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, calls for papers and scholarships

15 March 2025

Call for Papers: New Sustainability Challenges - The Role of Courts
DIPEC Research Group, University of Siena
CfP closes: 15 March 2025

In the 21st century, sustainability is becoming a key constitutional concept, being increasingly entrenched in national constitutions, mainly in the area of environmental protection. Nevertheless, the implementation of such provisions is rather problematic, due to the short-term perspective of political decision-making. In most cases, the burden to enforce sustainability clauses falls on courts, as shown by the growing trend in climate litigation.

The call for papers is especially aimed at addressing cases related to climate change, future generations, and rights of nature at both international and national levels. Questions to be addressed may include (but are not limited to):

  • models of constitutional justice and sustainability litigation;

  • regional systems of human rights and sustainability;

  • the issue of standing in sustainability litigation;

  • the role of amici curiae in sustainability litigation;

  • the role of experts, agencies and independent authorities;

  • the reasoning behind courts’ judgments (use of arguments in conventional or constitutional interpretation);

  • strategic litigation;

  • the execution of the judgments: the role of the legislator and the administration;

  • solutions to address legislative omissions;

  • the role of civil society.

The conveners encourage submissions from both PhD candidates and junior scholars (postdoctoral researchers, research fellows, assistant professors, etc.) at the early stages of their academic careers (within 7 years of completing their PhD).

Interested scholars are invited to submit a CV and an abstract, in English or French, of no more than 500 words by March 15, 2025.

For more information, click here.

24 March 2025

2025 Sir Samuel Griffith Prize in Australian Constitutional Law Essay Competition
Samuel Griffith Society
Entries close: 24 March 2025, 5.00pm (AEDT)

This essay competition offers students and young lawyers an exceptional opportunity to delve deeper into Australian constitutional law while developing their writing skills, exploring new ideas, and engaging with a topic that may not have been covered in their curriculum.

The winner of this year’s essay competition will be presented at the Society’s 2025 Conference in Perth. First prize also includes paid flights, accommodation and admission to the conference, as well as a $500 cash prize. Shortlisted runners-up will also be recognised at the conference, and all eligible entrants will automatically be considered for scholarships to attend.

This year, the Society invites prospective entrants to submit an essay of no more than 1,500 words (excluding citations) responding to one of the following questions:

  1. “Should the Constitution be amended to define the scope of and limitations upon the Governor-General’s reserve powers?”

  2. “In what circumstances should the Chief Justice of Australia provide advice to the Executive Government in relation to questions of constitutional interpretation?”

In your answer, please refer to the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam Government.

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).

Submissions are due by email to contact@samuelgriffith.org.au no later than 5:00 pm (AEDT) on Monday 24 March 2025.

For more information, click here.

28 March 2025

Australian Academy of Law – First Nations Scholarship 2025
Australian Academy of Law
Applications close: 28 March 2025, 5.00pm (AEDT)

The Australian Academy of Law offers the Australian Academy of Law First Nations Scholarship tenable in 2025 for a First Nations final year law student studying for the LLB or JD or combined Law degree at any Australian law school, or the Diploma in Law through the NSW Law Extension Committee (LEC).

The amount of the award is $6000 for one year only. The successful applicant may, additionally, have the opportunity of being mentored for up to a year by an AAL Fellow.

The winner will be announced by the end of April 2025. The award cannot be deferred to a later year.

Applications are through nominations by the respective Law Deans to the AAL Secretariat by the closing date of 28 March 2025 at 5pm (AEDT). Each Law Dean may nominate one Final Year First Nations law student.

Interested applicants should contact their respective Law Deans to seek to be nominated. They must provide their academic transcripts, CVs, Personal Statements of no more than 500 words and a list of their existing sources of financial sponsorship (if any).

For more information, click here.

30 March 2025

Call for Papers: 2025 Malcolm Fraser symposium
University of Melbourne
CfP closes: 30 March 2025

The University of Melbourne (Archives and Special Collections) and Trinity College are delighted to invite scholars, researchers, politicians and members of the public to submit original proposals for participation in a Symposium being held to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Fraser Government.

The Symposium will be held at Trinity College, starting with the Fraser Oration on Thursday 11 December, and with the body of the event on 12th and 13th of December.

Prospective contributors are encouraged to use the collections of the University of Melbourne in their research and will be supported in doing so. In particular, we draw attention to the Malcolm Fraser collection.

We welcome submissions on a wide range of topics, as well as suggestions for sessions, but in particular we plan sessions on the following:

  • financial reform

  • constitutional reform

  • human rights and administrative reform

  • Aboriginal affairs

  • public service reform

  • economic policy

  • defence policy

  • foreign policy

  • The New Federalism and national identity

We will conclude with a debate on the topic of “What is Liberalism?”

