Judge Advocates General
On this page: DJAG Navy | DJAG Army | DJAG Air Force
DJAG-Navy
Commodore the Hon Justice M.J. Slattery RANR. Commodore Slattery was born in Sydney in 1954 and undertook his secondary education at St Ignatius College Riverview. He graduated from the University of Sydney in Arts in 1975 and in Law in 1977. Commodore Slattery was admitted to practice as a barrister on 19 May 1978.
From the time of his admission Commodore Slattery conducted a broad civil law practice including in administrative law, company and commercial law, construction law, criminal law, equity, insolvency, media law, personal injuries and trade practices law. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel on 1 December 1992.
In February 1990 he joined the Royal Australian Navy Reserve. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in 1996, Commander in 2000, and Captain in 2006. Upon his appointment as Deputy Judge Advocate General – Navy in March 2010 he was promoted to the rank of Commodore.
Between 2002 and 2006 Commodore Slattery served as head of the New South Wales Navy Reserve Legal Panel, the reservists close to Fleet who provide legal support for Navy’s operations, discipline, administration, inquiries and training. Commodore Slattery’s recent legal roles in Navy include advising Commanders, appearing for ADF personnel in Courts Martial and Australian Senate hearings, acting as counsel assisting larger scale inquiries and conducting investigations at sea an on shore.
In April 2003 Commodore Slattery served on continuous full time service in the Northern Persian Gulf during the concluding phase of the Gulf Conflict. During 2005 and 2006 he was principal counsel assisting the Navy Board of Inquiry into the crash of Sea King helicopter Shark 02 on Nias Island, Indonesia on 2 April 2005, causing nine fatalities and two serious casualties. Commodore Slattery has received two Admiral’s commendations for exceptional service to Navy, the first in 1994 and the second in 2007.
Commodore Slattery was President of the New South Wales Bar Association from November 2005 to November 2007. The Association exercises statutory disciplinary jurisdiction over all NSW practicing barristers, as well as representing their professional interests. From 2005 to 2007 Commodore Slattery was also a director of the Law Council of Australia and the Treasurer and then Vice President of the Australian Bar Association.
On 25 May 2009 Commodore Slattery was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in the Court’s Equity Division where he deals with commercial disputes, the prosecution of claims for civil penalties, will construction, trust and estate cases and matters involving the welfare of children.
Commodore Slattery is married with three children. His interests include the classics, opera, Australian, European and United States history, music, swimming and snowboarding.
DJAG - Army
BRIGADIER DAVID GUNSON RFD SC. Brigadier Gunson graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1969. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Tasmania in February 1971. Since admission he has practiced in the private legal profession. Brigadier Gunson was appointed Senior Counsel in 2002.
He is a former president of the Law Society of Tasmania and also of the Tasmanian Bar Association. From 1991 to 2002 he was chairman of the Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania. He is a former member of the Law Reform Commission of Tasmania and a former chairman of the Law Society of Tasmania Ethics Committee.
He enlisted in the Army Reserve as a private soldier in August 1969. He was subsequently selected for officer training and after attending an Officer Cadet Training Unit he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps in April 1971. Thereafter, he held a number of regimental appointments with 40th Battalion 1RTR. In 1980 he transferred to the Australian Army Legal Corps and was promoted to the rank of Captain and served as a legal officer in 6 MD. In 1984 he was appointed as the Chief Legal Officer 6 MD.
Brigadier Gunson was appointed a Defence Force Magistrate and Judge Advocate in 1986 and has conducted many Defence Force Magistrate trials and Courts Martial. In 2004 Brigadier Gunson was deployed to Iraq on active service to conduct a Defence Force Magistrate trial in that country. In 2004 he was appointed a Section 154 Reviewing Officer with the responsibility of reviewing the convictions and sentences of ADF members after trial by a Defence Force Magistrate or a Court Martial. In that capacity he has reviewed numerous Defence Force disciplinary proceedings.
Brigadier Gunson was appointed Deputy Judge Advocate General - Army by the Governor General on 10 March 2010 and promoted to Brigadier on the 15th March 2010.
His interests include scuba diving, bush walking, reading and travelling. He is married with three adult children.
DJAG - Air Force
AIRCDRE Michael Burnett FM. Air Commodore Burnett was born in Toowoomba in 1958. He graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Economics degree in 1978 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1991. He subsequently was awarded a Masters of Laws from Bond University in 1991 and a Master of Business Administration from the Queensland University of Technology in 1994. He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 2009.
In 1980 he commenced articles of clerkship and was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1982. In 1984 he was called to the Queensland Bar and commenced practice that year. He practised at the Bar from Brisbane until appointed a Judge of the Federal Magistrates Court in 2006 where he presides principally in the areas of bankruptcy and administrative law. During his time in practice he also held appointments as a Member of the Queensland Building Tribunal and was a mediator and graded arbitrator with the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia.
He was first commissioned into the Australian Army Reserve in 1985 and was appointed a legal officer attached to the 1st Military Division. In 1991 he transferred to the RAAF Specialist Reserve taking up appointment as a legal officer.
He had extensive experience in the conduct of military disciplinary proceedings as both a prosecutor and defending officer before summary authorities, Defence Force Magistrates and Courts Martials in all three services. In 1997 he was appointed a Judge Advocate and Defence Force Magistrate. He presided over numerous defence discipline proceedings in his role as Judge Advocate and/or Defence Force Magistrate from 1997 until his appointment expired in 2007 upon the establishment of the now defunct Australian Military court.
In addition to involvement in discipline proceedings he had extensive experience in numerous defence administrative inquiries, investigations and boards of inquiry in the role of inquiry officer and counsel assisting.
He was appointed Deputy Judge Advocate General on 11 March 2010 and promoted to Air Commodore on the same day.
His extra curricular interests include aviation (private pilot); rugby football; snow skiing; cycling; and the Royal Flying Doctor Service of which he is a director.
He is married with four children.