Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense? 

Compliance is one of the least glamorous parts of being an in-house counsel. When I joined REA, many compliance processes were managed manually – contract approval forms were printed and physically signed. At the same time, updates to the gifts and conflicts registers were emailed to the legal team and then manually recorded by the legal team. There are increasingly more legal tech tools available, but the legal team needs to do more with less as a cost centre. By utilising various digital tools available within the broader organisation, I created digital gifts and conflicts declaration forms, which automatically generated corresponding entries in our legal registries. Similarly, I leveraged systems used by our Procurement function to digitise our contract approval process, including basic workflow ‘smarts’ to ensure the correct Risk, Legal and Finance approvers are automatically contacted to approve contracts. These wins have enabled the legal team to perform tedious and repetitive tasks more efficiently and ultimately free up time to focus on higher-value work. 

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?  

The legal team at REA apportion work based on business units and functions – this includes everything from advising on marketing material to advising on consumer and privacy law considerations for new digital products and services to advising on franchisee and AFSL-related matters in our Mortgage Choice business, to running M&A transactions such as REA’s recent acquisition of Campaign Agent.  

My key focus is on matters related to our Consumer business unit, everything seen and contained on the realestate.com.au website and mobile apps, which includes a wealth of data and personal information. Helping our teams provide more personalised experiences while respecting users’ privacy rights is challenging, particularly given the increasing community focus on corporate data breaches and the upcoming overhaul of Australia’s privacy laws. Data privacy extends beyond our Consumer business unit and is a topic I have presented and advised on to REA’s board and other business units. As a participant of the Tech Council of Australia’s Privacy Working Group, I have also sought to help shape the upcoming new privacy laws to ensure an appropriate balance is struck to protect consumers’ privacy without unduly compromising the competitiveness of Australian businesses.  

As REA has recently begun experimenting with generative AI technologies, I have also been involved with our Generative AI Working Group to put policies and guardrails in place to ensure that REA mitigates any risks associated with using such new technologies. 

What is a cause, business related or otherwise, that you care about, and why? 

Like many Australians, I have an obsession with the property market. We love to look at how much a neighbour’s house is selling for, and auctions are fair game as a Saturday morning spectator sport. Housing affordability in Australia is in a terrible state. It’s easy to point the finger at international buyers acquiring all our properties or boomers reaping the benefits of negative gearing and CGT discounts. Regardless of how we got to our current situation, how can we reverse the ever-worsening affordability issues that young Australians face? As a recently new parent, this question has become personally very dear to my heart. As a significant player in the Australian property market, I am very proud to advise REA on new products and services that promote greater price transparency to help Australians move into a home that is right for their circumstances.