Admitted to practice 2004
Senior Counsel 2020

Stephen McDonald is recognised as one of Australia’s leading public law Senior Counsel. Stephen accepts briefs in appeals in all areas of law, both civil and criminal.

Stephen has appeared as counsel in the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Federal Court of Australia and other State and federal courts. He has appeared in several significant cases in the High Court in the areas of constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law. He also has an extensive advice practice.

Prior to commencing practice at the Bar, Stephen was a Senior Solicitor at the South Australian Crown Solicitor’s Office. He was previously the Research Assistant to the Solicitor-General for South Australia, Chris Kourakis SC (now Chief Justice of South Australia), and Associate to Justice Richard White of the Supreme Court of South Australia (later a Justice of the Federal Court).

Stephen is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide Law School. He is the co-author of a student text on Administrative Law, and has taught in Constitutional Law and Administrative Law.

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• South Australian Bar Association
• Law Society of South Australia — Administrative Law Committee (2013-2016; Chair 2014-2016)
• Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law
• Australian Association of Constitutional Law — SA Chapter Convenor (2018-); National Council (2017-); Secretary (2019-2020); Vice-President (2020-)
• Australian Institute of Administrative Law — SA Chapter Organising Committee (2012-)
• South Australian Law Reform Institute Advisory Board (2018-)
• Australian Bar Association Ethics Committee (2019-)
• JusticeNet SA — Management Committee (2020-); Vice President (2023-)
• International Association of Constitutional Law
• International Law Association (Australian Branch)
• International Society of Public Law (ICON•S)
• University of Adelaide Law School Public Law and Policy Research Unit
• Legal Practitioners Education and Admission Council (2017-2023)

Appellate

• Civil and Commercial
• Criminal Law
• Public Law

Commercial

• Appellate
• Consumer Protection Law
• Contractual Disputes
• Corporations
• Equity
• Real Property

Common Law

• Conflict of Laws / Choice of Law
• Intentional Torts
• Negligence
• Workers Compensation (appellate only)

Criminal Law

• Appellate

Employment and Industrial Law

• Appellate
• Discrimination

Equity

• Appellate
• Real Property
• Trusts

Public Law

• Appellate
• Administrative Law and Judicial Review
• Civil and Human Rights
• Constitutional Law
• Criminal Assets Confiscation
• Customs
• Discrimination
• Extradition
• Freedom of Information
• Local Government
• Migration Law
• Native Title
• Public International Law

• “Comment: Federalism and a First Nations Voice” (2023) 34 Public Law Review (forthcoming)
• Government Accountability: Australian Administrative Law (with J Bannister and A Olijnyk) (3rd ed, 2023, Cambridge University Press)
• Government Accountability Sources and Materials: Australian Administrative Law (with J Bannister and A Olijnyk) (2nd ed, 2023, Cambridge University Press)
• “Comment: The Detention of Non-aliens Suspected of Being Unlawful Non-Citizens – Thoms v The Commonwealth” (2023) 33 Public Law Review 287
• “Unlawful failure to remove extends lawful detention: A critique of the decision in ALJ20” on AUSPUBLAW (10 March 2023)
• “Practitioner Perspective: A Reflection on Civil Litigation” (with B J Doyle KC) in M Camilleri and Harkness (eds), Australian Courts: Controversies, Challenges and Change (2023), Springer)
• “‘I’m sorry, I can’t hear you … my jurisdiction keeps dropping out’: Citta Hobart Pty Ltd v Cawthorn [2022] HCA 16″ on AUSPUBLAW (20 May 2022)
• “‘You CAN handle the … trial of defence members for any offence,’ High Court tells Military Tribunals” on AUSPUBLAW (15 September 2020)
• “Punishment and Chapter III of the Constitution” (with G J Appleby) in J Griffiths and J Stellios (eds), Current Issues in Australian Constitutional Law (2020, Federation Press)
• “Court by Video: A Remote Hearing in of the Full Court of the High Court of Australia” (2020) 42 Law Society Bulletin 8
• “The High Court’s Decision in Burns v Corbett: Consequences, and Ways Forward, for State Tribunals” (with A Olijnyk) (2019) 95 AIAL Forum 10
• Government Accountability: Australian Administrative Law (with J Bannister and A Olijnyk) (2018, Cambridge University Press)
• “State Tribunals, Judicial Power, and the Constitution: Some Practical Responses” (with A Olijnyk) (2018) 29 Public Law Review 104
• “Burns v Corbett: Courts, tribunals and a new implied limit on state legislative power” on AUSPUBLAW (7 May 2018)
• “Poems for the ‘Citizenship 7′” (2018) 40 Law Society Bulletin 24
• “Pride and Prejudice: A Case for Reform of Judicial Recusal Procedure” (with G J Appleby) (2017) 20 Legal Ethics 89
• “Uther’s Case (1947): Justice Dixon and the Troubled Legacy of the Commonwealth Immunity Doctrine” (with A C Carter) in A Lynch (ed), Great Australian Dissents (2018, Cambridge University Press)
• “‘Defining Characteristics’ and the Forgotten ‘Court'” (2016) 38 Sydney Law Review 207
• “Disqualification of Judges and Pre-Judicial Advice” (with G J Appleby) (2015) 43 Federal Law Review 201
• “New South Wales’ attempts to shore up ICAC findings in doubt” on AUSPUBLAW (1 July 2015)
• “Looking at the Executive Power through the High Court’s New Spectacles” (with G J Appleby) (2013) 35 Sydney Law Review 253
• “The Ramifications of Pape v Federal Commissioner of Taxation for the Spending Power and Legislative Powers of the Commonwealth” (with G J Appleby) (2011) 37 Monash University Law Review 162
• “Aboriginal Representation in Government” (with C J Kourakis SC) in E F Johnston, M G Hinton and D Rigney (eds), Indigenous Australians and the Law (2nd ed, 2008, Routledge-Cavendish)
• “Involuntary Detention and the Separation of Judicial Power” (2007) 35 Federal Law Review 25
• “Territory Courts and Federal Jurisdiction” (2005) 33 Federal Law Review 57