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
23 March 2026
The Ian Callinan Prize in Australian Constitutional Law
TheSamuel Griffith Society
Deadline: 23 March 2026
The 2026 Ian Callinan Prize in Australian Constitutional Law Essay Competition is now open. The competition is open to:
all Australian residents aged 35 years and under, and
all students enrolled in an undergraduate degree course at an Australian university (regardless of age).
Topic: In what circumstances might or should the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia limit the ability of Australian governments to enact laws prohibiting the use of certain slogans on the basis that they "incite hatred". In your response, you may wish to discuss the "freedom of political communication" said to be implied by sections 7 and 24 of the Constitution.
Essays must not exceed 1,500 words. All entries must be emailed to Charlotte at contact@samuelgriffith.org.au by Monday 23 March 2026 by 5.00pm.
For more information, click here.
27 March 2026
Call for abstracts - Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy Annual Conference
Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy
Deadline: 27 March 2026
The Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy’s next annual conference will take place at the University of Queensland from Wednesday 15 July to Friday 17 July 2026.
We welcome abstract submissions on any topic in legal theory, broadly conceived. Philosophical or theoretically oriented papers from any field of legal inquiry are welcomed. Papers will be presented in parallel sessions of 3-4 papers per session.
Please submit a title and abstract of no more than 1500 characters (including spaces) for your paper along with your name, title and institutional affiliation.
For more information, click here.
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.
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.
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 March 2026
Trump 2.0: a one year international law report card
ANU Law School
Date: 2 March 2026
Time: 5.30-7.00pm (AEDT)
Location: Moot Court, ANU Law School
The second Trump Administration has had a profound impact on the international legal system including its withdrawal from international institutions, use of military force, the war in Gaza and subsequent peace plan, and territorial threats in Latin America and Greenland. This seminar will assess the first year of Trump 2.0 from multiple international law perspectives.
Speakers:
For more information, and to register, click here.
4 March 2026
Truth, Trust & Technology: Implications of AI for Law 2026 Summit
Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession, UNSW
Date: 4 March 2026
Time: 8.30am-5.00pm (AEDT)
Location: The Mint, 10 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
The one-day summit will provide a unique forum to examine not only the legal innovations in artificial intelligence but will also raise complex discussions on the truth and accuracy in legal practice, and the potential new risks to the trust between lawyer-client relationships. From practical applications to big-picture questions on the future of law, participants will gain valuable insights into how AI is influencing the practice of law today – and how it may transform the profession in years ahead.
Panel topics include:
GenAI in Litigation - the State of Play
The Law Firm Cybersecurity Defence Playbook: Preventing and Responding to the Modern Threat
AI, Legal Ethics & the Digital Frontier
AI and Business Ramifications for the Legal Sector
Scaling and Sustaining A2J with technology
Speakers include:
Her Honour, Judge Judith Gibson, Judge of the District Court of NSW 2001-2025 - Keynote address
Professor George Shinkle, Professor in the School of Management and Governance, UNSW - Chair: AI and Business Ramifications for the Legal Sector
Noel Lim, CEO of Anika Legal - Speaker: Access to Justice
There is a fee for this event. For more information, and to register, click here.
4 March 2026
The British Constitution, capitalism and constitutional change
ANU Law School
Date: 4 March 2026
Time: 1.00-2.00pm (AEDT)
Location: Room 7.4.1, Phillipa Weeks Library, Building 7, ANU Law School
This talk is from Associate Professor Tanzil Chowdhury's current book project that examines the transformation of the British Constitution over the last century. His argument is that we cannot understand significant changes to the British constitution without understanding the broader historical developments in capitalist social relations and the significant social antagonisms that have occurred throughout the last 100 or so years. Capitalism is a totality of different social relations and processes oriented around the value form; different social relations (economic, but also political, legal, cultural, moral etc) which are all important to the reproduction of that social totality.
Constitutionalism, as he will argue, operates at different levels within the contradictory totality of capitalist social relations. Changes to the British constitution are the results of specific forms of struggle over the reproduction of capitalist social relations.
Registration for this event is not required. For more information, click here.
