Future Workplace Law Summit 2026
About this Event
Future Workplace Law Summit 2026
In a period of rapid and sustained workplace change, the risks and opportunities for employers have never been more complex.
This exclusive, two day, in-person event brings together leading voices from across the legal, industrial and business landscape to unpack the most pressing workplace challenges facing employers.
Featuring legal experts alongside distinguished guest speakers, the Summit delivers practical insights into the evolving legal landscape, set against broader economic and workplace trends in Australia and overseas.
Limited tickets available.
Confirmed Speakers
With a strong line-up of guest speakers already secured, our 2026 Summit is set to deliver sharp insight, practical guidance and forward-looking perspectives.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Hon Justice Hatcher SC, President, Fair Work Commission
- Anna Booth, Fair Work Ombudsman
- Steve Sammartino, Futurist
- Michael Kaine, National Secretary, Transport Workers’ Union
- Chris Richardson, Economist
- Nick McKenzie, Investigative Journalist
alongside international legal experts from global employment law alliance Ius Laboris and Kingston Reid’s national team of expert workplace lawyers.
*Full two-day agenda coming soon.
Dates, Timing and Location
The Summit will take place over two days and two gorgeous locations in the centre of Sydney.
Day 1 - Thursday 3 September 2026 at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf. Registrations will open at 1:45pm. Day 1 of the Summit will conclude by 5:00pm, followed by the evening cocktail event.
Day 2 - Friday 4 September 2026 at Doltone House, Hyde Park Sydney. Registrations will open at 7:30am. Day 2 of the Summit will conclude by 4:00pm.
Day 1 (Thursday 3 Sept)
🕑: 01:40 PM - 02:00 PM
Registrations Open | Day 1 - Thursday 3 September 2026
Info: Day 1 of the Summit will be held at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf. Event registration opens from 1:40pm. Day 1 comprises an afternoon of facilitated, interaction workshops hosted by legal experts from Kingston Reid and Ius Laboris. Attendees can select one workshop option for each of the two afternoon sessions, subject to remaining availability at time of booking. Attendees will be asked to nominate their preferences from the below options during the purchasing process - please make a note of your selections from below. Materials for all workshops will be made available to all Day 1 attendees.
🕑: 02:00 PM - 03:20 PM
Session A | Option 1: Managing People Risk through Crises and Global Shocks
Info: In moments of crisis - from critical incidents to geopolitical disruption - organisational lines blur and expectations converge, with legal, people and safety functions suddenly operating at the centre of critical decision-making.
This discussion will draw on real-world scenarios to explore how leading organisations respond under pressure: managing people across jurisdictions, navigating legal and reputational exposure, and maintaining control in fast-moving, high-risk scenarios.
🕑: 02:00 PM - 03:20 PM
Session A | Option 2: Complaints & Investigations - Managing Process and Risk
Info: The right to raise a complaint is foundational, whether through internal grievance processes, whistleblowing channels or other mechanisms. But in practice, complaints can also be deployed in ways that shape risk – delaying workplace processes, disrupting investigations or creating exposure at the point at which action is taken.
Complaint mechanisms sit at the core of workplace governance, but they can also become a point of strategic leverage, reshaping not only when but also how employers respond. This discussion will focus on maintaining control, exercising sound judgement and progressing necessary action with confidence in a complex and contested space.
🕑: 02:00 PM - 03:20 PM
Session A | Option 3: Engaging with Regulators - Navigating Scrutiny
Info: When regulatory scrutiny arises, the organisation’s response in the early moments can shape both outcome and exposure. With enforcement activity increasing and regulatory priorities expanding, engagement with regulators is becoming a more frequent and more complex reality for employers.
This discussion will explore how organisations prepare for and manage these interactions in practice, from initial engagement through to ongoing regulatory oversight. The focus is on navigating competing pressures, maintaining control of the narrative, and making disciplined decisions under scrutiny.
🕑: 03:20 PM - 03:40 PM
Afternoon Tea Break
🕑: 03:40 PM - 05:00 PM
Session B | Option 4: The Bargaining Playbook - IR at an Inflection Point
Info: Australia’s industrial relations landscape has shifted more in the past three years than in the decade before. The result is a bargaining environment that is more complex, more contested, and increasingly shaped by new legislative tools, evolving workforce expectations and more coordinated union strategies.
