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Brian Williamson

“Employers have a right and a duty to manage their employees – not the other way around!”

Brian Williamson was a workplace relations lawyer, advocate and thought leader for over 35 years. For 25 of those years, he was recognised by the Law Society of NSW as an Accredited Specialist in Employment and Industrial Relations Law. In addition to a Dip Law (SAB) he also holds a Masters of Commerce degree and an Assoc Dip (Mastering the Boardroom).

Brian predominantly acted for employers and in this regard, his ethos is:
Employers and Managers have a right and a duty to manage their employees. It’s not the other way around !!

For over 25 years, Brian held senior leadership roles in three high profile law firms and built significant employer based practices. He was a trusted adviser to many clients with regard to the current and future management of their labour and business operations.

For 10 years, Brian was a Director of the Cerebral Palsy Alliance (a major Not-For-Profit business with $80m/pa turnover). Within that context he was an active Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds the AICD Mastering the Boardroom qualification.

In addition to the above, Brian brings the following further experience to all projects in which he is involved:

  • 20 years’ as a workplace investigator
  • 10 years’ as a company director of WilliamsonBarwick
  • 6 years’ conducting Code of Conduct reviews for a large NSW Local Council
  • 5 years as a university lecturer (three universities) and has been accorded “Expert Speaker” status by the CEO Institute.
  • A proven:
    • ability to advise and to act decisively
    • record in running court cases in all major NSW industrial jurisdictions, the common law courts, the Coroner’s Court and the several Federal Courts
    • record of publishing academic papers in national and international law journals since 1986
    • high skill levels in problem solving
    • strategic thinking skills
    • skills in people management having coached and have mentored solicitors for 25 years
    • skills in working effectively with Boards, C-suite personnel and senior management
    • skills as a presenter of international and national conference papers (1989 to 2019)
    • ability as an influencer, communicator, educator and trainer
  • Outcome focussed use of the combined skills of lawyer, business man and small business owner

Brian’s career achievements are many, but include:

  • Responsibility for and taking Hogan v Green (unreported) to the Privy Council London, May 1983. It was the second last NSW Case to the taken to the Privy Council.
  • Winning a scholarship provided by Deakin University to fund his Master’s Degree studies.
  • Winning the Australian Insurance Law Association Travelling Fellowship 1992.
  • Creating the Gadens Lawyers Sydney Workplace Relations Division. Five solicitors (1994 to 1998).
  • Acting in Family Court of Australia ats Public Sector Union (AIRC, March 1994 (A0324 Dec 552/94 M Print L2426) and on appeal to the Full Bench of the AIRC in November and December 1994 regarding the boundaries of that Court’s WHS obligations
  • Drafting the Contract for the Purchase of a forensic laboratory to be built in Gaza, with funds donated by the King of Norway as part of the Australian Legal Resources International’s “Rule of Law Development in the West Bank and Gaza Strip” project (1996).
  • Becoming the founding Chairperson of the Gadens Lawyers “National Workplace Relations Practice Group” (1998 to 2002), with responsibility for developing and co-ordinating the Workplace Relations Divisions of the firm’s Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth offices. That position also entailed cross integration of Gadens Accounting and Gadens Consulting Limited’s operations and the servicing of large clients on a national basis.
  • Being invited by the then Government of Hong Kong to assist with the launch of their new family status laws. Presented Australian Anti-Discrimination Laws and their Implications for the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance of Hong Kong, to 2,000 attendees in Hong Kong on 29 November 2000.
  • Creating two boutique Industrial Relations and Employment Law firms for employers (2003 to 2019). Brian remains an employee of WilliamsonBarwick.
  • Successfully acting for Port Waratah Coal Services Limited (“PWCS”) and three other Coal Ports in keeping Coal Ports out of the “Coal Industry” Award Modernisation process.
  • Successfully acting for PWCS in the AIRC case involving the creation of the Modernised Award “Coal Export Terminals Award 2010”.