Areas of practice                      
General Commercial & Equity                                                
Will and Probate/Family Provision Act
Building and Construction
Employment & Industrial                                                
Liquor Licensing                                                  

Date of commencement of practice at the Bar    
1994  

Contact details                         
+612 8815 9144                                                
michael.heath@5wentworth.com  

Education
Having completed his Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts degrees at Macquarie University in 1985, Mr Heath went on to receive his Masters of Laws from the University of Western Australia in 1993.  

Professional career                  
Mr Heath began his career in journalism. In 1985, he commenced work as a journalist and reporter on the programs 'AM', 'PM' and 'The World Today'. Mr Heath later moved to ABC television news and subsequently became a political correspondent for Network 10 in the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery. In 1990, he returned to the ABC as the anchor of the '7:30 Report' in Western Australia.

In 1991, Mr Heath commenced working as a Solicitor at Dwyer Durack in Perth. His areas of practice included civil, criminal and industrial litigation. During his time at Dwyer Durack, Mr Heath’s experience included representing clients before the 'WA Inc' Royal Commission, matters before the Supreme Court of Western Australia, conducting hearings in the State and Federal Industrial Commissions, and appearing in the District Court of Western Australia and the Federal Court. 

In 1992, Mr Heath was elected as a member of the Law Society of Western Australia Council.

Since commencing practice at the New South Wales Bar in 1994, Mr Heath has appeared in a variety of jurisdictions including the Court of Appeal and 'special leave' applications before the High Court.

Selected cases  

 

Pascoe v Boensch [2009] FCA 1240


Riltang Pty Limited v L Pty Limited [2002] NSWSC 625; (2003) NSW ConvR 56-033.

Mr Heath acted as counsel for the successful Appellant in Young v Lamb [2001] NSWCA 225; (2001) 10 BPR 18,553; [2001] ANZ ConvR 629; (2002) NSW ConvR 55-997 [2000] NSWSC 733, before the New South Wales Court of Appeal. The Court had to consider several issues including principles applicable to construction of an option to renew a lease and the application of the Partnership Act 1892 (NSW) with respect to an option to renew a lease of premises leased by a partnership. 


In Commissioner of Police v Ryan [2007] NSWCA 196, Mr Heath appeared at first instance and for the Respondent in the Court of Appeal. This case dealt with section 104A of the Liquor Act 1982 (NSW) relating to the closure of licensed premises.   

Mr Heath has appeared in both the State and Federal Industrial jurisdictions. Subway Development of NSW/ACT Pty Ltd v Costin [2007] NSWIRComm 95 is an example of a matter where Mr Heath appeared for the successful claimant at trial and on the Appeal.

Mr Heath has also appeared in the notable case of Sharp v Port Kembla RSL which was jury trial in which Mrs Sharp successfully argued that her cancer had been caused by the passive smoke in her workplace.  

Publications  

Several opinion pieces written by Mr Heath have featured in the Australian Financial Review. These include articles such as 'Tax Board will help you help yourself!' AFR 28/10/96, 'ASC has a long reach!' AFR 5/8/96 and 'Weapon against errant directors' AFR 10/5/96. Other articles including 'Board Games' and 'Spin in a Legal Crunch' have been published in Walkley Magazine. In addition, Mr Heath published 'Smokescreen – The Sharp v Port Kembla RSL Passive Smoking Case' in 2001 as part of the New South Wales Young Lawyers Continuing Legal Education Seminar Papers series.

 

Papers

“Dealing with the Director of Communities NSW and the Casino Control Authority under the Liquor Act” CPDS Seminar 16 March 2010