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Presentation overview

Pinsent Masons proudly presents a whistlestop tour of recent legal changes and trends affecting the tunnelling sector.

Carlie Holt, who specialises in workplace health and safety, will opine on the latest developments regarding:

• Safety risks being scrutinised by regulators – including the recommendations handed down from the silicosis parliamentary committee
• Update on recent workplace health and safety cases and legislation

Rebecca Dickson, who specialises in construction contracting, will discuss the challenges that arise in the procurement of tunnel boring machines. Rebecca will summarise current contracting trends to reflect, and provide practical tips to meet, those challenges, which are informed by recent experiences supporting the tendering of tunnelling projects.

Gemma Thomas, construction dispute specialist, will unpack the quagmire of Linked Claims and Linked Disputes with reference to some recent and current tunnelling projects. She will answer the questions:

• What are Linked Claims?
• What can go wrong?
• What can you do to protect your company (and the project) from risk?

Key technical takeaways:

• Workplace H&S legislation
• Current contracting trends on tunnelling project
• Discussion on claims and dispute

Timings

• 5:30pm: Welcome and networking
• 6:00pm: Presentation
• 6:45pm: Q&As and post presentation networking

Beverages and refreshments will be provided

Speaker biography

Carlie Holt – Partner, Pinsent Masons

Carlie is a leading Workplace Health & Safety partner with 25 years of experience. She assists clients in a broad range of industries across Australia including construction, manufacturing, energy, health care, transport, aged and disability care and fast-moving consumer goods sectors. Carlie advises clients about WHS laws, rail safety and heavy vehicle national laws. Her involvement extends to appearing in Coronial Inquests nationwide, often as an advocate.

Carlie is also regularly called on to work with clients to help them identify and address gaps in their WHS processes and to undertake audits of officers’ due diligence and compliance with their obligations under WHS legislation.  She has provided hundreds of tailored legal briefings to Boards, executive/ general managers and operational supervisors/ workers regarding their WHS responsibilities.

Rebecca Dickson – Special Counsel, Pinsent Masons

Rebecca is a building, construction and infrastructure projects lawyer specialising in procurement and regulatory advice, contract drafting and negotiation, contract administration and management and project delivery support.

She has extensive experience advising clients and contractors about procuring, contracting and delivering new buildings, industrial facilities and infrastructure projects.

Rebecca teaches construction law subjects at the University of Melbourne Law School and Monash University, and she is a PhD Candidate at Monash University (undertaking research in reforming Australia’s construction laws).

Gemma Thomas – Partner, Pinsent Masons

Gemma assists her clients to navigate difficult issues that arise during the delivery and final account stages of infrastructure and energy projects, including PPPs. Gemma believes in formulating a case strategy early on in a potential dispute and is regularly called upon to prepare claim concepts and define commercial strategies during project delivery in order to put her clients in the best possible position.

If a formal dispute does arise, Gemma has extensive experience including on large-scale complex litigations and arbitrations, both international (including ICC and LCIA) and domestic (including ACICA and the Resolution Institute).

In 2025, Gemma was recognised by Doyles Guide in the category of ‘Leading Construction & Infrastructure Litigation Lawyer – Victoria’.