5 March 2026
Civil war in the U.S. courts: how states are weaponising private enforcement to wage policy battles
ANU Law School
Date: 5 March 2026
Time: 1.00-2.00pm (AEDT)
Location: Phillipa Weeks Library, Level 4, Building 7, ANU Law School
U.S states are increasingly empowering private citizens to enforce state policy. States opposed to those policies are, in turn, adopting laws to obstruct private enforcement. In 2021, for example, Texas enacted S.B. 8, authorising “any person” to enforce stringent abortion limitations and guaranteeing bounties for victorious plaintiffs. Authorising bounties for those with no personal damages marks these statutes apart from traditional citizen suits and other means of private enforcement, such as class actions.
Similar statutes permit any person to enforce laws against online child pornography and immigration vigilantes; bills have been introduced that would permit private enforcement of climate change, diversity, and drug control policies.
These laws raise significant issues under the U.S. Constitution. These laws may also violate state constitutions, interstate compacts, and uniform laws, and states may even sue each other in the U.S. Supreme Court over these laws. Professor Heather Elliott (John J. Sparkman Chair of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law) will give an overview of the current state-versus-state landscape and discuss the constitutional and political implications of this civil-war-through-litigation.
Registration for this event is not required. For more information, click here.
10 March 2026
2026 Allen Hope Southey Memorial Lecture: Legal education for the twenty-first century
Melbourne Law School
Date: 10 March 2026
Time: 6.30-7.30pm (AEDT)
Location: Law G08, Law Building (106), Melbourne Law School
A quarter into the twenty-first century, legal education faces a series of questions and challenges. They arise from − inter alia − political developments, technological advances, and an increasing perception of uncertainty about the future. The lecture will address three of the most significant challenges and reflect on how best to meet them.
Firstly, it will consider the extent to which universities should try to instill key democratic values in students, so as to prepare them for bearing professional responsibility towards the legal systems and the societies they serve, and to increase resilience. Secondly, it will ask how legal education ought to respond to the ubiquity and fast-paced evolution of AI. Thirdly, it will show that domestic law is best taught and understood in a wider context.
Presenter: Birke Häcker, Schlegel Professor of Civil Law, Common Law and Comparative Law at the University of Bonn and Director of the Institute of International and Comparative Private Law
For more information, and to register, click here.
11 March 2026
Climate Protection as a Driver for the Development of New Legal Concepts
Institute for International Law and the Humanities; Melbourne Centre for Law and the Environment
Date: 11 March 2026
Time: 1.00-2.00pm (AEDT)
Location: Room 831, Level 8, Melbourne Law School
Please join the Institute for International Law and the Humanities and the Melbourne Centre for Law and the Environment for a lunchtime seminar presented by Professor Angela Schwerdtfeger (Free University Berlin) and chaired by Professor Margaret Young.
Climate change presents unique factual and legal challenges. Although insights from environmental law are often used to resolve legal issues around climate change, this approach has its limitations. The German Federal Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights have therefore developed new legal concepts to address the challenge of enforcing necessary climate protection measures against states: the intertemporal protection of fundamental rights and altruistic human rights complaints. In this talk, Angela Schwerdtfeger will introduce and compare these concepts, exploring whether they are limited to climate protection or could be applied to other areas of law.
For more information, and to register, click here.
12 March 2026
AI, Law and Access to Justice
TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland
Date: 12 March 2026
Time: 10.00am-12.00pm (AEST)
Location: Terrace Room, Level 6, Sir Llew Edwards Building (Building 14), The University of Queensland
This event opens with a keynote from Justice the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG on AI and the law, exploring how automation challenges legal decision-making, access to justice and the protection of fundamental human rights. His Honour's address will also touch on how legal progress often emerges not from consensus, but from careful dissent, principled disagreement and the steady accumulation of minority reasoning that later reshapes the law.
The keynote will be followed by a panel discussion with Australian Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay and Dr Kim Weinert from the law school examining how these questions now arise in the area of human rights, charities and other institutions exercising legal power in contexts of vulnerability.
This discussion will be chaired by Brydon Wang, Adjunct Associate Professor at the Centre for Policy Futures, and will also mark the launch of the White Paper AI and Australian Charities.
Seating is limted, so reserve your seat now! For more information, and to register, click here.
