ISSUE ONE SPRING 2018
THE INFORMATION IN THE PULSE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE. FORMAL LEGAL ADVICE SHOULD BE SOUGHT IN RELATION TO SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES.
proximity.com.au enquiries@proximity.com.au 1800 959 885
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WELCOME TO PROXIMITY Proximity is very excited to be presenting our first quarterly newsletter, The Pulse. 
Our mission is to be a leading professional services organisation providing innovative legal, commercial and governance solutions to the government and regulated industry sectors with a workplace culture that makes the best people want to be part of our team. To date, 2018 has been another amazing year here at Proximity. We continue to grow and are thrilled to have recruited more highly-skilled specialists who share our vision to be Innovative, Genuine and Helpful. In essence, this is the Proximity DNA. Early this year we moved into brand new premises in Barton, close to parliament and many of our key clients in government, to support our growing advisory practice. We love nothing more than welcoming friends, old and new, to our new digs. Through our newsletter we aim to share more about who we are, what we are doing that is different to others, and to introduce you to the members of our team.  The past seven years at Proximity has been an incredible ride, and we are looking forward to sharing the journey ahead with you. To receive a copy of The Pulse quarterly by email contact news@proximity.com.au
James Dunn Director, Proximity
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PROXIMITY ON A PAGE It’s not easy to capture the breadth of what we do, and how we do it, but kudos to our design team on this effort. VALUES GENUINE
IVE AT V NO IN
ADVISORY
PRO DU CT S SO LU T I ONS
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Corporate & Commercial
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DELIVERY
Organisational Governance Probity
Legal Support Services
GOV
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Litigation & Dispute Resolution
ND LA A LEGA
Property & Environment
LE GAL
Workplace & Industrial Relations
ERNANCE
Public Law
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M E R CIAL
Procurement & Contracting
Procurement-as -a-service Optix™
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Work Health and Safety Reviews, Investigations & Assurance
Program Evaluation & Benefits Realisation
Project Control & Cost Modelling
Business Cases & Feasibility Studies
Process Improvement
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working together
PROXIMITY AND HALL & WILCOX Proximity’s deep knowledge of working with government and using innovative service delivery models is complemented by the breadth and depth of Hall & Wilcox’s legal capability and national footprint. With an initial focus on government work, the collaboration gives clients access to 750 people in all major Australian cities, to provide innovative and tailored service delivery across advisory work, project teams and on-site secondments.
As we have shared with many of you already, Proximity has entered into a teaming arrangement with leading independent business law firm Hall & Wilcox.
Proximity Director James Dunn said “The teaming arrangement offers an integrated approach to legal solutions which will benefit clients of both firms. It is flexible, to allow us to best meet client needs, whether that is jointly pitching for work, subcontracting with each other, or sharing knowledge and training.” Hall & Wilcox Managing Partner, Tony Macvean, said “Both Proximity and Hall & Wilcox share a strong alignment on values and approach to servicing client needs, with a commitment to excellence and strong relationships. Both firms have a progressive approach and a focus on providing advice that is commercial and relevant to the client’s needs.”
ABOVE: TEAMING UP TO PROVIDE A SMARTER APPROACH TO LEGAL AND COMMERCIAL ADVISORY SERVICES (FROM LEFT) PROXIMITY DIRECTOR, JAMES DUNN, HALL & WILCOX MANAGING PARTNER, TONY MACVEAN AND PROXIMITY DIRECTOR, SEAN KING.
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thinking out loud
ENJOYMENT AND WORK: CAN THEY CO-EXIST?
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Su-Ann Tan Burke is a Senior Advisor at Proximity, joining in 2017 to launch our Melbourne operations. She was previously a Corporate Counsel at Toyota Australia/Lexus Australia. Su-Ann loves being more than a lawyer. It’s one of the main reasons she joined Proximity.
