Upcoming events and opportunities
Read our monthly round up of upcoming public law events and opportunities, including conferences, seminars and calls for papers
If you have an AUSPUBLAW opportunity, conference or significant public lecture that you would like included in this roundup, please contact us at auspublaw@unsw.edu.au. The roundup is published once a month by the first business day of the month, so please let us know in time for that deadline.
Competitions and calls for papers
9 April 2026
Call for papers - ICON•S AUS-NZ Chapter Conference
International Society of Public Law (ICON•S)
Deadline: 9 April 2026
The ICON•S Australia-NZ chapter biennial conference will be held at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington from 26-28 August 2026.
The conference will feature a series of keynote panels, as well as parallel sessions in which participants are invited to present papers either in pre-organised panels or panels assembled by the organisers. Papers relating to the conference theme - “HE MAHI RARANGA: Infusion and Diffusion of Australasian Public Law” - are particularly encouraged.
There are planned keynote panels on: ‘The Law that was Always There’: Weaving First Nations and Pasifika Knowledges within the Law Curriculum; The Automated State; New Directions in Constitutionalism; and a Judicial Dialogue on the Judiciary in an Age of Distrust.
Please submit your proposal for an individual paper or panel using the links below. You will be asked to submit a title for your paper or panel, a short abstract of your paper or panel, and details of the presenter(s). For fully formed panels, we ask that if possible you nominate a chair for your session. Please submit your proposal by 5pm, AEST, Thursday 9th April 2026.
Questions about submissions can be emailed to iconsausnz@gmail.com.
To submit an individual paper proposal, click here.
To submit a fully formed panel proposal, click here.
15 April 2026
Call for papers - Australasian Law Academics Association Annual Conference
Australasian Law Academics Association
Deadline: 15 April 2026
Educating the Reflective Lawyer: Human Wisdom in an Automated Age
Legal education and the profession face a pivotal moment. As technology reshapes legal work, the distinctly human capabilities of lawyers have never been more important. Reflective practice - long established in medicine, nursing, and other professions - offers a framework for developing legal professionals who can exercise ethical judgment, build meaningful relationships, adapt to uncertainty, and sustain wellbeing across careers. The challenges of automation require critical thinking, creativity, community and collaboration - all aspects of human endeavour.
We welcome papers, panels, workshops, and creative presentations that centre the human in an age of automation, including:
Reflective practice pedagogy
First Nations perspectives on reflective practice, legal education and the practice of law
Humanising legal education through reflective practice
What it means to be a lawyer today and implications for legal education
Technology and human judgment in legal education and practice
Collective reflection for organisational change and sustainability
Paper submissions for the reflective practice stream at the 2026 ALAA Conference will also be considered for inclusion in the International Symposium Series on Reflective Practice for Legal Professionals.
For more information, click here.
17 April 2026
Call for panellists - ANZSIL International Law Teaching Interest Group Workshop
Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL)
Deadline: 17 April 2026
The ANZSIL International Law Teaching Interest Group is hosting a half-day workshop on the afternoon of Tuesday 30 June 2026 at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, immediately prior to the 33rd ANZSIL Annual Conference (1 to 3 July 2026).
This in person workshop will offer a space to reflect and share knowledge on pedagogical questions specific to the teaching of international law in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. In line with the theme of ‘He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka’, this year we will ask panellists to share reflections on their teaching across two themes: teaching international law in middle powers, and teaching international law on Indigenous land.
For more information, and to submit an expression of interest, click here.
24 April 2026
Call for abstracts - Julius Stone Institute for Jurisprudence The State: From the Top-Down and the Bottom-Up
Julius Stone Institute for Jurisprudence, University of Sydney
Deadline: 24 April 2026
In his 1998 book Seeing Like a State, James Scott offered a sustained critique of what he termed “authoritarian high modernism”; the belief that the state can be created and ordered from the top down through a legislative programme based on rational scientific planning and standardisation. Scott’s argument provoked a lively discussion about the competing virtues of central versus local solutions to problems of order and governance.
