Mallesons Podcasts

Australia’s rapidly growing data centre industry will need significant volumes of firmed, renewable power to support future demand. This episode explores the different ways data centres could secure that energy, and whether retailers may ultimately offer the most practical solution by managing the full energy package.

Key topics discussed:

• Contracting directly with renewable projects or Independent Power Producers (IPPs)
• Co-located generation and behind-the-meter solutions
• Building and managing their own energy supply
• The role of retailers in delivering integrated energy solutions

Host: Rod Smythe

Guests: Shirley Cheng and Amelia Mellor

Young people are often at the centre of public debate about crime, but the debates rarely reflect the complexities of the issue. In this episode, host Clem Johnson speaks with Tim Solomon from Berry Street Yooralla and Travis Toemoe, partner at Mallesons, about their experiences working with young people. They explore the role of trauma, poverty, and disadvantage in shaping young people’s experiences, why punitive approaches are not effective, and how restorative practice, early intervention and community connection offer a better way forward.

CREDITS: 

Host: Clem Johnson

Executive Producer & Editor: Pariya Taherzadeh

Co-Producers: Clem Johnson, Tania Winlaw, Elise Perry, Saskia Ilott 

Video Editor: Pariya Taherzadeh

This episode is brought to you by Mallesons.

Governance remains one of the most important and closely scrutinised issues facing boards and regulated entities. In this episode, Mallesons Partners Nathan Hodge and Tim Bednall discuss what good governance looks like for financial services organisations, the evolving role of boards and management, lessons emerging from the Financial Accountability Regime, and APRA's proposed reforms to CPS 510. The discussion explores how governance frameworks can drive accountability, improve decision making and respond to increasing regulatory expectations across the financial services sector.

Key topics discussed:

• What good governance looks like in practice
• The respective roles of boards and management
• Board skills, capability and industry experience
• Governance, culture and behavioural expectations
• Lessons from the implementation of FAR
• Key developments and practical implications arising from APRA's proposed CPS 510 reforms

Host: Nathan Hodge, Mallesons Partner

Guest: Tim Bednall, Mallesons Partner

In this episode of View from Asia, Mallesons International Director David Olsson AM shares a conversation originally recorded for the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Director Download podcast.

David explores how Australian businesses can build the capability to turn access to Asian markets into opportunity, strengthen resilience and navigate the region’s evolving geopolitical and regulatory landscape.

Topics discussed include:

• Building capability to turn market access into opportunity
• Diversifying supply chains and strengthening resilience
• ASEAN’s digital transformation, including the Digital Economy Framework Agreement
• Why Asia cannot be treated as a single market
• Navigating geopolitical and regulatory risk, and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s guidance on geopolitical risk
• Building a genuine regional strategy.

Subscribe to View from Asia for the latest insights on the issues shaping business across Asia. 

What does increasing geopolitical and supply chain uncertainty mean for the contracts and commercial relationships businesses rely on?

In this episode of View from Asia, Amanda Lees, Mallesons partner in Singapore, and International Director David Olsson AM explore why force majeure is back in the spotlight as businesses navigate disruption. They consider how force majeure clauses apply in practice, how businesses should approach long-term and cross-border contracts, and when other contractual protections may be needed.

They also examine the role of trusted relationships and local knowledge across Asia, and the practical questions boards and executives should be asking to build resilience before disruption occurs.

Prefer to read? Here’s our written summary of the episode: http://www.mallesons.com/au/en/insights/latest-thinking/view-from-asia-force-majeure-and-the-power-of-business-relationships.html

Articles referenced:

• Asia capability under pressure: lessons from the Hormuz disruption
• Building Asia capability as a resilience strategy: what boards need to ask
• What's next for Australian businesses in Southeast Asia?

Stay up to date

Subscribe to View from Asia for the latest insights on the issues shaping business across Asia. 

Cyber risk is intensifying as organisations navigate a complex and fast-moving threat landscape, shaped by rapid advancements in frontier AI and continuing geopolitical tension.

Bringing together government and industry perspectives, this session will explore how threats are evolving and the government's agenda for protecting critical infrastructure and strengthening resilience across the economy. Hear directly from Hamish Hansford, Head of National Security at the Department of Home Affairs, on the Government's Consultation Paper on streamlining and modernising the SOCI Act.

Get the clarity and insight needed to navigate frontier AI-driven cyber threats and a tightening regulatory regime that aims to strengthen Australia's cyber resilience against emerging threats.