The deadline for submissions is 30 March 2024.

Submissions comprising a 200 word abstract and a CV of no more than one page, should be sent as two separate Word documents attached to an email to: kais@trinity.unimelb.edu.au. Please use the subject line “Malcolm Fraser Symposium Submission”.

For more information, click here.

31 March 2025

Call for Papers: Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy Conference and PhD Workshop
Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy
CfP closes: 31 March 2025

The 2025 ASLP conference will take place at the University of Melbourne on Thursday 17 July 2025 and Friday 18 July 2025 (with an informal workshop for PhD candidates on Wednesday 16 July 2025).

The aim of the ASLP Conference is to provide a forum for the discussion and debate of a range of issues in legal theory, broadly defined. It is by no means restricted to analytic legal philosophy, and the involvement of participants from other disciplines is strongly encouraged. Philosophical or theoretically oriented papers from any field of legal inquiry are welcomed.

Abstracts (of no more than 250 words) for both the ASLP Conference and the PhD workshop should be emailed to Dale Smith by Monday 31 March 2025. Please indicate clearly whether you wish to present your paper at the conference or the workshop.

For more information, click here.

1 June 2025

Call for Entries: 2025 Law and Religion Essay Competition
The University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice
Entries close: 1 June 2025, midnight AEST

Students currently enrolled in an LLB or JD university law program in Australia are invited to enter the 2025 Law and Religion Essay Competition.

The University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice invites submissions for the 2025 Law and Religion Essay Competition. All entries will be evaluated by a panel comprising two UniSQ academics and one external expert using standardised assessment criteria.

Prize information:

Entries must be submitted by 1 June 2025.

For more information, click here.

30 June 2025

Call for Submissions: Fencott v Muller Prize
The University of Western Australia
Submissions close: 30 June 2025

Just over 40 years have passed since the landmark, finely balanced decision in Fencott v Muller [1983] HCA 12. Not only did the decision relate to a Western Australian business, but it featured a number of notable UWA alumni as counsel on both sides, including Hon Robert French AC. The decision continues to reverberate to this day.

To celebrate the decision and the activities of UWA alumni in helping shape the law, the UWA Law Review is pleased to announce a $1,000 prize, kindly provided by the Hon Robert French AC, for the best article submitted to the Review on any topic related to federal jurisdiction, the corporations power or trade practices law.  

Eligible articles must be submitted for publication in the Review by the end of June 2025, and the winning article will feature in a special supplement to the Review. Students, recent graduates, and practitioners are all welcome and encouraged to apply.

For more information, and to make a submission, click here.

31 August 2025

The Australian Academy of Law Annual Essay Prize 2025
 Australian Academy of Law
Entries close: 31 August 2025

The Australian Academy of Law is pleased to announce the offering of its Annual Essay Prize for 2025.

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, judicial officers, legal practitioners, legal academics and law students are all eligible to submit an essay.

The amount of the Prize is $10,000.

The essay topic for the Prize in 2025 is as follows:

Where has Bird v DP [2024] HCA 41 (‘Bird’) left the law of vicarious liability in Australia?  How does it differ from the law in other common law jurisdictions?  Should there be a legislative response to Bird and, if so, what should be its scope? 

The length of the essay to be submitted is a maximum of 8,000 words (excluding the abstract).

For more information, and to submit an entry, click here.

Conferences and seminars

14 February - 15 March 2025

Nucleus
Griffin Theatre Company
Dates: 14 February - 15 March 2025  
Location: Seymour Centre, Cnr City Rd and Cleveland St, Chippendale NSW 2008

Nucleus is the latest work from one of Australia’s most celebrated playwrights, the multi-award-winning Alana Valentine. In Nucleus, Valentine examines the line between personal ambition and global responsibility in the heightened world of environmental activism. Inspired by five years of research including interviews with locals in Valentine’s home of Jervis Bay, Nucleus is a tender and surprising work of fiction, set against the enflamed background of one of Australia’s most divisive environmental issues, nuclear power.

Nucleus welcomes some of Australia’s theatre greats back to Griffin—one of our most celebrated and awarded playwrights Alana Valentine (Ladies Day) and the great Paula Arundell (The Bleeding Tree) and Peter Kowitz (The Floating World). Directed by Griffin’s very own Associate Artistic Director Andrea James (swim, Jailbaby), Nucleus tears through long-drawn battle lines to reveal what’s at our core. 