12 March 2026
The Emotions of LGBT Rights and Reforms: Repairing Law
Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, Monash University
Date: 12 March 2026
Time: 5.30-6.45pm (AEDT) (registration from 5pm)
Location: Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Associate Professor Senthorun Raj will reflect on his new monograph, The Emotions of LGBT Rights and Reforms: Repairing Law (Edinburgh University Press, 2025). He will reflect on how the book engages with contemporary law reform debates about LGBT rights, including religious exceptions to anti-discrimination laws, legal gender recognition, and sex and LGBT education in schools in counties like Australia, the United Kingdom, and United States.
The Emotions of LGBT Rights and Reforms: Repairing Law analyses emotions that shape conflicts of rights that emerge between different groups across law reforms aimed at better supporting LGBT people. Drawing from critical legal theories, this book cultivates the concept of “emotional grammar” to show how emotions structure law reform pursuits. By doing so, it explains why addressing this emotional grammar is important for scholars, lawyers, judges, legislators, and activists seeking to navigate conflicts over LGBT rights and reforms that aim to repair the inequalities faced by LGBT people.
For more information, and to register, click here.
12 March 2026
Australia, International Law and Armed Conflict: What are our obligations?
University of Newcastle
Date: 12 March 2026
Time: 6.00-8.30pm (AEDT)
Location: Newcastle Conservatorium of Music - Cnr Laman and Auckland Streets, Newcastle, 2300
Parliamentarians are making decisions today that will define Australia’s compliance with international law in years ahead. From sanctions and arms exports to humanitarian aid and recognition of states, choices made now carry real legal and political consequences.
Join us in person for a discussion on Australia's role and responsibilities under international law during armed conflicts and environmental crisis.
Speakers:
Adjunct Professor Chris Sidoti, leading human rights advocate and legal expert who served as Australian Human Rights Commissioner (1995-2000), Australian Law Reform Commissioner (1992-1995) and was the founding Director of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
Professor Emily Crawford, internationally recognised expert in international law at Sydney Law School, specialising in international humanitarian and criminal law
For more information, and to register, click here.
18 March 2026
2026 Macrossan Lecture: Is Australian legal education still serving the needs of the profession?
TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland; UQ Law Alumni Association
Date: 18 March 2026
Time: 5.30-8.00pm (AEST)
Location: The Banco Court Banco Court, Supreme and District Courts Brisbane, 415 George Street
The TC Beirne School of Law at The University of Queensland and the UQ Law Alumni Association (UQLA) are proud to host The Macrossan Lecture with guest speaker, The Hon Justice Sarah Derrington AM.
Dress code: Business attire.
Light refreshments will be served after the lecture.
For more information, and to register, click here.
23 March 2026
Public Law and Protest in Australia
Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, in collaboration with AIAL (NSW Chapter)
Date: 23 March 2026
Time: 12.30-1.30pm (AEDT)
Location: Online
The NSW and Victorian parliaments have recently enacted laws which further restrict the right of Australians to protest. These laws have been challenged in the courts on constitutional, administrative and human rights grounds, and have also been subject to political and popular debate. This seminar will consider the scope of Australia’s protest laws and their public law, democratic and practical implications on the right to protest in Australia, from academic, practitioner and activist perspectives.
Chair: Daniel Joyce, Associate Professor at UNSW Law & Justice and the Director of the Free Speech, Social Media and Online Speech Project in the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law
Speakers:
Padraic Gibson, Associate Professor of History at the Jumbunna Institute, University of Technology Sydney
Felicity Graham, barrister at Black Chambers with over 15 years experience as a lawyer focusing on criminal law and other public law matters
Samantha Lee, supervising solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre, where she leads the police accountability and administrative law practice
Maria O’Sullivan, Associate Professor at Deakin Law School with expertise in human rights and public law
For more information, and to register, click here.
24 March 2026
Can the Senate initiate a constitutional referendum?
Australasian Study of Parliament Group (ACT Chapter)
Date: 24 March 2026
Time: 12.30-1.30pm (AEDT)
Location: Main Committee Room, Parliament House and livestreamed via AUSParliamentLive
In 1914, when the Senate sought to initiate a constitutional referendum unilaterally, the Governor-General, having received ministerial advice, declined to put the referendum to the people. Since then, it has been assumed that the Senate cannot initiate a constitutional referendum, because the Governor-General would be bound by ministerial advice to refuse it. But new evidence about the 1914 precedent suggests that this is not the case. This talk will discuss what really happened in 1914, and its relevance today.