This session examines how bargaining is playing out in practice under the new framework, from negotiation dynamics and industrial action, through to the expanding influence of modern award terms and recent test cases. The focus is on how organisations are adapting their approach in a landscape that demands greater strategic discipline and clarity of position.
Designed for those responsible for bargaining strategy, whether currently in negotiations or preparing for the next round.
🕑: 03:40 PM - 05:00 PM
Session B | Option 5: Managing Teams Across Borders
Info: National and cross-border workforces are now the norm, but the legal frameworks that govern them remain fragmented, overlapping and, at times, in conflict.
This session examines how organisations operate effectively across that complexity: from remote cross-border arrangements and workforce structuring models, to managing misconduct and investigations across jurisdictions, navigating divergent approaches to flexible work and responding to regulatory and cultural differences that shape both risk and expectations. It also considers the growing challenges around applicable law, classification and data privacy obligations, and how organisations are balancing centralised control with local accountability.
For those responsible for cross-border teams or market expansion, the focus is on maintaining control, identifying where risk sits, and knowing which questions need to be asked before, and during, critical decisions.
🕑: 03:40 PM - 05:00 PM
Session B | Option 6: Workplace Q&A - Your Questions Tackled
Info: The most challenging workplace issues rarely sit neatly within a single framework. Increasingly, organisations are navigating overlapping pressures, from evolving legal obligations and regulatory expectations, to workforce dynamics and the growing use of artificial intelligence across the employee lifecycle. This session is designed to engage directly with the issues facing organisations in practice.
Drawing on audience questions and real-world scenarios, our panel will examine how these challenges are being approached, from psychosocial risk and flexible work, to investigations, performance management, wage compliance, organisational change and the integration of AI into workplace decision-making.
The focus is not on abstract principles, but on how to navigate ambiguity, apply judgement and maintain control in complex situations. Attendees are encouraged to bring questions or scenarios for discussion - either in advance or on the day.
🕑: 05:30 PM - 09:00 PM
Cocktail Evening Event | The Loft, Jones Bay Wharf
Info: Continue the conversation over drinks and canapes as the sun sets, as we close Day 1 with guest speaker, award-winning journalist Nick McKenzie, who will share his reflections on Building Bad - the investigation that exposed serious misconduct and criminal infiltration within Australia’s construction industry, and prompted widespread scrutiny of governance, oversight and accountability.
Day 2 (Friday 4 Sept)
🕑: 07:30 AM - 07:45 AM
Registrations Open | Day 2 - Friday 4 September 2026
Info: Day 2 of the Summit will be held at the Doltone House Ballroom, Hyde Park, Sydney CBD. Event registration opens from 7:30am. Day 2 will comprise a full conference program of legal experts and guest speakers, including Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth, the President of the Fair Work Commission, Justice Adam Hatcher, Michael Kaine of the Transport Workers Union, Chris Richardson, Economist and Steve Sammartino, Futurist.
🕑: 07:50 AM - 08:35 AM
Address: Chris Richardson, Economist
Host: Chris Richardson
🕑: 08:35 AM - 09:20 AM
Panel discussion: Perspectives on psychosocial risks *Speakers to be announced
🕑: 09:20 AM - 10:10 AM
Address: Steve Sammartino, Futurist
Host: Steve Sammartino
🕑: 10:10 AM - 10:25 AM
Morning Tea Break
🕑: 10:25 AM - 11:05 AM
Address: Anna Booth, Fair Work Ombudsman
Host: Anna Booth
🕑: 11:05 AM - 11:45 AM
Address: President Justice Hatcher, Fair Work Commission
Host: President Justice Hatcher
🕑: 12:35 PM - 01:10 PM
Lunch
🕑: 01:50 PM - 02:45 PM
Panel discussion: Artificial intelligence and the future of work *Speakers TBA
🕑: 01:10 PM - 01:50 PM
In Conversion: Michael Kaine, The Transport Workers Union
Host: Michael Kaine
🕑: 01:50 PM - 02:45 PM
Panel discussion: Reflections with Kingston Reid | Audience Q&A
🕑: 02:45 PM - 03:00 PM
Afternoon Tea Break
🕑: 03:00 PM - 03:45 PM
Panel discussion: Reflections with Kingston Reid | Audience Q&A
🕑: 03:45 PM - 04:00 PM
Closing remarks
🕑: 04:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Event closes
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
AUD 1971.35 to AUD 7040.00