Stints of these short engagements can help individuals stay fresh and achieve mastery of their specialisation – concurrent outcomes that the traditional ‘job for life’ model struggles to offer. Proximity has been part of the conversation on future-oriented workstyles at events including the LawyersWeekly’s Future Forum, the Australian Women Lawyers Conference and The Legal Forecast’s ‘Law and the Gig Economy’ panel discussion. While we aren’t gig workers, we embrace new working models to offer our staff variety and flexibility. For me, this modern mindset and the variety of work are what drew me to Proximity. I have one employer but many opportunities. If I’m not supporting a client onsite at their office, I could be delivering client advisory services in a Proximity team, or I could be working on internal projects, developing new ideas, or Proximity products. The list could go on. Proximity recognises that human talent comes in diverse forms. In a world where cross-functional skills and complex problem-solving skills are in high demand, Proximity sees flexible working arrangements as a benefit for our people and our clients.
It’s an interesting and exciting time to be a worker. Traditional concepts such as ‘the daily grind’, ‘9 to 5’ and ‘a job for life’ are fading. In fact, the thought of having only one job for a lifetime scares most younger workers and naturally curious people. I would count myself as one of these people with broad but complementary interests that continually morph as I develop my career. I believe that perceptions have changed about how long you should stay in a job or how many roles on a CV is considered too many. Thankfully, it’s no longer about how long you have endured in a role but what value you have contributed. The ‘gig’ or freelancing economy is helping to change mindsets about longevity. It gives individuals the opportunity to focus and deliver on a task or project in a set timeframe. An engagement could be days to months depending on the client’s needs and the worker’s availability.
If we limited our workstyle to the single, traditional model centred on being present in the office, we would miss out on attracting a diverse range of highly skilled people. We would also miss the opportunity to assist clients in new ways that align with their needs – for example, onsite at client locations or on a project basis, with fixed fees and customisable subscriptions. Rather than resist change, we’re using it as an opportunity to innovate. Our highly capable workforce includes those who actively juggle roles as parents, carers, volunteers, students, consultants and board members. I enjoy working with a full range of people at Proximity, from university students with energising aspirations to highly senior professionals with a wealth of life experience I can learn from. Our flexible working arrangements allow individuals to opt for meaningful part-time work, remote work and work outside the traditional ‘9 to 5’ hours. This allows our staff, irrespective of gender, age or background, to fulfil other life commitments. It’s our way of genuinely recognising that balance is essential for a sustainable, healthy career.
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commercial hub
AGILE CONTRACTING: A CHANGE IN MINDSET Agile has become a staple in the business vocabulary these days, and in the world of project management it is providing organisations with a more flexible approach to managing complex projects than traditional methods.
Traditional contracts were designed for waterfall contracts. Agile is a different approach and requires contracts developed specifically for this approach. The key elements of an effective Agile contract include: ›› Maximum flexibility – to accommodate the fact that agile embraces regular changes where necessary to address customer and end user feedback ›› Incremental scope development and scope delivery – defining the key project roles (including the scrum master) and processes for managing the project (including managing the prioritised list of user stories) ›› Strong service delivery governance framework – covering decision making processes and a clear definition of when a particular sprint is completed and accepted
WHAT IS AGILE? Agile is a project management methodology characterised by the division of tasks into short phases of work, with frequent reassessment and adaption. Under the traditional “waterfall” methodology, the project is divided into a sequence of distinct phases which are chronologically scoped in design and execution. It requires detailed requirements to be documented and agreed upfront. An Agile approach breaks down the project’s goal into small parts that are individually developed in short time periods (sprints). It is based on an iterative process executed through collaboration between customer and supplier. Parties are not contracting for an end to end solution defined at the outset, instead agreeing to aspects of a solution which evolves incrementally to achieve the project’s objectives. Interest in using Agile has grown significantly due to its potential to provide greater assurance of delivering required outcomes more quickly and maintaining better engagement and collaboration between the client and contactor.
B
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DEPLOY
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CONTRACTING FOR AGILE
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›› Clear rights to exit at specified intervals – allowing the projects to be concluded early if the customer objectives are achieved in less sprints than anticipated ‘stop at success’ of if the client decides the project will not deliver its expected value ‘fail fast’.
