On 29 March an important Law and Religion CPD seminar for lawyers was held at the Sheridan Institute of Higher Education. Organised by the Human Rights Law Alliance (HRLA), a packed house was eager to hear our speakers for this highly successful legal seminar.
Chaired by Professor Augusto Zimmermann, the first speaker for the evening was John Steenhof, the Principal Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Alliance. Mr Steenhof’s spoke about recent State and Territory legislation in Quensland, ACT and Victoria which will ban “conversion therapy” practices for people who are same-sex attracted or experiencing gender dysphoria and the implication for likely legislation in Western Australia.
Following Mr Steenhof’s speech was Mr Mark Hemery, who is Partner at Hotchkin Hanly, a prestigious law firm based in Western Australia. His excellent talk addressed important questions related to employer codes of conduct and religious freedom, particularly if the code of conduct conflicts with the observance of the employee’s faith.
This CPD seminar could not be more successful. It was a sold-out event and the talks given by our speakers were very well received. It provided 2 CPD points for lawyers in the mandatory field of substantive law and equipped them to understand the recent nationwide proliferation of conversion therapy legislation as well as pressure brought to bear on religious employees through sometimes vague and restrictive codes of conduct.