Presenter: Professor Emerita Anne Twomey AO
This is a free event open to the public. If you wish to attend in person, please register here to participate.
A recording will be made available at: aph.gov.au/librarylectures.
24 March 2026
Administrative Law Issues and the Personal Injury Commission
Australian Institute of Administrative Law NSW Chapter; Personal Injury Commission
Date: 24 March 2026
Time: 5.00-6.30pm (AEDT)
Location: Hybrid - Online and In-person at Personal Injury Commission, Level 8, 1 Oxford St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
The Australian Institute of Administrative Law NSW Chapter with the Personal Injury Commission present this seminar.
Speakers:
Jnana Gumbert, Jack Shand Chambers: Judicial review of PIC decisions – recent cases
Andrew Stone SC, Sir Anthony Mason Chambers – the role of medical assessors
Chair: The Hon Acting Justice John Griffiths, New South Wales Court of Appeal
There will be an opportunity for questions after each of the presentations.
Please note in person capacity is limited, once capacity is reached only online bookings will be accepted. For more information, and to register, click here.
24 March 2026
Michael Coper Roundtable - The Australian Integrity Oversight System: A Functional or Fancy Notion?
Australian Academy of Law
Date: 24 March 2026
Time: 5.00-7.00pm (AEDT)
Location: High Court of Australia, Parkes Place, Parkes, ACT, 2600
All AAL Fellows who are in Canberra on 24 March 2026 are invited to this Michael Coper Roundtable event. This is a Fellows-only, in-person event.
There are now a great many independent statutory agencies that share an integrity and accountability oversight role in government. They are sometimes spoken of as an integrity system - even a fourth branch of government. Is that a useful concept? What oversight agencies belong to the integrity system? What are the benefits or drawbacks of conceiving of an integrity oversight system in government?
This event will be chaired by Ian Govey AM. The presenter will be Professor John McMillan AO.
Registration is essential and will close at 9.00am on Friday 20 March 2026. For more information, and to register, click here.
26 March 2026
Royal Commissions - from William the Conqueror to Sir Humphrey Appleby
University of Queensland
Date: 26 March 2026
Time: 5.15-6.45pm (AEST)
Location: Online
In the 21st century alone, the Commonwealth has established 14 Royal Commissions, with many more having been established by State and Territory governments throughout the federation.
Despite the collective national commitment to this form of inquiry, there is comparatively little of the historical, legal, and policy features that bear on a decision to call a Royal Commission. What powers does a Royal Commission have? Does the Royal Commission of today look the same as it did during the reign of the Tudor and Stuart monarchs? Does it matter whether it is called by a State or Commonwealth Government? Do all Royal Commissions seek to achieve the same thing? Is there any rhyme or reason to when a Royal Commission is called?
These questions, and more, will be answered in Kathryn McMillan KC’s lecture.
Speaker: Kathryn McMillan KC
Commentators:
The Hon Margaret White AO, Supreme Court of Queensland
Professor Graeme Orr, University of Queensland
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: Level 3, Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law, 415 George Street, Brisbane
This lecture will be presented by The Hon Glenn Martin AM. Details will be made available for the lecture closer to the date.
For more information, 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
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: 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.
1-3 July 2026
33rd ANZSIL Annual Conference | Navigating Stormy Seas: People, Place and Perspectives in International Law
Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL); New Zealand Centre for Public Law
Date: 1-3 July 2026
Location: Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka
A stormy sea can be navigated
By adopting this whakataukī (proverb) to develop the theme of the conference, the Organising Committee is aiming to capture the zeitgeist of today’s international legal order, while drawing on a metaphor that is particularly apt for our gathering together on the shores of Moana Oceania.
We hope that this conference can provide the opportunity to imagine new worlds. In doing so, we ask if there is still a place for reform of the old system? Of the old ways of doing things? If we do embark on imagining new worlds, then what might the contours of new horizons look like? If we persist with the familiar, how might renewal or reform emerge? If we fail to adapt, then what lies ahead?
There is a fee for this conference. For more information, 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
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.