Vanessa Parkins

Vanessa is a Partner in our Australian Government Team.

Vanessa has 15 years’ experience in personal injury litigation and currently represents the Commonwealth and ACT Government, predominantly in workers’ compensation claims under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act). This includes advising and appearing on complex and sensitive matters and those involving self-represented applicants. Vanessa also represents the NDIA in the Administrative Review Tribunal on matters involving planning, access and compensation recovery under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act).

Experience & expertise

Vanessa provides thorough advice and assistance to her clients with a focus on practical strategies to progress matters through litigation quickly and efficiently. She is known for her pragmatic approach to litigation particularly when dealing with complex matters involving medical causation, evidentiary issues and assessment of legal risk. Vanessa is committed to early and successful alternative dispute resolution strategies to resolve matters and reduce overall liability in accordance with model litigant obligations.

Work highlights

Examples of major matters where Vanessa has acted include:

• Successful outcomes on Tribunal matters involving:
  • Interlocutory matters under the SRC Act including the Applicant’s objections to summons (Bakker v Australian Capital Territory [2023] AATA 2770, Bakker v Australian Capital Territory [2023] AATA 3200)
  • Reasonable administrative action under the SRC Act (Purdon and Comcare [2024] AATA 3493)
  • Complex issues regarding compensation recovery and special circumstances under the NDIS Act: Luo and National Disability Insurance Agency [2024] AATA 3402; Hoolachan and National Disability Insurance Agency [2025] AATA 4798
• Extensive experience in common law personal injury litigation and appeals involving residual earning capacity (Howard v Aikman [2015] ACTCA 64) as well as contributory negligence and assessment of damages (Smith v Pangallo [2017] ACTCA 61)
• Undertaking a range of pro-bono matters for individuals and charities including SEE Change, CARE Financial Counselling, ACT Human Rights Commission, Canberra Community Law and Women’s Legal Centre (ACT)
• Multiple secondments for the Commonwealth Government and Insurers.