Speakers:
• Hamish Hansford, Head of National Security, Department of Home Affairs
• Leah Pinto, Director, Cyber Intelligence, CyberCX
• Cheng Lim, Head of Cyber Practice and Senior Consultant, Mallesons
• Michael Swinson, Partner, Mallesons

Resources:
Mallesons Digital Future Summit
Mallesons cybersecurity insights
SOCI Act update: Proposal to significantly extend and enhance the enforcement of the SOCI Act
Governance in the Age of Agentic AI
CyberCX 2026 Threat Report

The next wave of AI and emerging technology promises productivity gains but the conditions for realising them are becoming more complex. In a more contested and constrained global environment, technology strategy can no longer be separated from geopolitics or policy settings.

This session brings together leading economic and geopolitical perspectives to unpack:
• where risks are rising
• where opportunities remain and are emerging, and
• how organisations can build resilience and advantage in a more fragmented digital world.

Dr Stephen King (Productivity Commission), Dr Merriden Varrall (VantageGeopol) and Cameron Mitchell (ANZ) examine how AI, data, industrial policy and global instability are reshaping the way technology is developed, accessed and commercialised and the implications.

A high-value discussion for organisations confronting the reality that capturing value from AI is now as much about operating context as it is about capability.

Speakers:
• Dr Stephen King, Commissioner, Productivity Commission
• Dr Merriden Varrall, CEO, Vantage Geopol
• Cameron Mitchell, Head of Geopolitical Risk, ANZ
• Annabel Griffin, Partner, Mallesons

Resources:
Mallesons Digital Future Summit
Mallesons AI insights
Productivity Commission releases final report into Harnessing Data and Digital Technologies

AI is moving from experimentation to embedded workflow. But with new opportunities for productivity and innovation, come important questions about workforce design, governance, skills, safety, employee wellbeing and the role of human judgment.

In this fireside chat, Scientia Professor Toby Walsh will explore how AI is likely to reshape workplaces and the broader economy. Drawing on his work on the intersection of AI, industry and public policy, you will learn how leaders can harness AI responsibly, build workplace capability and create sustainable value.

This session brings practical insights into how organisations can adapt with confidence while keeping people at the centre of change.

Speakers:
• Scientia Professor Toby Walsh, Chief Scientist, UNSW.ai; Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence, UNSW Sydney
• Cilla Robinson, Partner, Mallesons

Resources:
Mallesons Digital Future Summit
Mallesons AI insights
God AI: Boom or Doom? What to expect when machines outsmart us

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how businesses understand and prepare for rapidly evolving local and international events an increasingly complex operating environment. 

Drawing on Anthea Roberts’ work on AI complex decision-making and the future shape of professional services, the discussion will examine the interaction between technology, strategy, business models, and the enduring role of professional judgment. We unpack practical examples of how AI is being used to achieve clarity and cut through for complex decision making within a business.

An insightful session for leaders thinking beyond short-term and singular-lens scenario planning who are grappling with how to capitalise on AI to bring broad & unique perspectives to complex decision-making scenarios. 

Speakers:
• Anthea Roberts, Founder and CEO, Dragonfly Thinking; Professor, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University
• Bryony Evans, Partner, Mallesons

Resources:
Mallesons Digital Future Summit
Mallesons AI insights
Governance in the age of agentic AI

Major cyber and data incidents now trigger a widening set of consequences, including regulator action, complex litigation including class actions, and reputational fallout. Organisations are increasingly judged on how well they anticipate and respond.

Our panel unpacks the fast-evolving disputes landscape at the intersection of privacy, cyber incidents, regulatory enforcement, and class actions. Her Honour Justice Kate Richardson, barrister Nicholas De Young KC and Mallesons litigators explore:
• where claims are developing, and what new claims are expected to emerge from recent law reform
• what is driving regulator action and plaintiff activity in Australia, and
• the practical steps organisations can take before, during and after a significant privacy incident to prepare for and manage anticipated litigation.

A timely session for in-house lawyers, boards and senior executives, offering a clear view of where privacy risk is heading and how privacy incidents can develop into complex material litigation with a long tail.

Speakers:
• The Honourable Justice Kate Richardson, Supreme Court of New South Wales
• Nicholas De Young KC, Barrister
• Peta Stevenson, Partner, Mallesons
• James Russell, Partner, Mallesons

Resources:
Mallesons Digital Future Summit
Mallesons Data and Privacy insights
'Data wars' insight series
Privacy Law Annual Update