This conference aims to continue this debate, inviting papers that engage with the questions of whether the state and structures of governance are, or ought to be, top-down or bottom-up phenomena. The conference will take place on the 10th and 11th of December 2026 at the Sydney Law School.
Abstracts of 500 words, including title and institutional affiliation, are to be submitted by the 24th of April. Those who submit abstracts will be notified of the outcome by mid-May, and full papers will be due by November 13th, 2026.
For more information, contact Dr Michael Crawford, Director of the Julius Stone Institute (michael.j.crawford@sydney.edu.au). To submit an abstract, click here.
22 May 2026
Call for proposals - International Access to Justice Forum 2026
Victoria Law Foundation
Deadline: 22 May 2026
Victoria Law Foundation, in partnership with Monash University, Faculty of Law, invites proposals for the International Access to Justice Forum 2026 (Forum), to be held in Melbourne from 28 to 30 October 2026.
Theme: Evidence and Action
At a time of growing complexity and pressure on justice systems, the Forum focuses on the dynamic relationship between research and action. Distinguished by its empirical and outcomes-focused orientation, the Forum will examine what works, why it works, and how evidence can be translated into real-world impact across different legal and social contexts.
We invite proposals that contribute to improved access to justice by bridging evidence and action across four topics. Proposals do not need to fit neatly within a single topic area. Interdisciplinary, comparative, and practice based proposals are strongly encouraged. Submissions, both published and in development, are welcomed from across disciplines, sectors and jurisdictions.
The four topics are:
Empirical research for access to justice: evidence for what works
Justice systems and institutions
Justice in a Changing World
People-Centred Justice
For more information, and to submit a proposal, click here.
31 August 2026
Australian Academy of Law 2026 Annual Essay Prize
Australian Academy of Law
Deadline: 31 August 2026
The Australian Academy of Law invites you to submit an essay for its 2026 Annual Essay Prize.
The Prize is open to anyone, wherever resident, who is studying or has studied legal subjects at a tertiary level, or who is working or has worked in a law-based occupation. There is no limit by reference to the age or seniority or experience of, or position held by, a person who may submit an entry. Accordingly, law students, legal academics, legal practitioners and judicial officers are all eligible to submit an essay.
The amount of the Prize is $10,000.
The essay topic for the Prize in 2026 is as follows:
Section 51(xxxi) of the Commonwealth Constitution confers power on the Commonwealth Parliament to make laws with respect to the acquisition of property on just terms from any State or person for any purpose in respect of which the Parliament has power to make laws.
What is the relationship between s 51(xxxi) and:
(1) the other powers under s 51; and
(2) the rest of the Constitution?
Has the 2025 trilogy of cases, Commonwealth v Yunupingu [2025] HCA 6, G Global 120 TE Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue (Qld) [2025] HCA 39, Russian Federation v Commonwealth [2025] HCA 44, resolved that relationship?
Do you agree?
The length of the essay to be submitted is a maximum of 8,000 words (excluding the abstract).
For more information, click here.
Conferences and seminars
2 April 2026
Struggles and opportunities for Rohingya in post-coup Myanmar
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness and the Myanmar Research Network at the University of Melbourne
Date: 2 April 2026
Time: 5.00-6.30pm (AEST)
Location: Room 108, level 1, Law Building (106), University of Melbourne
It is well documented that Rohingya in Myanmar have faced significant human rights abuses and protracted displacement over recent decades whilst also having no rights to Myanmar citizenship. There has been scant research however, focused on the context for Rohingya since the 2021 coup. To help fill this gap, the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness and the Myanmar Research Network at the University of Melbourne, and the Myanmar Research Centre at the Australian National University, are pleased to present two new briefing notes which look both backwards and forwards in an effort to understand the struggles, current political dynamics, and possibilities for Rohingya, and their citizenship, in a future Myanmar.
A brief welcome by Radha Govil and Tamas Wells will be followed by introductory remarks from Rofiq Alam. Briefing paper authors Sophia Htwe and Matt Schissler will then introduce their respective work to the audience.
For more information, and to register, click here.