For more information, and to buy tickets, click here.

4 March 2025

Digital Sovereignty: Storm Clouds are Gathering
Monash University
Date: 4 March 2025  
Time: 5.30-7.00pm (AEDT) 
Location: Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Concerns about reliance by states, businesses, and individuals on a handful of large US tech companies are longstanding. However, recent geopolitical and technological developments, including disruptions to global supply chains and rapid developments in AI, have made this an increasingly hot topic. Even the US, which is home to the world’s three largest hyperscale cloud providers, is now seeking to impose restrictions on specific IT actors that are considered to pose a strategic threat. In this seminar, Professor Christopher Millard will unpack the concept of digital sovereignty, and will examine various European attempts to ‘take back control’.

This event will be chaired by Professor Chris Marsden of Monash Law School Digital Law Group

For more information, click here.

4 March 2025

Climate change and the “KlimaSeniorinnen” before the European Court of Human Rights
School of Law, University of Tasmania
Date: 4 March 2025  
Time: 5.30pm (AEDT) 
Location: Faculty of Law, University of Tasmania, Grosvenor Cres, Sandy Bay

In spring 2024, the European Court of Human Rights had to decide for the first time on a number of actions relating to climate change. One of these case was brought by very young people and one by an association of old women. Reading about these applicants, Australians will think of their own famous case of Sharma by her litigation representative Sister Marie Brigid Arthur v Minister for the Environment of 2021, where an old woman helped young people to go to court in a climate change case (although subsequently overturned).

Before the European Court of Human Rights, only the case brought by the Association of old women succeeded. The Court held that the Signatory States of the European Convention of Human Rights have positive obligations in the context of the prevention of greenhouse gas emissions. It also held that Switzerland had breached this obligation. In the European context, the judgment is historic and unprecedented. The developments around it, both before the judgment was handed down and thereafter, make this case a legal as well as a political thriller.

Speaker: Christa Tobler, Professor of European Law, Universities of Basel and Leiden

Please RSVP for venue space purposes by Friday 28 February 2025 to Law.Events@utas.edu.au.

For more information, click here.

6 March 2025

JSI Seminar: Democracy’s People
Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence, University of Sydney Law School
Date: 6 March 2025  
Time: 6.00-7.30pm (AEDT) 
Location: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus, New Law Building

In the Voice Referendum, one major reason for voting No was the conviction among some Australians that the Australian people ought to be seen as single and undivided; for these Australians, the recognition of divisions within the polity would be inconsistent with the equal, democratically-grounded citizenship of all Australians.

In this seminar Jeremy Webber (Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Victoria (Canada) and Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne) explores the relationship between democracy and how one defines “the people”. He advances an approach which recognizes (in response to the culturalists) that there are often multiple potential definitions of the people, that “the people” is not purely pre-political, and that the value of democratic self-government can help us to weigh those potential definitions; and (in response to the institutionalists), that democratic self-government is inevitably shaped by cultural factors, and thus, for reasons internal to democratic theory, the structure of democratic institutions can legitimately include certain adaptations to those factors.

For more information, and to register, click here.

13 March 2025

Government lawyers and the rule of law: Reflections on the torture memos and the Robodebt Royal Commission
 Australian Institute of Administrative Law, WA Chapter
Date: 13 March 2025  
Time: 1.00-2.00pm (AWDT) 
Location: Online and In-person at Avon & Swan Conference Rooms, Level 21 Exchange Tower, 2 The Esplanade, Perth

The seminar will be presented by Adam Sharp (Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers). Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, and to register, click here.

14 March 2025

JSI Seminar: Polyvocal constitutionalism
Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence, University of Sydney Law School
Date: 14 March 2025  
Time: 1.00-2.00pm (AEDT) 
Location: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus, New Law Building

Constitutional theory increasingly recognizes that constitutional norms are shaped and implemented by a broad range of actors – at different levels of government, across different institutions, and from the “top down” and “bottom up”. Polyvocal constitutionalism of this kind also has a range of advantages: it has potential epistemic benefits, can enhance the political and sociological legitimacy of the process of constitutional construction, and increase support for core democratic norms.

At the same time, there is clear scope for debate about how constitutionalism should work in a polyvocal world: should poly-vocalism, for example, be premised on ongoing constitutional contestation or a preference for the resolution of constitutional controversies? And within this spectrum, what values or ethos should guide courts as they engage with other actors: for example, deference, collaboration or democratic responsiveness? Rosalind Dixon (Scientia Professor and Director of the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law Sydney) explores these questions, and offers a partial defence of responsiveness as the most desirable model of polyvocal constitutionalism, in a world of rich choice.

