People> Wendy Ussher
Print
Share
Subscribe

Wendy Ussher

Special Counsel

Wendy is an experienced Special Counsel in the Constitutional Law Team. She has more than eleven years’ experience practising constitutional law and many more years in employment law and industrial relations. Her public law experience has overlapped with an amalgam of other practice areas including administrative law, human rights, remedies, corporations’ law, aviation, taxation, criminal law, native title, immigration, family law, and environmental law.

Wendy holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons), with specialisations in corporate and commercial law; public law; and general law practice. She also holds a Master of Laws from Pennsylvania State University, USA, with specialisation in constitutional law and civil rights. Wendy’s thesis papers were on the Contemporary Issues of Structured Proportionality Review, and Constitutional Interpretation in Australia.

Her considerable experience includes having primary carriage of complex constitutional law litigation for the State of Queensland and the Attorney-General and instructing the Solicitor-General before the Full Court of the High Court of Australia in over 20 constitutional law cases. That experience includes drafting the written and oral submissions for the Solicitor-General.

Wendy also provides high-level constitutional law advice on significant and sensitive issues for the State; drafts advice on behalf of the Solicitor-General and Crown Solicitor on a range of issues including challenges to the validity of state legislation; petitions to the Governor for a pardon; the implied freedom of political communication; duties of excise; freedom of interstate trade, commerce and intercourse; inconsistent Commonwealth and State laws; the scope of State and Commonwealth legislative, executive and judicial powers; COVID19 measures, mandatory vaccinations, border closures; and statutory interpretation.

Wendy also has extensive experience in employment law and industrial relations across multiple jurisdictions (NSW, Qld, Cth). As a prosecutor and duly appointed inspector under State and Commonwealth industrial laws she conducted numerous workplace investigations, prosecutions and recovery proceedings for unpaid employee entitlements. She appeared alone in significant industrial relations test cases on behalf of the State of Queensland and for the Industrial Relations Minister; instructed on the drafting of industrial relations legislation, including the referral of workplace relations powers to the Commonwealth; and was responsible for shepherding multiple industrial relations bills through parliament.

Prior to joining Crown Law in 2013, Wendy worked on the Queensland Children’s Hospital (QCH) Commissioning Project. In her role as a Director of Workforce, Wendy led and managed the workforce commissioning team and advised on complex legal issues involved in combining the entire workforces of the Royal Children’s Hospital and Mater Children’s Hospital into one State regulated workforce for the QCH (approximately 4000 staff across state and federal industrial relations jurisdictions), and conducted regular all-staff information sessions and union negotiations.

Among other awards, Wendy received a Legal Excellence Award, for her work having a 30-year-old miscarriage of justice unanimously overturned by the Court of Appeal in R v Predragovic [2023] QCA 123, and an Australia Day Award for her work in industrial relations, presented at Queensland Parliament.

