Minds Count Annual Lecture 2026

Join us for this year's keynote, presented by The Hon. Chief Justice Peter Quinlan, Supreme Court of Western Australia.
About this Event

The 2026 Minds Count Lecture will be held in-person at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney and televised via closed web-cast on Thursday 6 August 2026, starting at 5:30pm.

This year's keynote titled "What the Machine Doesn't Know: Humanity and Artificial Intelligence" will be delivered by The Honorable Chief Justice Peter Quinlan of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

Chief Justice Peter Quinlan will also join Michael Tooma, Dr Felicity Bell and Dr Michelle Sharpe for a Q&A panel session following the keynote moderated by Minds Count Board Member, David Field.

The Hon Chief Justice Peter Quinlan, Supreme Court of Western Australia.

Peter Quinlan was appointed to the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 13 August 2018. He was appointed as a Judge of the Court, a Judge of the Court of Appeal and as the Chief Justice of Western Australia.

Chief Justice Quinlan's legal career commenced in 1993 as the Professional Assistant to K H Parker AO QC, Solicitor General for Western Australia. He later served as the Associate to the Hon Justice Parker, at the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

From 1996 to 2001, he was a Legal Officer (and ultimately Assistant Crown Counsel) at the WA Crown Solicitor’s Office before joining the Independent Bar in 2001. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2010.

The Chief Justice was appointed Solicitor General for Western Australia on 1 July 2016 and served in this role until his appointment to the Bench.

He served as President, WA Bar Association from 2012 to 2015 and the Board of Governors at the University of Notre Dame from 2008. As Chief Justice, Justice Quinlan holds many positions as Patron, and is also the Lieutenant Governor of Western Australia.

Q&A Panelists

Michael Tooma, Partner at Hamilton Locke, Head of ESG, Co-head of Workplace & Safety.

Michael is one of Australia's leading health and safety lawyers. He is passionate about mental health in the workplace and has been outspoken on psychosocial issues affecting young lawyers in the legal profession and issues arising from Artificial Intelligence adoption.
Michael has spoken at United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) conferences including presenting to the General Assembly and being on the taskforce for the development of the Global Manifesto for Industrial Safety. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Health and Safety and, in 2019, Michael was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Australian Institute of Health and Safety for his contribution to safety.
Michael is the author of several books including Tooma's Annotated Work Health and Safety Act 2011(NSW) published by Thomson Reuters which is now in its 3rd edition. He is also the author of a series of practical books on Safety Due Diligence called the Due Diligence series published by CCH and a companion series of practical guidance books which include a book on Mental Health in the Workplace.

Dr Felicity Bell, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director of the Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession at UNSW Law & Justice.

Dr Felicity Bell is Deputy Director of the Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession and a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Law and Justice. Felicity is a former lawyer whose current research endeavours are forward-looking and contemporary, dealing with innovation and technology (especially artificial intelligence) and their multivariate impacts on lawyers’ identity, ethics and professionalism. Felicity has published extensively and her work has been widely cited. She is a co-author with Prof Michael Legg of Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession (Hart, 2020).

Dr Michelle Sharpe, Barrister at the Victorian Bar, PhD holder and Author.

Dr Michelle Sharpe is a barrister at the Victorian Bar, practising in commercial, consumer protection and regulatory law. She is regularly briefed by regulators including the Environment Protection Authority Victoria, Consumer Affairs Victoria, the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and appears both for and against regulators and businesses in the Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of Victoria and New South Wales. She holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and is the author of Unconscionable Conduct in Australian Commercial and Consumer Contracts (LexisNexis), with an expanded second edition forthcoming.

Michelle writes and speaks widely on the intersection of neurotechnology and the law. She served on the Expert Advisory Group for the Australian Human Rights Commission’s neurotechnology project, culminating in its 2025 report Peace of Mind: Navigating the Ethical Frontiers of Neurotechnology and Human Rights, and sits on the Executive Council of the Centre for Neurotechnology and Law’s Australia–New Zealand chapter. Drawing on her consumer-protection expertise, her work examines how technologies that can decode or influence brain activity test the law’s assumptions about free and informed choice — and where the irreducibly human elements of empathy, judgment and trust remain beyond the machine’s reach.

Michelle also has a long-standing commitment to wellbeing in the legal profession. She co-founded the Victorian Bar’s Health and Wellbeing Committee and helped establish its 24/7 counselling service for barristers and a pilot program on reflective practice.

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 "MC2026"

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 "MCWC2026"

Organisation: $150.00 ( 10 + attendees)

*Web-cast attendance note:

Login details for web-cast attendance will be emailed to registrants on Wednesday 5 August 2026.

RSVP/Ticket sales will close by Tuesday 4 August 2026.

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 ACAP University College, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer and McCabes Lawyers .