Webinar: Giving a Dam – Corporate Liability and the Wivenhoe Class Action

[Tony Ladson]

Giving a Dam – Corporate Liability and the Wivenhoe Class Action

13 May, 5 pm AEST

Join presenter Melissa Kirby, Legal Director, Sharpe & Abel in this seminar which will use the complexity of the Wivenhoe Dam case to explore a number of subjects including legal and reputational risks relevant to water and utility companies. 

 In February this year, the victims of the 2011 Brisbane floods were awarded a historic $440 million in compensation from a class action against the Queensland government and Sunwater, in a partial settlement over the operation of the Wivenhoe Dam, north-west of Brisbane. Dam operator Seqwater owes the remainder but is appealing against the payout, with a hearing set down for May.

Prosecution of experts in the wake of disasters has emerged as common in the context of increasing social intolerance of risk and the need to apportion blame. As the Wivenhoe case has shown this is not just a problem for the particular individuals concerned, but a risk to the companies and organisations that employ them. 
 This seminar will use the complexity of the Wivenhoe Dam case to explore a number of subjects relevant to water and utility companies, including: 

• How technical issues can lead to legal vulnerability 
  
• The issue of vicarious liability (the water authorities and the Queensland Government were found to be vicariously liable for the negligence of the flood engineers they employed) 
  
• An exploration of the broader legal and reputational risks for water and other utility companies 
  
• Potential risk management strategies to help mitigate these risks. not only helps businesses grow, but also saves significant amounts of time and money. 
  

  

Link to Registration

https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/event/2021/04/giving-dam-corporate-liability-and-wivenhoe-class-action-36441

--

Dr Tony Ladson

Director

Moroka

E: tony....@moroka.com.au

W: morokaconsulting.com

M: 0408 440 028

[krey....@surfacewater.biz]

A free panel discussion will be held on March 23 to address the implications of the recent extreme events in Australia. The panel includes experts from government, industry, and academia with discussion topics including:

• How will the incorporation of current extreme intensities affect future Intensity-Frequency-Duration (IFD) estimates?
• What is a likely timeframe for current data to be incorporated into usable IFD curves?
• Is it wise for practitioners to manually adjust estimates with frequency analyses in the meantime?
• What were the lessons learned from the 2011 floods and have they been successfully implemented?
• How is the inherent uncertainty in rare rainfall estimation being conveyed to planners?
• How can analyses of the recent events be used to improve flood resilience?

Details and registration link here: https://awschool.com.au/training/arr-to-the-extreme/

For any questions about the event, please contact trai...@awschool.com.au.

Kind regards,

Krey

***********************
Krey Price, Director
Surface Water Solutions
57 Bromfield Drive
Kelmscott WA 6111
Tel. +61 400 367 542
www.surfacewater.biz
krey....@surfacewater.biz
***********************

[krey....@surfacewater.biz]

We'll be holding a 2-day flood modelling course and workshop in Melbourne on 18-19 May 2023 using free HEC-RAS software. Course details are here: https://www.hydroschool.org/melbourne/. 

Also, the Australian Water School is holding an online RORB course starting 20 April. Registration details are here: https://awschool.com.au/training/rorb-essentials/.

Free AWS webinars for the water sector are listed here for anyone wishing to subscribe. Upcoming topics include geomorphology, reservoir sedimentation, tidal energy, wind/wave forces, coastal engineering, and ChatGPT applications for the water sector.