The National Lectures on Administrative Law was established by the Australian Institute of Administrative Law in 2001. The Lectures are delivered every two to three years by one or more prominent practitioners in the field of administrative law. The Series is one of the activities of the Institute which was set up in 1989 to promote knowledge of and interest in Australian administrative law.
The inaugural National Lectures were provided by Sir Anthony Mason AC KBE, a former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, and were delivered in 2001 through Chapters of the Institute in Perth, Canberra and Sydney
The second National Lectures were delivered by the Honourable James J Spigelman AC, Chief Justice of New South Wales, and were delivered in 2004 through Chapters of the Institute in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.
The third National Lectures were delivered in Brisbane on 29 August 2006, in Sydney on 30 August 2006 and in Melbourne on 13 September 2006 respectively. The National Lecturers were three Solicitors-General, Mr Walter Sofronoff QC, Solicitor-General of Queensland, Mr Michael Sexton SC, Solicitor-General of New South Wales, and Mr David Bennett QC, Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth.
The fourth National Lecture was delivered in Canberra by the Hon Patrick Keane, Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia at the 2011 AIAL National Administrative Law Conference. The National Lecture was entitled “Democracy, Participation and Administrative Law”.
The fifth National Lecture will be presented by the Honorable Justice Gummow at the National Wine Centre, Adelaide on Thursday 19 July 2012 as part of the AIAL National Administrative Law Conference. Members of the public are invited to attend.