For more information, and to register, click here.

19 March 2025

Information Integrity, Transparency and Accountability
InfoGovANZ
Date: 19 March 2025  
Time: 12.00-1.00pm (AEDT) 
Location: Online

Join us for a conversation with the Australian Information Commissioner – Elizabeth Tydd and the Director-General of the National Archives of Australia – Simon Froude to discuss the critical importance of ensuring information integrity and accessibility in government.  Our special guests will discuss their collaborative efforts to promote proactive information management and foster transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement.

Key topics will include:

  • The evolving role of information in democracy;

  • The importance of a proactive approach to the management of government information;

  • Strategies for improving information access while maintaining information integrity; and

  • Maintaining openness, transparency, accountability and integrity in the age of AI.

There is a fee for this event. For more information, and to register, click here.

27 March 2025

Courting danger: Threats to judicial independence, authority and the administration of justice in Australia
Melbourne Law School
Date: 27 March 2025  
Time: 6.00-7.00pm (AEDT) 
Location: Law G08, Law Building (106), University of Melbourne

2025 Seabrook Chambers Public Lecture

Australians rely on, and trust in, the impartiality and independence of our judiciary system. But we should not take this for granted.

Across the world, new threats to judicial independence are emerging. Ever-evolving technology, social media, fake news, artificial intelligence and resurgent political populism are posing new challenges.

Public confidence in Australia’s judiciary is high but this confidence needs protecting. Our faith in the courts and judicial system remain essential for the administration of justice and the rule of law. Australia is not immune to judicial controversies weakening public trust across our other democratic societies.

In this lecture, the Hon Justice Lincoln Crowley of the Supreme Court of Queensland will break down the challenges facing judiciary independence and the administration of justice in Australia, and what can be done to counter these threats.

For more information, and to register, click here.

3 April 2025

JSI Seminar: On the nature of legal reasoning: Rules, knowledge and concepts
Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence, University of Sydney Law School
Date: 3 April 2025  
Time: 1.00-2.00pm (AEDT) 
Location: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus, New Law Building

This seminar is part of a larger work on legal reasoning. The seminar focuses on three aspects of our reasoning capabilities, to provide a sense of the intellectual territory we inhabit when we engage in legal reasoning. The seminar presents a broadly Wittgensteinian approach to rules and rule-following and the nature of knowledge, in particular the distinction between ‘knowing how’ and ‘knowing that’ and the relationship between the two. Lastly, it considers the ‘concept’ of concepts and of legal concepts in particular, and the vexed question of whether ‘conceptual analysis’ has any role to play in legal reasoning.

Speaker: James Penner, Kwa Geok Choo Professor of Property Law, University of Singapore

For more information, and to register, click here.

9 April 2025

ACJI Annual Lecture: Access to Justice in a Digital World
Australian Centre for Justice Innovation (ACJI)
Date: 9 April 2025  
Time: 5.00-6.30pm (AEST) 
Location: Monash Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

In this talk Professor Naomi Creutzfeldt will examine the concept of ‘digital justice journeys’ and identify common barriers to participation in legal processes. She argues that we need to find new ways to theoretically understand the digital dimension to access as well as collecting empirical evidence to build theory in this area.

This discussion begins by bringing together theories of access to justice, participation and digital legal consciousness. Access to justice explores the challenges individuals face in navigating legal systems and accessing the resources needed to resolve disputes. Within this, the role of participation is discussed in ensuring justice, including how individuals' engagement with digital processes shapes their digital legal consciousness and experiences of the justice system.

To tease out further the interplay of the digital and legal dimension, Professor Naomi Creutzfeldt will draw insights from social psychology, addressing the dynamics of insider and outsider perspectives within legal systems and their influence on individuals’ ability to participate effectively are included in the theoretical framework.

Finally, she asks: what makes a digital system legitimate in the eyes of its users?.

For more information, and to register, click here.

9 April 2025

Climate protest, political dissent and the criminal law: The rise and fall (and rise again) of conspiracy
Melbourne Law School
Date: 9 April 2025  
Time: 6.00-7.00pm (AEST) 
Location: Woodward Conference Centre, Law Building (106), University of Melbourne

2025 Peter Brett Memorial Lecture

A notable feature in the prosecutions of climate protesters across many common law jurisdictions is use of charges of conspiracy. These charges are used in conjunction with other offences, such as public nuisance or blocking critical infrastructure, and expose those convicted to severe penalties.

