Why summits matter: insights from HR Strategy and Legal Counsel Summit

In every industry, there are moments when it pays to pause and join the conversations that shape the bigger picture. Summits give us that chance — to connect with peers, hear from experts, and explore the issues influencing how we work, lead, and stay compliant.

Recently, the Safetrac team joined two standout events hosted by Forefront Events: the HR Strategy Summit and the Legal Counsel Summit. Both offered fresh perspectives on people, culture, governance, and compliance, and reminded us why these gatherings are so valuable. Next up, on 27 August, we’ll be at the Regulatory Summit hosted by Thomson Reuters — a key forum for organisations navigating Australia’s evolving regulatory landscape.

A live pulse check on the industry

Summits act as a pulse check. Laws shift, workplace expectations evolve, and technology disrupts. These events provide a rare chance to hear directly from peers, regulators, and thought leaders about how change is unfolding in real time.

• HR Strategy Summit: Conversations focused on the future of people and culture — from the role of AI in shaping employee experience to building leadership pipelines that can withstand uncertainty. The big question: how do we create workplaces that are not only compliant, but supportive, innovative, and sustainable?
• Legal Counsel Summit: In-house lawyers and compliance leaders explored the rising demands of a complex regulatory environment. From director accountability to ESG disclosures, the message was clear — legal teams are no longer just risk managers; they’re strategic partners in shaping culture, governance, and business resilience.

Looking ahead, the Regulatory Summit will broaden the lens. Regulators, business leaders, and legal experts will come together to examine reforms in financial crime, data privacy, and corporate accountability — and what they mean in practice.

Shared challenges, collective solutions

Another strength of these events is the realisation that challenges aren’t faced alone.

• At the HR Strategy Summit, Safetrac led a boardroom discussion on “Psychosocial safety: Building resilient, high-performing workplaces.” Together with HR leaders, we unpacked the legal framework around psychosocial risks, shared real-world examples of staff wellbeing challenges, and explored how managers can identify and respond to psychosocial hazards. The session gave attendees a practical checklist to take away — helping them assess and strengthen their own organisational practices.
• At the Legal Counsel Summit, our roundtable on “From checkbox to control: Making compliance training your risk shield” challenged the traditional tick-the-box approach to training. General counsel, compliance, and risk leaders joined us to explore how training can become a true line of defence when embedded as part of a control framework. The discussion highlighted gaps in current approaches, where controls break down, and how smarter, AI-enabled tools can turn training into a safeguard that drives accountability, changes behaviour, and reduces costly incidents.

The upcoming Regulatory Summit promises more of this collective problem-solving, with dialogue focused not only on compliance obligations, but on how businesses can work with regulators to shape sustainable solutions.

Human connection in a digital world

In an era of virtual meetings, summits remind us of the power of face-to-face connection.

The energy at both summits was unmistakable — leaders sharing experiences over coffee, debating future challenges in panels, and brainstorming solutions in roundtables. These interactions reinforced that while compliance and governance can feel technical, at their core they’re about people and culture.

That spirit of connection is what we look forward to most at the Regulatory Summit — building trusted relationships between regulators and businesses that make reforms succeed in practice.

Shaping the conversation

For Safetrac, the value of summits goes beyond attending. They’re a chance to contribute to the conversations that matter most. Looking ahead to the Regulatory Summit, our CEO, Deborah Coram, will join an expert panel on the Green Stage: “Regulators v Business: Is the Pendulum Out of Balance?” She’ll unpack the surge in regulatory activism, the sustainability of current models, and whether reforms are genuinely creating safer workplaces or simply adding red tape.

Looking forward

The theme across all these events is clear: the power of coming together.

Whether it’s HR leaders shaping the future of work, legal counsel navigating growing accountability, or regulators working with businesses to manage reform, summits are where ideas turn into action.