In this episode of Done by Law, Ingrid and Beth look at the ANZAC legend and its 21st Century legacy – a century during which Australia has continued to participate in foreign conflicts (with allegations of serious war crimes committed against civilians by Australian troops in Afghanistan) and where it might be said that violations of the laws of war appear to have occurred without sufficient scrutiny or, as yet, redress in domestic or international systems.

We’re joined by Dr Carolyn Holbrook, a Senior Lecturer in the Contemporary Histories Research Group at Deakin University, and the Director of Australian Policy and History. Her latest book, Lessons from History: Leading Historians Tackle Australia's Greatest Challenges was published in July 2022. She is writing a history of Australians' attitudes towards their federal system of government, and co-authoring with Professor James Walter a history of policy-making in Australia. Carolyn is the author of the award winning book, Anzac: The Unauthorised Biography, about the history of how Australians have remembered the First World War, and co- edited The Great War: Aftermath and Commemoration (2019).

We then speak with Professor Felicity Gerry KC, an international King’s Counsel at Libertas Chambers, London and Crockett Chambers, Melbourne, largely defending in serious and complex criminal trials and appeals, often with an international element. Felicity is admitted to the list of counsel for the International Criminal Court and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague and in England & Wales and in Australia and has had ad hoc admission in Hong Kong and Gibraltar. Felicity is an Honorary Professor at Salford University in the School of Health and Society where her research focus is on Autism and criminal law, FGM law and Child Rights. She is also Professor of Legal Practice at Deakin University where she is unit chair for Contemporary International Legal Challenges. 

Postcript - at the time this show aired, 25 April 2023, no allegations of war crimes associated with Australia's special forces in Afghanistan have been proven.

Image: Unassailable Heroes (Pioneer) Man with Whip and Sacred Cows, and the Band played Waltzing Matilda

Artist: John CITIZEN (aka) Gordon Bennett

Aboriginal/Indigenous

Date: 1996

Medium/Material: synthetic polymer, pencil and watercolour on paper

State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia

© The Estate of Gordon Bennett