Tom is an adaptable junior counsel working across the gamut of environment, planning, and land acquisition and compensation law. He has extensive experience acting for private and public sector clients in relation to:

• Planning merits review, panel hearings and judicial review, including in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the Supreme Court of Victoria, Planning Panels Victoria and the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

• Environmental investigations and prosecutions in the Magistrates Court of Victoria, and advising on contaminated land management, nuisance and negligence, and State and Commonwealth environmental impact assessment across a number of Australian jurisdictions.

• Major project land access and compulsory acquisition, including disputed compensation claims in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

• Adjacent areas of law, including freedom of information, property, building investigations and prosecutions, heritage and Aboriginal cultural heritage matters.

Tom welcomes direct briefs from in-house counsel and local government in both litigious and advisory matters.

Before joining the Bar, Tom was a senior associate at Herbert Smith Freehills. Prior to that, he held roles as a solicitor at Norton Rose Fulbright and Minter Ellison.

Tom holds a Juris Doctor (Hons) from the University of New South Wales, where he was awarded prizes for contract law and environmental law. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Sydney, majoring in archaeology.

Tom read with Barnaby Chessell SC, and his senior mentors are David Neal SC and Marita Foley SC.

*Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards legislation

Selected cases

Planning
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
• Carnegie OHP Pty Ltdv Glen Eira CC [2024] VCAT 25 – Section 77 PE Act appeal against refusal of planning permit– Led by Peter O’Farrell – Instructed by Minter Ellison
• Seafirst Australia Pty Ltd v 120 Collins Street Pty Ltd & Ors (P1745/2022) – Section 114 PE Act application for enforcement order – Led by Peter O’Farrell – Instructed by Frenkel Partners
• Kooroora Developments Pty Ltdv Mornington Peninsula SC [2023] VCAT 1083 – Section 80 PE Act to review permit conditions – Led by Nick Tweedie SC – Instructed by Planning & Property Partners
• Cleanaway Pty Ltd v Warrnambool CC[2023] VCAT 838 – Section 77 PE Act appeal against refusal of planning permit – Unled – Direct brief
• Wonthaggi North Development Pty Ltdv Bass Coast SC [2023] VCAT 174 – Application to extend time under s 81 of the PE Act – Led by Peter O’Farrell – Instructed by Davis Lawyers
• WMW Developments Pty Ltdv Melbourne CC [2023] VCAT 40 – Section 82 PE Act review of decision to grant permit – Led by Peter O’Farrell
• 041 Centre Road Pty Ltdv Monash CC [2022] VCAT 1464 –
• Strawhorn v Ballarat CC [2022] VCAT 1478 – Preliminary hearing regarding requirement for Cultural Heritage Management Plan – Unled – Instructed by S&K Planning Lawyers

Planning Panels Victoria / Advisory Committees
• Priority Projects referral 35: Victoria Gardens expansion – Acting for Astrodome Hire Pty Ltd– Unled – Instructed by Rigby Cooke Lawyers
• Bass Coast Statement of Planning Policy Distinctive Areas and Landscapes Standing Advisory Committee – Acting for the Minister for Planning– Led by Juliet Forsyth SC and Rupert Watters – Instructed by Hall & Wilcox

Compulsory acquisition
Supreme Court of Victoria
• Frontlink Pty Ltdv Head, Transport for Victoria (S ECI 2022 00920) – Disputed claim under the LAC Act – Led by Paul Chiappi – Instructed by Belleli King & Associates
• Hermal Timber Nominees Pty Ltdv Head, Transport for Victoria (S ECI 2020 04594) – Disputed claim under the LAC Act – Led by Marita Foley SC – Instructed by Arnold Bloch Leibler
• Brimbank City Council v Thi To Nhu Bui(S ECI 2021 04836) – Disputed claim under the LAC Act – Unled – Instructed by Western Lawyers

Environment

Magistrates’ Court of Victoria

• Acting for company directorin relation to EPA prosecution – Led by Marita Foley SC – Instructed by King & Wood Mallesons

Public interest litigation

Federal Court of Australia
• Save Our Strathbogie Forest Inc.v Secretary to the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (VID432/2023) (Planned Burns) – Injunction proceedings under s 475 of the EPBC Act – Led by Angel Aleksov – Instructed by Bleyer Lawyers

Supreme Court of Tasmania
• Circular Head Coastal Awareness Network Inc v Circular Head Council & Ors (19/2024) – Appeal on a question of law from the Tasmania Civil and Administrative Tribunal – Instructed by Bleyer Lawyers

Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
• Circular Head Coastal Awareness Network Incv Circular Head Council & Ors [2023] TASCAT 217) (Robbins Island Wind Farm) – Appeal against grant of permit under s 61 of the LUPA Act – Unled – Instructed by Bleyer Lawyers

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
• 160 Leicester Pty Ltd v Wallace and Staindl& Ors (P617/2023) (Corkman Hotel) – Application to amend enforcement order under s 121 of the PE Act – Led by Juliet Forsyth SC – Instructed by Bleyer Lawyers

Building
• Slade Bros Properties Pty Ltdv Yarra City Council (BAB Case. No. 454777) – Building order appeal under section 142 of the Building Act – Led by Peter O’Farrell – Instructed by Rodda Legal

Areas of Practice

Cases