FIND OUT MORE
The team at Proximity has significant experience in delivering complex Agile contracts for the Commonwealth and can help you through how to develop Agile contracts for both large and small scale projects. To get a copy of our full white paper on Agile contracting, or to learn more, email enquiries@proximity.com.au
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legal hub
AUSTRADE ADVICE: COMBATTING CORPORATE CRIME AMENDMENTS Proximity recently prepared advisory material and resources for the Australian Trade and Investment Commission around proposed amendments to Australia’s antibribery framework under the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Corporate Crime) Bill 2017 (Bill). This included material from the international context, particularly the UK and USA. The key changes we reviewed included the new ‘failure to prevent bribery’ offence, and the introduction of a deferred prosecution scheme.
NEW ‘FAILURE TO PREVENT BRIBERY’ OFFENCE 1. New corporate offence of failure to prevent foreign bribery, which makes corporations liable for the actions of their associates where the associates are found to have bribed foreign public officials.
DEFERRED PROSECUTION AGREEMENTS 1. Will allow Australian prosecutors to negotiate and enter into an agreement with a company in relation to particular serious corporate offences – including foreign bribery. 2. Give prosecutors more flexibility in how they can resolve corporate crime incidents and encourage self-reporting as companies can avoid prosecution.
IMPACT ON AUSTRALIAN TRADE These reforms match the efforts of some of Australia’s major international trade partners (Canada, UK and USA) and increase the scope and enforceability of Australia’s foreign bribery laws. This firm stance towards antibribery and corruption is designed to make Australia an easier and more attractive place in which to do business, whilst increasing reliability for business partnerships and competitive markets.
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CPD Training Every employee benefits from Continuing Professional Development. Proximity is pleased to offer CPD training to clients and non-clients. If you are interested please see proximity.com.au/training
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staff profile
What advice do you give to someone starting out in a career?
TWO MINUTES WITH...
Work with people you like, try different things and play to your strengths. In the early years, focus more on who you’ll be working with rather than a job description. I also think it’s useful to have a career plan in mind, but then be alive to exploring opportunities that depart from that plan.
What keeps you awake at night? Occasionally still my three year old, but that’s certainly getting less...
What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Each newsletter, we profile a staff member who is an integral part of the Proximity story. Today we meet Director, Sean King, who helped start Proximity on its journey in 2011. Tell us how the Proximity story began? The founding group that started Proximity had been working at one of the large international law firms, and although the work was interesting, we wanted a more enjoyable, supportive and engaging working environment; and felt we could offer more efficiency and innovative client service delivery. We started Proximity with two simple aims: offering a better experience for our clients, and for our staff. The journey over the past seven years has exceeded all expectations with the team growing from a handful of staff to well over 50, working on some of the most challenging and important projects in the country.
Be open to others’ points of view. That’s something we’ve definitely tried to put into practice at Proximity. We’re always looking for different perspectives and from day one we followed the philosophy that there’s no monopoly on good ideas.
What is your proudest moment (in a professional context)? Winning the Government Team of the Year award at the Australian Law Awards (and against some of the nation’s most prominent firms) was a very proud moment, however, I’m even more proud of the sum of all the individual small moments: the constant feedback we get about how much people enjoy working with the Proximity team; people seeking us out because they’ve heard Proximity is a great place to work; and the regular opportunities we get to work on some truly amazing jobs.
As a manager of people, what is your biggest challenge? I think the best approach to managing a large team is to give people the ingredients they need to succeed and get out of their way. One of our priorities is to make sure our people are well connected with each other and highly engaged at work.
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With an eye to the future, what does success look like for you? If we continue to grow, maintain our current culture and morale, and continue to have the opportunities to do impactful work, that’s success to me.
Away from work, what is your passion? I’m a big supporter of people finding sufficient time to pursue their passions outside work; it’s important for the individual but it’s also smart business. People are always more productive, more engaged and better performers when they are happy and healthy. Getting the right work/life balance is certainly an area where I’m happy to try to lead by example. My passions outside work are my family and time spent outdoors.