14 April 2026
Australian Perspectives on Executive Power
Australian Association of Constitutional Law
Date: 14 April 2026
Time: 1.00-2.00pm (AEST)
Location: Online
Please join the Australian Association of Constitutional Law for this free lunchtime webinar to celebrate the publication of Australian Perspectives on Executive Power (Federation Press, 2026) edited by Samuel White and Matthew Stubbs.
Hear from the authors of the three of chapters in this important new collection of essays. All are welcome.
Speakers:
Professor Matthew Stubbs (Adelaide University) will speak to his chapter on 'The Prerogative Powers of the Executive and Reserve Powers of the President in an Australian Republic'.
Dr Amanda Sapienza (NSW Bar) will speak to her chapter on 'Non Statutory Executive Action: Issues for Practitioners'.
A/Prof Ben Saunders (Deakin University) will speak to his chapter on 'A Contrarian Perspective on Non-Statutory Commonwealth Executive Power'.
Moderator: Professor Luke Beck, Monash University and Australian Association of Constitutional Law
For more information, and to register, click here.
16 April 2026
’Reds under the bed'—75 years since the Communist Party case
Supreme Court of Queensland;Selden Society—Australian Chapter
Date: 16 April 2026
Time: 5.15-6.45pm (AEST)
Location: Hybrid - Online and In-person at Banco Court, Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law, Level 3, 415 George Street, Brisbane
The Communist Party case is one of the High Court’s most important decisions. In a high-profile legal battle, the argument before the Court pitted a future Chief Justice of Australia, Garfield Barwick KC, against the then Leader of the Opposition, Bert Evatt KC, to determine the constitutionality of the Communist Party Dissolution Act 1950.
It reaffirmed that the Commonwealth cannot simply assert a threat to national security and legislate beyond constitutional limits. It placed constitutional principle above political fear and remains a cornerstone of Australian rule of law doctrine. The case shaped later jurisprudence on the defence power, emergency powers, and the separation of judicial and executive authority.
This lecture will be presented by the Hon Glenn Martin AMKC, former judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland (2007–2025) and Senior Judge Administrator (2022–25). The event will be chaired by the Hon Justice Thomas Bradley.
For more information, and to register, click here.
21 April 2026
2026 ST Lee Lecture - Judicial independence in modern society: The Malaysian experience
ANU College of Asia & the Pacific
Date: 21 April 2026
Time: 5.30-7.00pm (AEST)
Location: Auditorium, Australian Centre on China in the World, Building 188, ANU, Fellows Lane, Acton, ACT, 2601
Join us for the 2026 ST Lee Lecture by Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, Malaysia’s first female Chief Justice, as she shares her firsthand insights into the evolution of judicial independence in the country. Drawing on decades of experience in the judiciary, she will reflect on the challenges, milestones, and reforms that have shaped Malaysia’s legal landscape.
This is a rare opportunity to hear from a leading figure in Malaysian law on the crucial role of an independent judiciary in upholding democracy and safeguarding fundamental rights.
Reception: 5.30-6pm
Lecture: 6-7pm
For more information, and to register, click here.
22 April 2026
2026 George Winterton Memorial Lecture
The University of Sydney
Date: 22 April 2026
Time: 5.30-7.00pm (AEST) (registration from 5pm, cocktail reception to follow lecture)
Location: Banco Court, Supreme Court of NSW, Sydney
A legal order without a codified constitution: The New Zealand experiment
New Zealand is one of the few countries that does not have a codified constitution. Among those few countries with uncodified constitutions, it is the only one with a founding treaty and an ongoing tradition of customary law. The Chief Justice, the Rt Hon Dame Helen Winkelmann, will explore the history of New Zealand’s constitutional settlement—which, given its unique character, could be described as a constitutional experiment. She will discuss how it operates in the legal sphere, and the forces at work in its continuing evolution. Along the way she will note points of contrast with the Australian experience.
The lecture will be followed by a reception in Banco Court’s foyer where the Hon Andrew Bell AC, Chief Justice of New South Wales, will launch Sydney Public Law, a new centre for public law research at Sydney Law School.
For more information, and to register, click here.