In this lecture, Professor Lindsay Farmer will raise questions about the contemporary use of conspiracy law. First, he will look at the history of conspiracy, as English laws were routinely deployed to outlaw political dissent across the British empire. As the empire broke up, conspiracy laws survived almost untouched into the penal codes of the post-colonies, including Australia, to be used against new generations of radicals and dissenters. Second, Professor Farmer will look at how conspiracy law is being used now to see how this alternative genealogy can help us to understand contemporary developments. Finally, we will return to the use of conspiracy law against climate protestors to ask how we should respond to the deployment of conspiracy laws in legal or political terms.

Please join us after the lecture for canapes and refreshments from 7pm - 8pm.

For more information, and to register, click here.

9 April 2025

Julius Stone Address: Legal practice and the responsibility of individuals
Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence, University of Sydney Law School
Date: 9 April 2025  
Time: 6.00-7.30pm (AEST) 
Location: Law Foyer, Level 2, New Law Building (F10), University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus

Some legal practices, such as the private law of obligations and property, are justified by the good that general compliance with their rules bring about. It cannot be said, however, that each particular act of compliance by individuals itself contributes to that good outcome. And yet there is clearly an ethical tie between individuals and the rules of the practices. Leaving aside cases where the law simply protects independent moral rights, the same points can be made about compliance with law generally. This lecture explores the question of how we should understand the ethical tie between individuals and legal practices that are justified in terms of the social good produced by general compliance. An imperfect duty of impartial beneficence will play a central role in the account.

Speaker: Liam Murphy, former vice dean of NYU School of Law.

For more information, and to register, click here.

7 May 2025

Compulsory Voting in Australia: History and Purpose
Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence, University of Sydney Law School
Date: 7 May 2025  
Time: 5.15-6.45pm (AEST) 
Location: Online and In-person at Court 1 - Federal Court of Australia, Courts Building, Queens Square, Sydney

In this free public event, Her Excellency the Hon Margaret Beazley AC KC will speak on Compulsory voting in Australia: its history and purpose. The Hon Arthur Emmett AO KC will provide a commentary.

The event will be chaired by the Hon Alan Robertson AM SC, President of the Australian Academy of Law.

Queensland introduced compulsory voting in 1915. The Commonwealth followed in 1924. Victoria introduced compulsory voting in 1926, New South Wales and Tasmania in 1928, Western Australia in 1936 and South Australia in 1942.

For more information, and to register, click here.

2-4 July 2025

32nd ANZSIL Annual Conference 2025
Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law
Date: 2-4 July 2025  
Location: Australian National University, Canberra

The 2025 ANZSIL Conference will be in person, at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia on Wednesday, 2 July–Friday, 4 July 2025. The Conference theme is ‘International Law: Silence, Forgetting and Remembrance’.

What is unknown to, or excluded from, international law? What doctrinal fields, subject matters, actors and objects, and approaches are we at risk of forgetting or ‘un-knowing’? Once, universal disarmament, or at least arms limitation, was seen as a core goal of international law. Now, in a period of major international conflicts such goals once again appear to have a contemporary flavour and relevance. What can other forgotten or neglected histories of international law teach us about our present circumstances?  What do we most need to remember?

On the question of silence we may ask: Who is given a voice in international law? What subjects are marginalised as irrelevant by international law? Why are some subjects easier to speak about than others? Papers could explore the perception of the Global South finding its voice in international courts and tribunals in matters ranging from climate change to the Genocide Convention, the involvement of international courts in ongoing conflicts, and the continued failure of international law to give adequate protection to the natural environment in the Anthropocene.

For more information, click here.

31 July-1 August 2025

AIAL 2025 National Administrative Law Conference
Australian Institute of Administrative Law
Date: 31 July-1 August 2025  
Location: University Club of Western Australia, Hackett Drive, Crawley, Perth, Western Australia

The overarching theme for the 2025 AIAL National Administrative Law Conference is Perspectives in Administrative Law. Within this topic, the 2025 Conference aims to explore and present various viewpoints and voices in administrative law, whilst also trying to understand the impact of administrative decisions on the individual.

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 2025 Conference will be hosted by the Western Australian Chapter of the Institute.

For more information, click here.

22-24 August 2025

2025 Samuel Griffith Society Conference
Samuel Griffith Society
Date: 22-24 August 2025  
Location: Ritz-Carlton Perth

The 35th annual national conference of The Samuel Griffith Society will be held at the Ritz-Carlton in Perth over the weekend of Friday 22 August to Sunday 24 August, 2025.

The conference will feature:

Other announced speakers include:

  • The Hon Richard Court AC, 26th Premier of Western Australia

There is a fee for this event. For more information, and to register, click here.