So, what’s next? I am competing in the Adventure Race World Championships (a mix of trail running, mountain biking, white water kayaking and climbing in November off the coast of Madagascar) so I’m spending a good amount of time training in preparation. On the work front, we’ll keep living our values and following our strategic plan, and I think the sky’s the limit in terms of what’s next.
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congratulations
ROBIN CREYKE AO HONOURED We were thrilled with the news that one of our most experienced consultants, Robin Creyke, was honoured in the latest Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Robin boasts one of the most impressive CVs in the business and the citation for her award as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) is no less impressive.
‘For distinguished service to administrative law, and to education, as an academic and author, to public administration and tribunal practices, and to professional bodies’. Robin said she was surprised but thrilled and very proud to have been recognised in the latest Honours list. She attributes her award to being a public lawyer in Canberra, the location of national government, having easy access to eminent and knowledgeable public lawyers, and the objectivity that comes from exposure to the views of public sector agencies, as well as individuals adversely affected by government decisions.
Proximity Director Sean King said Robin’s contribution to law and academia over many decades was exemplary. “Since joining us in early 2017, Proximity and our clients have benefited enormously from Robin’s incredible depth of knowledge through the high-level advice and training she is able to provide,” Sean said. “We all congratulate Robin and are very proud to have her as a part of the Proximity team.”
ABOVE: PROXIMITY CONSULTANT ROBIN CREYKE RECEIVES HER OFFICER OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA FROM THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL SIR PETER COSGROVE – PHOTO: IRENE DOWDY, IDPHOTO.COM.AU
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food for thought
RE-IMAGINING THE PUBLIC SERVICE It’s not every day you get to discuss the current state of western democracy or the impact of Big Data on government with one of our nation’s biggest thinkers.
Under the banner of the Proximity Food for Thought dinner series, our first special guest, former Secretary for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Professor Peter Shergold, led a spirted and thoughtprovoking discussion with a group of key clients, partners and invited guests. With an independent review of the Australian Public Service (APS) recently announced, Professor Shergold outlined his observations and experience as the former head of the nation’s bureaucracy. This included the APS’s appetite to take risks, and the pressures and impacts Ministerial deadlines can have on analytical thinking and quality decision-making. Over dinner, the group explored a number of the ongoing challenges facing the APS. These included attracting and recruiting the best people into the public service, meeting the community’s high expectations, and the challenges of emerging technologies. Communications and the ability for the public service to provide frank and fearless advice to government was a key discussion point on a number of fronts: Do Freedom of Information provisions hinder the flow of honest advice from the APS to Ministers? What is the impact of secrecy provisions for information sharing across agencies? How is the 24-hour news cycle and the impact of social media impacting on government messaging and decision-making? There was consensus on many of the areas of discussion, and equally robust discussion on others. However, the forum did agree on one aspect of public service process which could be enhanced – the need to properly pilot new government programs and initiatives and to ensure problem areas were addressed well in advance of their full-scale roll out. While that may slow down implementation in the short term, in the longer term it will likely reduce reputational risk to government, and may even lead to significant savings, as well as delivering an enhanced final product. For our next Food for Thought event, we look forward to welcoming Dennis Richardson, one of the most influential leaders in Australia’s defence and national security space for the past 25 years.
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how can I access proximity?
PROXIMITY DIRECT ACCESS: CTH PANELS AND PARCELS With the expiration of the Legal Services Multi Use List in June 2018, Proximity entered into parcel arrangements or bridging orders with many key Australian Government clients. If your agency doesn’t have a bridging order with us, here are the best options for engaging Proximity.
PROXIMITY IS AN APPROVED SUPPLIER ON THE FOLLOWING PARCELS: ›› Department of Industry, Innovation and Science General Advisings Parcel ›› Department of Industry, Innovation and Science Secondment Parcel ›› Department of Human Services Secondment Parcel ›› Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet Corporate, Commercial Law and Dispute Resolution Parcel ›› Department of Home Affairs Secondment Parcel In addition to the legal parcels listed above, Proximity is a regular supplier on a number of government panels, supplying a range of commercial and governance services.
