaconou was a founder and Managing Partner of a leading employment law firm.

Associate Justice Ierodiaconou has been a member of the Law Institute of Victoria Council, where she dedicated her maiden speech after election to the importance of flexibility and mental health in the legal profession. She was also a member of the Law Institute of Victoria Steering Committee for Mental Health in the Legal Profession, where she participated in policy and practical initiatives to improve wellbeing in the legal profession.

Associate Justice Ierodiaconou has published extensively on mental health including articles to do with disclosure, unlawful discrimination and the importance of raising awareness of mental health issues.

His Honour Judge Frank Gucciardo, County Court of Victoria

Judge Frank R Gucciardo signed the Roll of Counsel of the Victorian Bar in 1983, commencing an extensive practice in Criminal Law within the County and Supreme Court of Victoria from 1983 to 2008. In 2008, he was appointed to the County Court of Victoria. Since 1989, he has been an instructor at the Victorian Bar Reader’s Course, leading workshops on Interpreters, Plea Making, General and Jury Trial Advocacy, Criminal Certificate Accreditation Seminars, and Police Prosecutors examination moots. Judge Gucciardo also served as an instructor for the Australian Advocacy Institute from 1994 to 2019, including teaching the LL.B. undergraduate course in Trial Advocacy at Monash University’s Prato campus in Italy. He has conducted Trial Counsel Accreditation workshops for Victoria Legal Aid and served as Chairman of the County Court Professional Development Committee from 2011 to 2016. Additionally, he was a member of the Court’s Media Committee from 2010 to 2017 and the Strategic Planning Committee of Court Services Victoria from 2015 to 2018.

Judge Gucciardo co-sponsored the County Court Resilience and Reflective Practice Program and occasionally served as a faculty member for seminars of the Judicial College of Victoria. He has been a speaker on judicial wellness at numerous conferences in Australia and New Zealand. His contributions extend to being a recent past Council Alternate Member of the National Judicial College of Australia and a past member of the College’s Programs Advisory Committee. Throughout his career, Judge Gucciardo has demonstrated a strong commitment to legal education, professional development, and the wellbeing of the judiciary.

His Honour Magistrate Andrew Sim, Magistrates' Court of Victoria

Magistrate Sim graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Melbourne in 2003 and completed a Master of Laws from the Australian National University in 2007. He joined the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department in 2004 and was admitted as a legal practitioner in 2005. He worked at the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in Melbourne for six years, dealing with fraud, drug importation, money laundering, and terrorism cases.

In 2012, he began working at Victoria Legal Aid, focusing on state and federal indictable offences and regularly appearing as a duty lawyer. He joined the Victorian Bar in May 2013, practising criminal, regulatory, and public law, and served on the Bar’s Student Engagement Committee and his clerk’s list committee. He also mentored law students at the University of Melbourne.

Magistrate Sim was appointed a Magistrate in Victoria in October 2022, initially serving at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court. In January 2023, he joined the Assessment and Referral Court, which has a therapeutic focus to case manage accused persons who have significant psychiatric illnesses and / or cognitive impairments. In January 2024, he became the Lead Family Violence Magistrate. As of June 2024, he serves at the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court and the Children’s Court.

David Field, Chief Legal Counsel and Director, People & Finance at Canon Oceania and Minds Count board member.

David is the Chief Legal Counsel and Director, People & Finance at Canon Oceania, after having worked in-house as a lawyer at Telstra for more than nineteen years. Prior to moving in-house, David worked in private practice for Mallesons Stephen Jacques, having started his legal career working for Mallesons in Taiwan.

Outside of work, David is a fanatical photographer and one of the founders of the Laws of Creativity portrait project, exploring the role that creativity plays in the practice of law. David co-created and teaches the new course “The Inhouse Counsel - Law, Skills and Practice” as part of the Master of Laws program at the University of New South Wales. David serves on the boards of the Minds Count Foundation and Canon New Zealand Limited, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Ticket Options

IN-PERSON (Physical attendance at Federal Court of Australia, Sydney)

Event Time: 5.30pm-7.30pm (light refreshments to follow lecture)

General Admission: IN-PERSON - $25.00

Concession/Student: IN-PERSON - $15.00 with discount code "MC2024"

WEB-CAST (Secure live-stream)

Event Time: 5.30pm-7.30pm

General Admission: WEB-CAST - $15.00

Concession/Student: WEB-CAST - $10.00 with discount code "MCWC2024"

*Web-cast attendance note:

Login details for web-cast attendance will be emailed to registrants on Wednesday 28 August 2024.

RSVP/Ticket sales will close by Tuesday 27 August 2024.

Enquiries

For further information, please contact [email protected]

Can't attend but would like to donate? Scan the QR code below.

This event is proudly sponsored by Thomson Reuters, Herbert Smith Freehills and McCabes Lawyers .

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Federal Court of Australia, 184 Phillip Street, Sydney, Australia