Current practice
Duncan is a special counsel in the Corporate Technology group in the Sydney office of Freehills. His practice focuses on technology, media and communications regulatory issues, outsourcing and procurement, including:
- advice on the Radiocommunications Act 1992 (Cth), Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth), Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth), Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (Cth), Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and all state privacy and health records legislation.
- negotiation and documentation of public and private sector outsourcing and procurement agreements and processes (including inviting expressions of interest/tendering, ongoing contract management and relationship contracting)
- copyright and software licensing
- website and web hosting terms and conditions
- EFTPOS, ATM, electronic banking and foreign exchange service provider contract negotiation
- relationship contracting, including network service provider agreements and transitional services agreements
- telecommunications interception
- privacy and spam lobbying, policy, review, auditing, advice and training, and
- privacy due diligence and privacy review project management.
Experience
Duncan's experience includes:
- leading privacy policy and solutions development and implementation strategy for Andersen Worldwide
- acting for a major international ISP and portal on all aspects of its business, including licensing, trade practices, employment and lobbying
- conducting a detailed privacy due diligence for a major insurance company and for an international data aggregator
- negotiating and drafting agreements for the provision of transitional services between international corporate groups following their separation in 2003’s largest global IPO
- advice to a major government department on the online implementation of BPay services
- advising on legal and regulatory aspects of telecommunications international points of presence initiative
- developing innovative online learning solutions to deliver ‘just-in-time’ legal and compliance training to employees
- development of procedures and software to analyse bulk email correspondence in litigation.
Professional background
Duncan chairs the Law Council of Australia’s Media & Communications and Privacy Committees and the Internet Industry Association’s Privacy Code Development Taskforce. He is a Vice President of the Communications and Media Law Association, a member of the Editorial Board of the Privacy Law Bulletin and a founding board member of the International Association of Privacy Practitioners ANZ.
He was also a member of the Advisory Committee to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s recent comprehensive review of Australian privacy law and of the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s reference groups for the development of the Guidelines on the National Privacy Principles, and the Guidelines for Privacy Code Development. Duncan was also author of the Andersen Legal Privacy Survey Series, co-author of the CCH 2002 Master Business Guide Information Technology Section, and Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Lawbook Company's publication eLaw Practice.
Before joining Freehills, Duncan was head of Andersen Legal’s global privacy practice and responsible for Andersen Legal’s online training excellence project.
Duncan holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Adelaide and a Master of Laws degree from the University of New South Wales.