Events and news

Sustainability Law and Policy for Resource Development

• Unit date: 2027 dates to be announced
• Details: Sustainability is now a critical factor in the development of Australia’s mineral and energy resources as companies and regulators seek to balance the competing requirements of the environment, society and the economy. Industry participants and their lawyers need to have a clear understanding of the applicable rules in order to develop appropriate responses for investors, regulators and the public and to balance competing objectives for the present and the future. This workshop will give a clear understanding of those rules, including in mining, petroleum, climate change and environmental legislation and ASX reporting requirements. The workshop will provide practical examples enabling participants to apply the rules. The workshop is designed for lawyers and non-lawyers. 
• Price: $3,300.00 incl. GST and booking fee. We invite registered charities to inquire about the discounted registration rates. Please contact [email protected] for further information. 
• CPD: Full attendance at this short course entitles a practitioner up to 10 Legal CPD points. Points can be selected from Competency Area 1 (2 points available) and Competency Area 4 (15.5 points available) depending on the sessions they attend.

Resource Taxation

When:

March 19-20, 26-27, 2026

Price:

$3,300.00 incl. GST and booking fee. We invite registered charities to inquire about the discounted registration rates. Please contact [email protected] for further information.

CPD:

Full attendance at this short course entitles a practitioner to up to 10 Legal CPD points in Competency Area 4. 

Event description

This four day workshop examines the taxation of resource projects and resource companies in Australia, it covers income tax, royalties, petroleum resource rent tax, state duties and GST. The course will also look at common tax issues which arise for resource companies in domestic and cross-border transactions. A range of non-renewable resource industries are covered, including mining, oil and gas. Lawyers, accountants, government officials and resource company personnel who need a working knowledge of how resource projects and resource transactions are taxed will benefit from this course.

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Water Resources Law

When:

April 9-10, 16-17, 2026

Price:

$2,970.00 incl. GST and booking fee. We invite registered charities to inquire about the discounted registration rates. Please contact [email protected] for further information.

CPD:

Legal practitioners are entitled up to 6 CPD points to be selected from the competency areas Professional Skills and Substantive Law depending on the sessions they attend.

Details

This short course introduces the main legal principles of water resources management and discusses key regulatory issues being faced in Western Australia. Applicable for both lawyers and non-lawyers, participants will become familiar with the principal legal and policy materials applied in the management of water resources in Western Australia, including insights into National Water Policy reform proposals for Western Australia.

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Energy Agreements workshop

Energy Agreements: Oil and Gas, Alternative Energy and Sustainability

• Unit date: 20, 24 and 27 August 2026
• Details: This three-day workshop (August 20, 24 and 27, 2026) will appeal to lawyers and non-lawyers wanting to develop their understanding of the legal agreements which underpin the commercialisation of energy, including oil and gas and alternative energy. It aims is to explain and review the key provisions of contracts important to the commercial development of oil and gas, wind and solar against the background of a transition to more sustainable energy. The contracts considered include joint venture agreements, electricity and gas sales agreements, transportation and storage agreements and agreements for the development of wind and solar power. The Energy Agreements course uses real life examples to demonstrate how the agreements operate in practice to share risk and reward. The course will be led by John Chandler. John is Co-Director of the UWA Law School's Centre for Mining, Energy and Natural Resources Law. John was a practising lawyer for many years and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this course. He is assisted by a distinguished faculty of leading energy lawyers and economists who explain the legal, economic and commercial issues.
• CPD: Full attendance at this short course entitles a practitioner up to 10 Legal CPD points. Points can be selected from Competency Area 2 (1 point available) and Competency Area 4 (16.5 points available) depending on the sessions they attend.
  
  The CPD rules differ for jurisdictions outside Western Australia. If you are outside Western Australia, we recommend checking with your local relevant authority to determine if you can claim any CPD points.

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Mining Law workshop

Mining Law 2026 workshop

• Unit date: Wednesday, 18 November to Friday, 20 November 2026
• Time: Each day from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm (AWST)

Details: 

This workshop will provide an intensive course of study about the legal and policy essentials of mining regulation in Western Australia. It is designed to be a comprehensive review for lawyers, professionals and business people, non-government organisations and government administrators working in or with WA’s Mining Law.

The workshop will comprise eight sessions, each morning and afternoon, comprising lectures and tutorial discussions of problems raising the issues presented in the lecture. There will also be interactive seminars.