23 April 2026
Women leaders in law
Centre for International and Public law,ANU
Date: 23 April 2026
Time: 5.30-7.00pm (AEST)
Location: Building 7, Law School, Room 7.4.1, Phillipa Weeks Staff Library
The Centre for International and Public law is proud to present this event exploring women’s leadership in law and the judiciary through the insights and lived experience of two distinguished speakers: the Hon Chief Justice Lucy McCallum and the Right Hon Tun Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat. Bringing together senior judges from Australia and Malaysia, the conversation offers a rare opportunity to hear cross-jurisdictional perspectives on leadership at the highest levels of the judiciary.
In conversation, they will share reflections on lived experience, leadership in practice, and the challenges and opportunities that have shaped their careers. The discussion will also look to the future, considering how the next generation of women leaders in law can build on the significant contributions of women who have shaped the profession and the judiciary over time.
The discussion will be chaired by Associate Professor Heather Roberts FAAL (ANU Law School).
For more information, and to register, click here.
24 April 2026
The future of public law
Sydney Law School
Date: 24 April 2026
Time: 11.00am-12.00pm (AEST)
Location: Level 2, Law Foyer 201, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney, Camperdown campus
The Future of Public Law: Chief Justice Gageler and Chief Justice Winkelmann in Conversation
The Hon Stephen Gageler AC, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, and the Rt Hon Dame Helen Winkelmann GNZM, Chief Justice of New Zealand, will be joined by Professor Lisa Burton Crawford to discuss their thoughts on the future and development of public law. The discussion will be followed by a moderated question and answer session.
For more information, and to register, click here.
29 April 2026
2026 Melbourne University Law Review Annual Lecture: Human rights and law reform
Melbourne Law School; Melbourne University Law Review
Date: 29 April 2026
Time: 5.30-7.00pm (AEST)
Location: Law G08, Law Building (106), Melbourne University
It is timely, in the context of current challenges faced by the rules-based international order, to reflect upon Australia’s international law obligations and the role those obligations play in the development of our domestic laws.
Do human rights continue to have a role? What is that role and how does it impact on law reform in Australia and, in particular, on the work of the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC)?
Federal Court Judge and current President of the ALRC, Justice Mordecai Bromberg, will reflect on those issues and on the challenges presented by international law, in discussing recent ALRC inquiries.
Please join Melbourne Law School (MLS) and Melbourne University Law Review (MULR) from 5:30 pm with welcome drinks and light refreshments provided in the ground floor foyer. The lecture will start at 6:00 pm sharp in Ground Floor Theatre G08.
For more information, and to register, click here.
30 April 2026
Indigenous Knowledge for an Inter-Nations Law: Indigenous Approaches as International Law
Asian Law Centre, Melbourne University
Date: 30 April 2026
Time: 1.00-2.00pm (AEST)
Location: Room 920, Law Building (106), 185 Pelham Street, Carlton
The presentation by Jonathan Liljeblad (Associate Professor at the Australian National University College of Law, Governance, and Policy) outlines an ongoing project promoting Indigenous perspectives of international law, with an edited volume scheduled for publication in 2027.
The project follows Indigenous Studies discourses that assert the existence of Indigenous ‘inter-nations’ legal orders which exist concurrent to the prevailing state-based international legal system. The presentation proposes an approach for understanding such legal orders, highlighting literature on Indigenous knowledge systems as offering a means for clarifying 1) Indigenous perspectives of ‘inter-nations’ law and 2) their implications for the current international legal system.
The presentation reviews the current status of the project, with a survey of publications that include the Australian Journal of Asian Law and the Proceedings of the American Society of International Law. The presentation finishes with a summary of the project’s wider call for a dedicated research agenda to advance Indigenous conceptions of international law.
For more information, and to register, click here.
1 May 2026
Getting to Yes — Can the Commonwealth learn anything from State referendum success?
