Susan Bennett

LLM (Hons), MBA

Principal & Director
M:  +61 (2) 8226 8682
E:  susan.bennett@sibenco.com
Connect with Susan on LinkedIn

 

Overview

Susan is the Principal of Sibenco Legal & Advisory and Co-founder & Director of Information Governance ANZ (IGANZ). With twenty-five years of experience as a lawyer and advisor, Susan works closely with corporate and government clients to deliver tailored legal and risk management solutions that meet client needs and strategic objectives.

Prior to establishing Sibenco, for many years Susan led large litigation cases and inquiries involving the production of large volumes of documents/data. She draws on this experience to deliver responsive risk management solutions for effective Information Governance and regulatory compliance, particularly in data privacy, cross border data protection and critical incident planning and response.

Susan co-founded IGANZ in 2016 to break down the ‘information silos’ she observed among professionals, to enable more connected thinking and innovation for Information Governance best practice and help drive more holistic solutions, particularly for data privacy and cybersecurity. For more information – visit www.infogovanz.com.

Susan speaks at Australian and international conferences including on Information Governance for strategic information risk management.  Susan holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Laws. She is a member of the Sedona Conference® Working Group 6 – International Electronic Information Management, and Working Group 11 – Data Security and Privacy Liability. Susan is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia (FGIA), a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (iappANZ), a member and graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

Areas of Expertise

Susan delivers strategic, practical and responsive advice to organisations in:

• Information Governance –  frameworks, policies and procedures to maximise the value of information while minimising the risks and costs of holding it.
• Privacy and Data Breach – policies and procedures complying with privacy requirements, privacy-by-design, ethical frameworks for big data initiatives, cyberattack preparation with critical incident planning and data breach response.
• Corporate Governance – governance frameworks, policies and procedures to achieve organisational objectives.
• Legal Project Management – timely delivery of projects within budget through the effective use of technology and people.
• Inquiries – representing people and organisations involved in Inquiries & Royal Commissions.
• Investigations – providing independent workplace investigations and reports.
• Workshops and Presentations – helping leaders achieve strategic objectives and manage legal risks.

Conferences and Presentations 2017

• Sedona Conference Working Group on Data Security & Privacy Liability  (WG11) – Panel member, ‘Communicating with Executives’ – Florida, January 2017
• 10^th Annual Women Legal Conference 2017 – Panel member, ‘Power: what is it?’ – San Francisco, February 2017
• Records & Information Officers’ Forum – Presentation, ‘Information Governance & RIM – The importance of strategy and leadership’, Melbourne, March, 2017
• LawFest NZ – Presentation, ‘Information Governance – Managing the Data Tsunami’ – Auckland, May 2017
• The 9^th Annual Sedona Conference International Programme on Cross-Border Discovery and Data Protection Laws – Panel member, ‘The Sedona Conference International Litigation Principles (Transitional Edition): What has changed and what has not? and Panel Chair, ‘Beyond EU-U.S. data transfers: Updates on APAC, South America & the Middle East’,  Dublin, June 2017

Qualifications

  Tertiary Education

• Master of Business Administration (Exec), AGSM (2003)
• Master of Laws (Hons), University of Sydney (1999)
• Diploma of Legal Practice, University of Technology Sydney (1990)
• Bachelor of Laws, University of Tasmania (1990)

  Professional education

• Company Directors Course (GAICD), AICD (2007)
• Leading Professional Services Firms, Harvard Business School (2011)
• Legal Lean Sigma® and Project Management (2014)

Practising Certificate & Admissions

• Unrestricted Practising Certificate New South Wales, Australia
• NSW Supreme Court, Federal Court of Australia and High Court

Professional Memberships

• Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD)
• Fellow of Governance Institute of Australia (FGIA)
• International Association of Privacy Professionals (iappANZ)
• New South Wales Law Society
• Sedona Conference® Working Group 6 – International Electronic Information Management, Discovery and Disclosure
• Sedona Conference® Working Group 11 – Data Security and Privacy Liability

 Career overview

Sibenco Legal & Advisory	Principal & Director (2012 to date)
Information Governance ANZ	Co-founder and Director (2016 to date)
Ashgrove Cheese Pty Ltd	Director and Company Secretary (2011 to date)
Sparke Helmore	Sydney Managing Partner (2010-2011) Partner and National Group Leader, Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group and the Legal Technology Support Group (2003-2011)
Consultant	Consultant lawyer on large high profile commercial litigation disputes (2000-2002)
Middletons	Senior Associate, Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation Group (1997-2000)
Phillips Fox	Solicitor, Construction Group (1995-1997)