Damian Copeland is a Senior Research Fellow with the TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland in the Law and Future of War project. Damian’s research focuses on the application of export control, arms trade and sanctions regimes relevant to the export and brokering of trusted autonomous military systems and associated technology. His broader research and teaching interests include international humanitarian law and domestic counter-terrorism law.
Damian completed his Bachelor of Law (Hons) at the Queensland University of Technology and Masters in Law (Merit) at the Australian National University. He is completing a PhD at the Australian National University on the Article 36 weapon review of autonomous weapon systems.
Damian is serving member of the Australian Defence Force (Army Legal Corps) and has served in Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor, Cambodia and Somalia.
He is a Barrister of the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Queensland.
A Rhodes Scholar, John has degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Queensland, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Law from Magdalen College, Oxford University.
After an appointment as Lecturer in Law at Keble College Oxford University, John returned to Australia to work as a lawyer in a variety of contexts.
He has worked as a Defence Force Magistrate, a Barrister, as a consultant to a multi-national law firm, a Law Reform Commissioner for Queensland, a legal member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal and the legal member of the Health Quality and Complaints Commission.
He currently serves as a member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
John is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He serves as Deputy Chair of the Board of Aged and Disabilty Advocacy Australia.
He also serves on the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits Review Committee of the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, and the Military Superannuation and Benefits Scheme Review Committee of the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation.
John has previously served on the Specialist Accreditation Board of the Queensland Law Society. Prior to working on the Board, John was a Member of the Personal Injuries Specialist Accredition Committee of the Queensland Law Society.
John has held academic appointments at Universities in Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In addition to teaching and research positions, John has worked as Deputy Dean, Head of School and Associate Vice Chancellor.
His work in tort law and medical law is internationally recognised.
John's research has been supported by over a million dollars in research grants.
John's work has been cited by the High Court and by Law Reform Commissions in Australia and abroad.
He is an Honorary Fellow of the Australasian College of Legal Medicine.
John was jointly awarded the Oscar Rivers Schmalzbach Prize by the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences.
John has served with the Australian Defence Force in the Army (infantry) and in the Air Force.
He has seen active service in Iraq, and twice in Afghanistan.
John was awarded the Bronze Star by the United States of America.
Dr Tim McFarland is a Research Fellow at the TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland. His current research focuses on the legal challenges connected with the defence and security applications of science and technology, with a particular focus on the impact of autonomous systems. His broader research interests include the law of armed conflict and international criminal law. He is the author of Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict (Cambridge University Press, 2020). Before joining the University of Queensland, Tim researched the legal, ethical and social implications of military use of autonomous systems as a member of the Values in Defence & Security Technology group within the School of Engineering and Information Technology of the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He completed his PhD studies at Melbourne Law School. He also holds degrees in Engineering and Economics, and has worked in the international humanitarian law department of the Australian Red Cross as well as in a variety of information technology roles.
Simon McKenzie is a Research Fellow at the University of Queensland School of Law. Simon's current research focuses on the legal challenges connected with the defence and security applications of science and technology, with a particular focus on the impact of autonomous systems. His broader research and teaching interests include the law of armed conflict, international criminal law, and domestic criminal law.
Prior to joining the University of Queensland, Simon was a policy officer in the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety, working in a team responsible for reforming the criminal justice system to better respond to family violence. He has held teaching roles at the Melbourne Law School and as a researcher at the Supreme Court of Victoria where he completed a major research project on the management of expert evidence in the Kilmore East Bushfire Proceedings, the largest class action in Victoria's history. He has also worked as a researcher at the International Criminal Court assisting the Special Advisor to the Prosecutor on international humanitarian law. He began his career in 2011 at a large commercial law firm in Melbourne.
Simon graduated in 2011 from the University of Tasmania with a combined Arts and Law Degree with First Class Honours in Law and was admitted to practice in Victoria later that year. He received his PhD in international criminal law from the University of Melbourne in 2018.
Dr Lauren Sanders is a Senior Research Fellow with the TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland in the Law and Future of War project. Lauren’s current research focus is on the application of export control, arms trade and sanctions regimes relevant to the export and brokering of trusted autonomous military systems and associated technology. Her broader research and teaching interests include international criminal law, international humanitarian law and domestic counter-terrorism law. She is the editor of UQ's Law and Future of War podcast where she interviews experts in the fields of law and emerging and disruptive technology, military strategy and military affairs.
She completed her initial law studies with The University of Queensland, along with a Bachelor of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies. Her PhD studies were competed at the Australian National University focused on the practical application of universal jurisdiction. She holds an LLM in Legal Practice, Masters in Defence and Strategic Studies and numerous Graduate certificates in military law.
Before returning to The University of Queensland, Lauren spent twenty years as an Australian Army signals officer and legal officer, and has served in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor and on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, a legal advisor to ADF domestic counter-terrorism operations, and an assistant Inspector-General of the ADF. She is a graduate of the Australian Command and Staff College, and was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross for her work as the Command Legal Officer within Special Operations Command.
She supports the training of military legal officers with the University of Adelaide's Legal Training Module Level Three (Masters Law Course); and is a reserve legal officer, where she is a member of the Principal Writing Team for the Australian Defence Force’s Law of Armed Conflict Manual, and teaches at the Indo-Pacific Centre for Military Law and the ADF's Military Law Centre.