PROXIMITY IS AN APPROVED SUPPLIER ON THE FOLLOWING PANELS:
Life at the office Since we opened our new office in Barton earlier this year, Proximity has been pleased to share our facilities with clients, partners and other organisations for key meetings, negotiations, training opportunities and functions. “We have been pleased to open our doors to a number of organisations, including a meeting of the Association of Corporate Council Australia and Government Law Drinks,” said Client Services Manager, Simon Blake. “For our clients and partners, we are happy to host and resource meetings, collaboration sessions, seminars and other events at no charge. “We love being part of the Canberra community, and we were delighted to host a recent meeting of the Canberra Raiders Board.”
›› ACT Government - Light Rail Stage 2 Advisory Services Panel ›› Airservices Australia – Procurement and Resources Panel ›› Department of Defence – Defence Support Services Panel ›› Department of Defence – CASG Negotiation Services Panel ›› Department of Home Affairs – Consultancy and Business Services Panel ›› Department of Human Services – ICT Contractor Services Panel ›› Australian Federal Police – Capability Support Services Panel
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ABOVE: THE CANBERRA RAIDERS BOARD MEETING AT OUR PREMISES..
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product hub – doing things differently
DELEGATIONS, AUTHORISATIONS AND APPOINTMENTS HEALTH CHECK We have a products team at Proximity that is always seeking to develop solutions to known challenges our clients face. Whether they be technology powered like our Optix™ procurement spend analysis tool or service-based products like the DAA health check profiled below, we are being proactive and developing solutions that deliver clear and practical outcomes for clients. STAGE 1 We provide a Review & Fix service, where we: Delegations, authorisations and appointments (DAAs) need regular and consistent attention. However, DAAs are often only reviewed periodically due to resource constraints or other priority work. At times, the responsibility for DAAs moves around the agency or is permanently dispersed across the agency. Proximity can help – we can work with you to examine your DAAs and discuss options for improvement. This will help you to identify areas of non-compliance, rectify non-compliant instruments and implement new procedures to ensure ongoing compliance.
›› undertake a cost-effective review of the current state of your DAAs ›› ensure instruments are up to date, consistently and accurately described and drafted within the scope permitted by legislation ›› review new and amended legislation to ensure all relevant powers and functions are identified ›› review your mechanisms for storing, recording and updating instruments
›› create instrument registers, and a process for their maintenance, to ensure records are properly kept ›› develop minutes and briefs, template instruments, record keeping systems, process documents and training materials
STAGE 2 We also provide an Ongoing Support service, where we: ›› provide a quarterly review and maintenance service to ensure that your DAAs are reviewed on a regular and consistent basis
›› ensure your DAAs correspond accurately with your electronic record management system
›› provide fast turnaround on drafting instruments and provide an ongoing advisory service in relation to DAAs
›› establish the systems that allow you to demonstrate that appropriate DAAs are in place
›› offer the option for Proximity to host and maintain a DAA online portal that you can access 24/7
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health and wellbeing
PROXIMITY CANBERRA TRIATHLON FESTIVAL: WHY NOT GIVE IT A TRI…? PROXIMITY CANBERRA TRIATHLON FESTIVAL – 9 FEBRUARY 2019 Most businesses and organisations are constantly on the lookout for great team building opportunities, and so are we. That’s one reason Proximity decided, a few years back, to become a major sponsor of Triathlon ACT. In 2019, we are sponsoring the Proximity Canberra Triathlon Festival taking place at Rond Terrace on Saturday 9 February. “It isn’t that we consider ourselves to be supreme athletes; in fact, far from it. We do, however, have a strong commitment to life balance and encouraging our staff to maintain a healthy level of fitness,” said Chief Operating Officer, Zoe Lynam.
