Julie is acknowledged as a leading expert in Australia in health, aged care and retirement living. Her combination of deep industry knowledge and legal expertise means she is uniquely placed to advise on complex regulatory and commercial projects.

Biography

Julie acts for a large range of residential aged care providers, home care providers, retirement village operators, disability services providers, not-for-profit organisations and faith-based entities.

Her clients include a broad spectrum of providers from the largest providers in the country to stand alone operators, including publicly listed groups, private groups, not-for-profits and faith-based organisations.

Julie has advised many not for profit and faith-based organisations over many years and has a deep understanding and respect for the need to respect the principles of those organisations in commercial and regulatory arrangements.

Julie’s practice covers the full range of regulatory and corporate advice to the health, aged care and retirement sectors.

Her depth of expertise in health law is underpinned by a Masters of Law with a major in health law and a Graduate qualification from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

She brings particular expertise in guardianship and substitute decision making, and has developed a practice that covers both the advisory and contentious dimensions of aged care and retirement living work.

Credentials

Academic qualifications:

Julie's experience

Structuring arrangements and aged care compliance

Advised multiple aged care providers, including some of the largest providers in the country, on structuring and governance arrangements to comply with changes to the Aged Care Act 2024.

As a part of this practice, Julie has advised many large faith-based organisations on compliance and structuring issues to meet aged care compliance requirements whilst respecting faith-based principles.

Financial and Prudential Standards compliance

Assisted multiple aged care providers to implement Financial and Prudential Management Systems, including Investment Management Strategies and Liquidity Management Strategies, in response to regulatory requirements under the Aged Care Act.

Corporate governance advice and training

Delivered governance advice and training to the boards of multiple aged care providers, including many of the largest aged care providers in Australia, on fiduciary duties, governance reform, risk oversight and executive accountability.

Aged care and retirement living acquisitions

Conducted legal due diligence across multiple aged care and retirement living acquisitions, including regulatory compliance review, assessment of resident agreements and analysis of Financial and Prudential Standards obligations. Advised on transaction structuring and regulatory approvals across these matters.

Major incident investigations and coronial matters

Conducted major incident investigations at residential aged care facilities and retirement villages following unexplained deaths and significant systems failures. Appeared in multiple coronial inquests on behalf of aged care and health care providers.

Guardianship and substitute decision making

Acted in contentious guardianship matters on behalf of aged care providers, advising on the removal and appointment of substitute decision makers and the interaction between guardianship frameworks and provider care obligations.

Awards, recognition and ranking