New Legal Milestone for RAAF

The Royal Australian Defence Force marked a new legal record in December, when five new Air Force legal officers were admitted to the ACT Supreme Court on the same day.

Flight Lieutenants Courtney Westphal and Felicity Shearer, and Pilot Officers Allisha Harvey, Rachel Ibbotson and Jarrad Salmon all took part in the formal ceremony, which took place on 10 December, and represented the most number of ADF officers to be admitted at the same court on the same day.

Following the ceremony, their names were entered on the roll of legal practitioners.

ADF Director General Military Legal Service, Air Commodore Patrick Keane said being admitted was a significant moment in a Legal Officer’s career.

“It’s the culmination of years of study and on-the-job practical training that then gives legal officers the right to practise, and every ADF Legal Officer must be admitted to practice before an Australian supreme court,” AIRCDRE Keane said.

“Each service would usually welcome a couple of new legal officers each year, so to have five at one time being admitted to the ACT Supreme Court is momentous.

“There is a lot of interest in joining the Military Legal Service and it says a great deal about the calibre and commitment of these new lawyers that they have succeeded in being admitted not just to legal practice, but to military legal practice.”

The newly admitted Legal Officers will become part of the joint legal team and continue to build their skills through practical training. In time, they will go on to further study and complete a master’s degree in military law as their careers progress.

AIRCDRE Keane said their admission signified the beginning of their contributions to Defence’s legal capability.

“They’ll be posted to single-service and joint units where they’ll advise on the full gamut of legal issues in support of ADF activities under the mentorship of more senior military lawyers. This includes joint operations, personnel management, discipline and WHS, sometimes all on the same day,” AIRCDRE Keane said.

“We are on the cusp of exciting new developments in military law, including the introduction of new capabilities in space, AI and augmented systems.

“So while our new Air Force Legal Officers will become experts in support of air power, they will also become experts in legal support across the joint force as a joint and integrated capability.”

ADF Legal Officers work in strategic, operational and tactical environments covering a range of legal matters from discipline and administrative law through to operations, maritime and international law.

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Australia opens hypersonics centre to support defence research

The facility has been developed as part of the Government’s A$3bn Defence investment programme.

The Australian Government has opened a purpose-built centre at Eagle Farm in Brisbane to support the research and development of hypersonic weapons capabilities.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton opened the Australian Hypersonics Research Precinct, which required a A$14m investment to develop.

The facility will allow Defence, industry, universities and other international partners to study the use of hypersonic technology using flight test vehicles.

Dutton said: “It’s a complex technological challenge to build vehicles capable of flying at five times the speed of sound that skim the stratosphere to target any location on the planet.

“The technology that is developed here will help us to better defend against the malign use of this technology and give us the ability to strike any potential adversaries from a distance and deter aggression against Australia’s national interests.

“It enables Defence researchers to develop and characterise sovereign hypersonic technologies and generate ‘true’ hypersonic flight conditions at large scale in a classified laboratory.”

Thales Australia, a subsidiary of French defence technology conglomerate Thales Group, has welcomed the opening of the precinct.

Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins said: “We look forward to the expansion of the defence ecosystem at Eagle Farm, where Thales currently has around 150 highly skilled and experienced staff supporting ADF programmes.”

The centre has been established as part of the Government’s A$3bn investment across defence innovation, science and technology for the next ten years.

The precinct can house more than 60 staff and provides space for industry, academia and government teams to work on defence projects involving high-speed and hypersonic flight research and technologies.

Earlier this month, the RAAF received its first upgraded Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules aircraft.

The jet has been modified to Block 8.1 standard hardware and software, which includes safety improvements intended for the RAAF’s No 37 Squadron aviators.