Topics include:

• Basics of mining regulation (aims, structures, comparisons)
• Public and private ownership of minerals
• WA’s mining regulation: (constitutional framework, administration)
• Land open for mining
• The exploration and production application and tenement regime
• Surrender and forfeiture
• Financing and safety fundamentals for WA mining
• Government Agreements
• Mining practice (databases, law reform, stakeholder engagement)
• Environmental aspects
• Native Title and Aboriginal heritage (including agreements)

Lecturers and tutors will be drawn from experts in Mining Law from the Centre for Mining, Energy & Natural Resources Law and the profession.

• CPD: For attendance at this short course, practitioners are entitled to CPD points. Further details forthcoming.
  
  The CPD rules differ for jurisdictions outside Western Australia. If you are outside Western Australia, we recommend checking with your local relevant authority to determine if you can claim any CPD points.

Register for this event

French Dialogues

When:
5:30 – 6:30pm
1 September 2026 
Social Sciences Lecture Theatre, UWA

Price:
Attendance is free

CPD:
Lawyers can receive one CPD point in substantive law for attending

Details:
The Law School is delighted to host its special biennial lecture series, the French Dialogues, named for the Honourable French, a UWA Law School alumnus (LLB ’71). The Dialogues consist of a cross-disciplinary discussion by a panel of experts on a significant contemporary issue. At the upcoming French Dialogues, the speakers will be the Honourable Robert French, Kate Chaney MP and Associate Professor Marilyn Bromberg (“M”) and the topic is social media and the law. Australia was the first country in the world to pass a minimum age to use social media and the law federally and other jurisdictions overseas followed suit. At this event, the speakers will explain the background to the law being created and explore some of the controversy surrounding it.

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Private and commercial law conference

Date and time

9:00am Thursday, 3 December to 6:00pm Friday, 4 December (AWST)

Details:

The annual Private and Commercial Law Conference will be hosted at the UWA Law School from 3-4 December 2026, on the theme of “Trust and Trusts in Commercial Law”.

The aims of the conference are to provide academics with an informal and supportive environment in which to present work in progress, and to facilitate a collegial discussion of issues related to teaching and publishing in private and commercial law. We encourage early and mid-career academics and research higher degree students to consider presenting on aspects of their work relating to the Conference theme.

The theme is designed to foster imaginative, broad and deep connections between conceptions of ‘trust’ and ‘trusts’ in commercial law. Papers may draw, for example, on:

• Relevant theory and doctrine from the fields of Equity & Trusts, such as may arise through undue influence, fiduciary and trusts law, duties of confidence, accessorial liability and equitable remedies;
• Consumer law insights into promoting and regulating trust and trustworthiness, including relevant theory and doctrine on topics such as misleading and unconscionable conduct, new and old challenges in digital commerce, health law (eg Big Pharma) and other fields;
• Relevant theory and doctrine from the laws of torts and contract, such as may arise from ancient torts such as deceit and injurious falsehood, or from contractual duties of confidence and ‘relational’ contracts;
• Corporate law insights on trust and trustworthiness in corporate governance and corporate culture, or reflections on the interplay between corporations and trusts;
• Regulatory and philosophical theory pertaining to the theme of Trust and Trusts.

Expressions of interest in presenting, with draft titles and short (250 word) abstracts, should be submitted to [email protected] by Tuesday 30 June 2026. Registration is not limited to prospective presenters. The registration fee of AUD $90.00 for in-person attendees will contribute to catering costs — full time RHD students and remote participants are exempt.

The conference will have a ‘blended’ format, to allow for in-person and remote presentations and attendance, but preference will be given to presenters who intend to attend in person. Presenters will be encouraged to submit their papers to the UWA Law Review for inclusion in a special issue on the Conference theme. Finally, participants may be interested in the annual conference of the Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law, which will also take place at UWA Law School in the days immediately preceding the PCL conference.

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John Toohey Oration

The John Toohey Oration is a biannual Oration organised by the UWA Law School. The Oration, which commenced in 1998, honours the career and contribution to public life of a distinguished graduate of The University of Western Australia, the Hon. John Leslie Toohey. After graduating in Arts and Law, the Honourable John Leslie Toohey AC QC went on to become an outstanding legal practitioner and, as a Justice of the High Court of Australia, one of the country's most eminent jurists. The Oration is given by distinguished speakers on a variety of topics.

The most recent Toohey Oration was given by Wayne Nannup in September 2025.

For more details about the Hon. John Toohey AC QC and details of past Oration speakers, visit the John Toohey Oration Lecture Series.

George Winterton Memorial Lecture

The annual George Winterton Memorial Lecture commemorates the outstanding and lasting contribution of Professor George Winterton to constitutional law scholarship and teaching. The Lecture is usually hosted by The University of Sydney Law School, but every three years it is hosted by UWA Law School in recognition of Professor Winterton as an esteemed alumnus. The next Perth lecture will be held in 2027.

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