  • Specialisation Certificates in Constitutional Law and Civil Rights, Public Law, Corporate and Commercial Law, and General Law.
  • Acting for the State of Queensland or the Attorney-General for Queensland, instructing the Solicitor-General, in over 20 constitutional law cases in the High Court of Australia, including having primary carriage of the following matters:
    • MJZP v. Director-General of Security & Anor (High Court S142/2023), about the minimum requirement of procedural fairness applicable to all proceedings in a Ch III court; challenging the holding in SDCV.
    • Commonwealth of Australia v Yunupingu (High Court D5/2023) appeal from FCFCA (NTD43/2019), about whether native title is subject to the Constitutional guarantee of just terms under s 51(xxxi) of the Constitution.
    • Rehmat & Mehar Pty Ltd v Hortle (High Court M16/2023), a challenge to the constitutional validity of Victoria’s wage theft laws as being inconsistent with the Commonwealth’s Fair Work scheme and invalid pursuant to s 109 of the Constitution.
    • Vanderstock v State of Victoria [2023] HCA 30 (High Court M61/2021), a challenge to the constitutional validity of Victoria’s levy on electric vehicles as an impermissible duty of excise within the meaning of s 90 of the Commonwealth Constitution.
    • R v Predragovic [2023] QCA 123 referral by the Attorney-General under s 672A Criminal Code (Qld) about a miscarriage of justice.
    • SDCV v Director-General of Security & Anor (2022) 96 ALJR 1002 (High Court S27/2022) a challenge to the constitutional validity of Commonwealth laws for being contrary to Ch III of the Constitution and the minimum requirement of procedural fairness applicable to all proceedings in a Ch III court.
    • Bell v Tasmania (High Court H2/2020), a criminal law matter concerning the ‘mistake of fact’ defence.
    • Work Health Authority v Outback Ballooning (2019) 93 ALJR 212, a challenge to the validity of Northern Territory’s work health and safety laws as being inconsistent with Commonwealth aviation laws.
    • Australia, Pacific LNG Pty Limited & Ors v The Treasurer, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Minister for Sport [2019] QSC 124, a judicial review proceeding concerning petroleum royalties sought to be levied by the State.
    • Three appeal matters of: Northern Territory v Griffiths (No 2); Commonwealth v Griffiths (No 2); Griffiths v Northern Territory (No 2) (2019) 93 ALJR 808, concerning the approach to calculating compensation for the extinguishment of native title.
    • Attorney-General of the State of Queensland v Legal Services Commissioner & Anor; Legal Services Commissioner v Shand [2018] QCA 66.
    • BHP Coal Pty Ltd v Treasurer & Minister for Trade & Investment; BHP Coal Pty Ltd & Ors v Treasurer, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Minister for Sports [2018] QSC 66.
    • Minogue v State of Victoria (2018) 264 CLR 252.
    • Brown v Tasmania (2017) 261 CLR 328.
    • Knight v Victoria (2017) 261 CLR 306.
    • Palmer v Ayres; Ferguson v Ayres (2017) 259 CLR 478.
    • ResourceCo Material Solutions Pty Ltd & Anor v. State of Victoria & Anor (High Court, Case No. M32/2016)
    • Alqudsi v The Queen (2016) 258 CLR 203.
    • North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency Limited v Northern Territory (2015) 256 CLR 569.
    • Duncan v Independent Commission Against Corruption (2015) 256 CLR 83.
    • Duncan v New South Wales; NuCoal Resources Limited v New South Wales; Cascade Coal Pty Limited v New South Wales (2015) 255 CLR 388.
    • Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia v Queensland Rail (2015) 256 CLR 171.
    • Magaming v The Queen (2013) 252 CLR 381.
    • Lee v New South Wales Crime Commission (2013) 251 CLR 196.
  • Appearing for the Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations Queensland before Full Bench of Fair Work Australia in various major cases including:
    • Award Modernisation – Division 2B State Awards [2010] FWAFB 8558
    • National Equal Remuneration Test Case ([2011] FWAFB 8800; [2011] FWAFB 2700; [2012] FWAFB 1000).
  • Working for Pennsylvania State University Law Faculty, Pennsylvania USA as a Research Assistant to Professor Jud Mathews, whose scholarship about techniques of constitutional rights adjudication particularly involves proportionality review.
  • Prosecuting scores of offences and wage recovery proceedings against employers under state and federal industrial laws as an inspector duly appointed under the former Industrial Relations Act 1999 (Qld) and Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth); Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990 (Qld).
  • Appearing with the Queensland Workplace Rights Ombudsman before the Australian Parliament Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment’s Inquiry into the Fair Work Bill 2008 (Cth) and drafting the Ombudsman’s submissions to the Senate Inquiry.
  • Instructing the drafting of legislation including Queensland’s referral of industrial relations matters to the Australian Parliament under the Commonwealth Constitution.
  • As Principal Inspector and Senior Inspector (Prosecutions), managing the inspectorate and support staff in the Wide Bay/Sunshine Coast Regional offices of the former Department of Industrial Relations at Bundaberg and Maryborough, and conducting numerous workplace investigations.
  • Investigating and advising the Attorney-General on a 19th century crime leading to the posthumous pardon of an aboriginal man known as Kipper Billy by his Excellency the Governor in 2018 (see Department of Justice and Attorney-General’s Annual Report 2018-19, p 63-64).