Clare is an experienced litigator with a broad technical background in commercial litigation and public law. Clare has over 25 years of experience acting for a wide range of Commonwealth agencies, including the Departments of Defence, Health and Ageing, Foreign Affairs, and Treasury, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, Professional Services Review, and the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force.
Clare assists her clients to respond to a breadth of liability disputes, coronial inquests, administrative law challenges, regulatory compliance investigations and common law claims, and has spent much of the past decade specialising in the Royal Commission space. Most recently, she acted on behalf of an individual called to give evidence in the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, including in the related investigations of the APSC.
Clare is known for her collaborative yet solutions-driven approach, which, coupled with her extensive experience managing complex litigated and unlitigated claims and her deep understanding of the particular, and often complex, legal and risk management needs of her Commonwealth clients, ensures that she delivers outcomes.
Passionate about giving back to her community, Clare is a volunteer director with Catholic Social Services Australia and the Tuggeranong United Football Club, and regularly assists with pro bono matters, most recently involving Victims of Crime Compensation applications for clients of the Women’s Legal Centre.
- Leading a team acting on behalf of the Department of Defence and Department of Infrastructure responding to a significant number of claims for compensation by former Defence members and former ACT wards of the state (respectively) arising from allegations of historical physical and sexual abuse.
- Advising Commonwealth regulatory agencies including the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and the Australian Skills Quality Agency in relation to proceedings for review of decisions filed in the Federal Court and Administrative Review Tribunal.
- Preparing Privacy Impact Assessments for the Department of Health and Ageing in relation to proposed changes to provide for streamlined aged care assessments and access to My Aged Care.
- Advising a number of agencies including the Department of Health, National Indigenous Australians Agency and Indigenous Business Australia in relation to FOI applications, third party consultations, OAIC reviews and ART applications.
- Representing the Department of Health, Professional Services Review and Medicare Australia in Federal Court judicial review challenges to decisions made under the Professional Services Review Scheme in Part VAA of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (Cth).
- Acting for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in merits review proceedings before the AAT following passport decisions made under the Australian Passports Act 2005 (Cth) and providing practical advice to DFAT concerning the operation and interpretation of that Act, including consideration of child welfare and guardianship legislation nationally.
- Advising Commonwealth clients and individuals in relation to claims under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth).
Royal Commissions, Inquiries & Investigations
- Assisting a witness called to give evidence in the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme in relation to their evidence, and drafting submissions in response to proposed findings of the Royal Commission.
- Assisting the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to respond as an interested party to inquests in the NSW Coroner’s Court relating to deaths in aged care facilities linked to the use of chemical restraint.
- Advising the Truth Justice and Healing Council and leaders of the Catholic Church in Australia in relation to their response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and entry by the church into the National Redress Scheme for survivors of abuse.
- Working with the internal team established to manage the Department of Health’s response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety while on secondment.
- Commercial Litigation
- Government
- Inquiries, Investigations and Prosecutions
- Legacy, Sensitive and Complex Claims
- Healthcare & Life Sciences
- Public Sector