Launched on 17 July 2007, the Australian Academy of Law (AAL) is the culmination of a process begun with the Australian Law Reform Commission’s landmark report, Managing Justice: a review of the federal civil justice system (ALRC 89, 2000).
Managing Justice traced the rapid growth, diversification and fragmentation of the Australian legal profession, and the serious challenges these issues present to the maintenance of a coherent professional identity and traditional collegiate approaches.
Without positive action the single ‘legal profession’ could become a multiplicity of ‘legal occupations’, none of which sees itself as part of a larger whole.
The launch of the Australian Academy of Law on 17 July 2007 is a key aspect of the positive action recommended in Managing Justice, bringing together the three strands of the legal profession—the judiciary, legal practitioners and legal academics—united in promoting high standards of learning and conduct and appropriate collegiality across the profession.
The objects of the Academy, set out in the AAL Constitution, include:
The Fellowship of the Academy of Law comprises individuals elected by the Academy, who are persons of exceptional distinction in the discipline of law who are demonstrably committed to the objects of the Academy
To view our Constitution, click the download link below:
The Patron of the Australian Academy of Law is
The Hon Stephen Gageler AC, Chief Justice of Australia.
The Constitution of the Academy of Law provides that there are to be up to 15 Directors, broadly representative of the legal community in the Academy. The Directors are elected at the annual general meetings of the Academy.
The Directors for the year 2024-2025 are:
The Academy’s officeholders as at 31 October 2024 are:
President:
The Hon
Alan Robertson AM SC
Deputy President:
The Hon
Tony Besanko KC
Treasurer:
Emeritus Professor
Bee Chen Goh
Secretary:
Emeritus Professor
David Barker AM