Department of the Senate, Procedure & Research Section
Date: 1 May 2026
Time: 12.15-1.15pm (AEST)
Location: Main Committee Room, Parliament House
This lecture by Associate Professor Paul Kildea looks at the history of state constitutional referendums and asks why they enjoy a much higher success rate than Commonwealth referendums. Since 1901, 75 per cent of state referendums have succeeded, compared to 18 per cent of Commonwealth referendums. The lecture begins by recounting the state referendum experience, looking at the sorts of issues that have appeared on the ballot and the different factors that shaped their outcomes. It then explores different reasons for the disparity in the state and Commonwealth records, including issue selection, consensus seeking and federalism. The Iecture closes by asking if the state referendum experience holds any lessons for the Commonwealth as it seeks to break its almost 5O-year run of referendum failure.
For more information, and to register, click here.
6 May 2026
2026 Sir Kenneth Bailey Memorial Lecture: State obligations on climate change and human rights: where are we at and where do we go from here?
Melbourne Law School
Date: 6 May 2026
Time: 6.00-7.00pm (AEST)
Location: Law G08, Law Building (106), Melbourne University
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights will deliver this year’s lecture at a moment when State obligations on climate change and human rights have become clearer in their nature and content, due to the complementary advisory opinions of three diverse international tribunals.
Professor Elisa Morgera’s lecture will reflect on States’ customary and treaty-based obligations to protect the climate system as part of inter-connected life-supporting systems of the planet, beyond any artificial distinction based on siloed understandings of the environment and planetary health. The lecture will then explore the role of customary law and the international law principles of sustainable development, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, equity, intergenerational equity, and precaution, in complying with the stringent due diligence obligations to prevent significant harm to the climate system and to human rights.
The lecture will be chaired by Professor Margaret Young, ARC Future Fellow and Director of Melbourne Law School’s Institute for International Law and the Humanities (IILAH).
For more information, and to register, click here.
14 May 2026
The Functions of International Adjudication and International Environmental Litigation: ANZSIL Book Prize Seminar
Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL)
Date: 14 May 2026
Time: 7.00-8.00pm (AEST)
Location: Online
The ANZSIL History and Theory of International Law Interest Group is pleased to bring you this webinar on Dr Josh Paine's book, awarded an honourable mention in the 2025 ANZSIL Publication Prizes.
The Functions of International Adjudication and International Environmental Litigation uses environmental disputes as a focus to develop a novel comparative analysis of the functions of international adjudication. The book focuses on three challenges confronting international tribunals: managing change in applicable legal norms or relevant facts, determining the appropriate standard and method of review when scrutinising State conduct for compliance with international obligations, and contributing to wider processes of dispute settlement.
The book compares how tribunals manage these challenges across four key sites of international adjudication: adjudication in the World Trade Organization and under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, International Court of Justice litigation, and investment treaty arbitration. It shows that while international tribunals perform several key functions in the contemporary international legal order, they are subject to significant constraints. Ultimately, the book makes a genuine contribution to literature on the role of international adjudication in international law.
Speaker: Joshua (Josh) Paine, Associate Professor in International Law at the University of Bristol
Commentator: Chester Brown, Professor of International Law and International Arbitration at Sydney Law School
For more information, and to register, click here.
20 May 2026
Do Australians enjoy a “right” to protest in 2026?
Australian Institute of Administrative Law (AIAL) NSW Chapter
Date: 20 May 2026
Time: 5.00-6.30pm (AEST)
Location: Online
During and since the COVID-19 pandemic, the “right” of Australians to protest has been subject to significant law reform and litigation. Join us as HRLA brings together three experts to discuss the experience and ‘rights’ of Australians to protest in 2026, including an examination of the implied right to political communication under the Australian Constitution and the jurisdictions of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The webinar will also consider how human rights legislation in Queensland, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory is relevant including the legislated right to peaceful assembly.
Chair: Sean Costello
Speakers:
Emeritus Professor Simon Rice
Associate Professor Maria O’Sullivan
Felicity Nagorcka
Admission to the online seminar is free. Please register if you would like to attend. For more information, and to register, click here.
25 May 2026
After Robodebt – Lessons from Canada
Australian Institute of Administrative Law (AIAL) NSW Chapter
Date: 25 May 2026
Time: 5.00-6.30pm (AEST)
Location: TBC
Assistant Professor Jen Raso will speak about the Canadian experience of automation in the administrative state including the failures of AI regulation in Canada and the wide-spread use of automation and machine learning particularly in immigration decision-making. Emeritus Professor Terry Carney and Dr Alexandra Sinclair will act as discussants and tie Dr Raso’s observations to the Australian context and the lessons not learned in Australia post Robodebt.
Chair: The Hon Justice Rachel Pepper, Land and Environment Court of New South Wales
Speakers:
Dr Jennifer Raso, Assistant Professor at McGill University’s Faculty of Law
Emeritus Professor Terry Carney, University of Sydney Law School
Dr Alexandra Sinclair, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Sydney Law School
For more information, click here.
29 June - 1 July 2026
ICON•S 2026 Annual Conference - Reimagining Public Law for a Fractured World: Technology, Identity & Truth
International Society of Public Law (ICON•S)
Date: 29 June - 1 July 2026
Time: 5.00-6.30pm (AEST)
Location: UCD Law School, Dublin, Ireland
Our 2026 Annual Conference titled “Reimagining Public Law for a Fractured World: Technology, Identity & Truth” will take place on June 29-1 July, 2026, in Dublin, Ireland, hosted by the University College Dublin (UCD) Sutherland School of Law and jointly organized by the UCD Centre for Constitutional Studies.
There is a fee for this conference. For more information, and to register, click here.
15-17 July 2026
Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy Annual Conference 2026
Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy
Date: 15-17 July 2026
Location: University of Queensland, Brisbane
Our next annual conference will take place at the University of Queensland from Wednesday 15 July to Friday 17 July 2026. Keynotes will be delivered by Janet McLean (University of Auckland) and Irit Samet-Porat (Kings College London), with an introduction and comments from the Hon Justice James Edelman AC (High Court of Australia). The subject of the book symposium will be Money, Parties and Democracy by Matteo Bonotti (Monash University) and Zim Nwokora (Deakin University), with commentaries by Stewart Braun (Australian Catholic University), Lisa Hill (University of Adelaide) and Graeme Orr (University of Queensland).
For more information, click here.
16 July 2026
The Corporate State
University of Queensland
Date: 16 July 2026
Time: 5.15-7.45pm (AEST)
Location: TBC
Recent decades have seen a surge of interest in holistic models of corporate responsibility. These conceptualise how blame might fall upon an entity on its own account, distinct from the fault of its natural agents and employees.
The theory of ‘Systems Intentionality’ provides a principled and practical means to establish corporate ‘state of mind’ elements in common law, equitable and statutory rules and principles. What insights does a theory of ‘Systems Intentionality’ offer for public ‘juristic persons’, such as the Commonwealth of Australia and its associated agencies and entities.
Australia’s ‘Robodebt’ and the UK’s ‘Post Office Horizon’ scandals suggest this question is pressing.
Speaker: Professor Elise Bant, University of Western Australia
Commentator: The Hon Catherine Holmes AC
Chair: The Hon Chief Justice Helen Bowskill, Supreme Court of Queensland
For more information, and to register, click here.
30-31 July 2026
2026 AIAL National Conference – Administrative Law in a Time of Crisis
Australian Institute of Administrative Law
Date: 30-31 July 2026
Location: Hotel Realm, 18 National Circuit, Barton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
The AIAL National Administrative Law Conference is Australia’s pre-eminent administrative law conference, having been held each year since 1991 (except in 2020, due to COVID-19 restrictions). The 2026 Conference will be the 35th National Administrative Law Conference.
The aim of the Conference is to provide those involved or interested in Australian administrative law with the opportunity to discuss contemporary issues, share practical experiences and consider future developments. The 2026 Conference will be hosted by the National Executive Committee of the Institute.
The overarching theme for the 2026 AIAL National Administrative Law Conference is: Administrative Law in a Time of Crisis.
For more information, click here.
21-23 August 2026
The Samuel Griffith Society - 2026 Conference
Australian Institute of Administrative Law
Date: 30-31 July 2026
Location: Hilton Sydney
Registration is now open here. Further details about the conference are forthcoming.