“Our aim is to have a lot of fun but also bring to the event a bit of rivalry, with government departments competing against each other, professional service businesses, hotels and real estate companies, fitness and sporting clubs, and even our schools and universities.” In the past, organisations have put together teams with clients, suppliers, friends and family. Team members don’t all have to belong to the one organisation. With the arrival of the warmer weather and longer days, there’s no better time to start training for the event than now. The event will be held around Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra on Saturday 9 February. To register visit proximitytriathlon.com.au
“We see the Corporate and Community Triathlon as a great social event for staff and we are planning on entering a number of Proximity teams in the 2019 event.” The event offers the Corporate and Community Triathlon category where you can compete as individuals or in teams of three for the swim, run and cycle legs, where each member of the team completes just one leg, relay style (and you can even use flippers for the swim)! “It is really all about participation, and we would love to have hundreds more taking part, from the corporate and government sectors, and also from the Canberra community.” For many, this will be their first attempt at a triathlon – the distances are a 200m swim, 10km on the bike and a 2km run. “We want to open this up to everyone and make it the biggest community triathlon event ever in Canberra,” Zoe said.
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community space
A helping hand
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At Proximity we recognise the need for us to do our bit to help those in our community, and across our nation, who are doing it tough.
Women in Law Awards
With our Aussie farmers battling the worst drought in 100 years in some areas, our team rallied to lend its support.
Proximity has been named as a finalist in the prestigious 2018 Women in Law Awards for the Boutique Diversity Firm of the Year category.
Through the nation-wide Buy a Bale campaign, Proximity pledged to match contributions from staff dollar for dollar.
Chief Operating Officer, Zoe Lynam, said the business was excited to have been selected in what was a year of record nominations.
“Within the first week of fundraising we raised over $3,000 between staff and the matched Proximity business contribution,” said Pro Bono and Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Declan Norrie. “It was great to see all levels of the team getting involved – from our undergraduate paralegals to the principal advisors and operational management – which shows the strong community culture we foster and our ability to mobilise support for time-critical initiatives such as Buy a Bale.
“Over the past four years, Proximity has maintained an even gender balance in its employees with an average of 51 per cent female and 49 per cent male employees,” Zoe said.
“Nearly 50% of our staff made a contribution which is a wonderful response in less than two weeks.” The final tally of $4,620 was enough to buy 45 large bales of hay to be transported directly to farmers in affected areas.
“We work towards gender equality at all levels of seniority. Currently, we have a 60 per cent to 40 per cent ratio of women to men at the operations management level, and importantly, a 50 per cent ratio at the principal advisor level.” The winners will be announced in Melbourne on 22 November 2018
You can contribute to Buy a Bale by visiting buyabale.com.au
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community space
Menslink Business Breakfast Proximity is proud to be a major sponsor and pro bono partner for Menslink which has supported young men in the Canberra region for over 15 years, through free counselling, volunteer mentoring and education programs. Our team was up early for the recent Menslink Business Breakfast, the biggest Menslink fundraiser of the year, featuring Australian journalist, author and raconteur, Peter FitzSimons. Amongst many special guests, were former Australians of the Year, Rosie Batty and David Morrison. We are privileged to be a supporter of Menslink which has helped thousands of boys and young men get through the tough times with the least amount of pain or harm to themselves or those around them. menslink.org.au
ABOVE: ENJOYING THE MENSLINK BUSINESS BREAKFAST WITH FORMER AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR, ROSIE BATTY, ARE (R-L) PROXIMITY’S JAMES DUNN, ZOE LYNAM AND JEREMY LASEK.CREDIT: HOT SHOTS PHOTOGRAPHY.
The Proximity team
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Pro bono Proximity is a signatory to the National Pro Bono Target of 35 hours pro bono work per lawyer, per year. We are proud to have been the first incorporated legal practice to become a signatory back in 2011 and we worked with the National Pro Bono Resource Centre to develop the first Statement of Principles for all incorporated legal practices.  Proximity is proud to have significantly exceeded the National Pro Bono Target, achieving an average of 41.23 pro bono hours per FTE lawyer in the 17/18 financial year.
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Proximity Canberra
TRIATHLON FESTIVAL SATURDAY 9 FEB 2019
Rond Terrace, at the bottom of Anzac Parade Featuring the Corporate and Community Triathlon for people of all fitness levels Register now: proximitytriathlon.com.au