LAW 7168 - Law in Defence of Australia

North Terrace Campus - Quadmester 4 - 2025

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the legal framework for the conduct of military operations across all five domains, drawing on both national and international law. Topics covered will include assessment of the constitutional and legislative capacities of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to undertake operations within Australia and overseas, Rules of Engagement and their status under law, executive and legislative boundaries on the deployment of the ADF, use of force and self defence issues, legal interoperability challenges with coalition partners, Maritime Security with particular emphasis on freedom of navigation and coastal state security issues under law, and ethical responsibilities of Government lawyers in dispensing advice in the conduct of operations.

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Course Details

Course Code	LAW 7168
Course	Law in Defence of Australia
Coordinating Unit	Adelaide Law School
Term	Quadmester 4
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Intensive
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Prerequisites	Students without a Bachelor of Laws must have completed LAW 7177
Assessment	Assessment in this course will include a combination of two or more of the following: interim written assessment; in-class presentation; assessment of contribution to class discussion; examination (invigilated or take-home); and/or research essay.

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Samuel White

Adjunct A/Professor Samuel White (Course Coordinator)
Email: samuel.white@adelaide.edu.au

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes

1. to understand the nature of national security law and the structure of the domestic and international legal system in relation to military operations;
2. to understand the constitutional, legislative and executive power frameworks within which the Australian Defence Force (ADF) operates;
3. to examine the internal regulatory framework of ADF operational control and management including particular attention to the place and significance of ‘rules of engagement’;
4. to examine the application of domestic and international legal regimes to operations short of armed conflict, and in particular those in response to grey zone activities and where attribution of conduct to a state is in question;
5. to successfully apply existing legal frameworks to military, naval, air, space and cyber operations;
6. to critically examine the cultural and institutional framework for the delivery of operational legal advice.
7. to develop effective skills, both orally and in writing, in the construction of legal argument and analysis on issues of the law applicable to military operations;
8. to undertake self-directed legal research at a high level, including through the use of online technologies.

University Graduate Attributes

No information currently available.
Learning Resources

Required Resources

No required textbook. Students should consult with MyUni to access relevant materials that will be placed there.

Recommended Resources

Moore, Crown & Sword (ANU Press, 2019)
White, Keeping the Peace of the Realm (LexisNexis, 2021)
Creyke, Sutherland & Stephens (eds) Military Law in Australia (2nd edn., Lexis Nexis, 2024)
White & Stubbs, Contemporary Executive Power Issues in Australia (The Federation Press, 2025)

Online Learning

MyUni will be used to post announcements, additional lecture materials (including slides, and where available, recordings of lectures) and announce assignment tasks. It will also contain electronic copies of the Course Profile and Course Materials.
Students are expected to check MyUni regularly to keep up to date with these materials and additional learning resources throughout the course.
Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

This course is taught intensively, in-person over the course of a week. It involves addressing the legal frameworks and issues across five domains over five days. This will be through subject matter experts delivering specialist lectures, across a scenario-based problem throughout the week.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

This course has the usual workload of a Master of Law course, taught intensively.

Learning Activities Summary

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment item	% of final mark	Dates	Length	Individual or Group Activity?	Redeemable in exam?	Learning Outcomes
Presentation	30	Day 5	10 minute presentation + written brief	Individual or Group, summative	N/A	1,2,4,5,6
Essay	70	9pm Friday seven weeks after intensive course classes finish	4000 words	Individual, summative	N/A	1,2,3,4,5,6

Assessment Detail

This assessment task involves several options:

Presentation (30%)

(i) Individual/group
It may be a group or individual presentation. In group presentations, all group members will receive the same mark and each student must present for 10 minutes. Students are to engage with the scenario provided at the start of the class, and incorporate legal frameworks taught throughout the week, to brief on a single domain and a single issue within that domain that they belive requires clarification.

This may involve a particular area of law engaged throghout the course; a matter of legal interpretation (international or domestic), or an area the student(s) believe requires further clarification. A written outline will be required to be given to the 'Minister' (who is the course co-ordinator) before the presentaiton.

Feedback will be promptly provided to the group following the presentation. The course co-ordinator will have discretion, in exceptional cases, to adjust an individual's score where satisfied with information that the student has not sufficiently contributed to the group work.

Individual essay (70%)

Students write an individual essay of 4000 words from a list of topics provided on day 1 of the course, or their own topic to be negotiated. Essays are to be submitted 7 weeks after the conclusion of the course. Footnotes are not counted in the word count.

Submission

No information currently available.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator