The Hon. Dr Mike Kelly AM MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support

Mike graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Arts and LL.B. in 1983, and went on to work for Turner Freeman Solicitors.  During his time with Turner Freeman, Mike helped pioneer the area of asbestos litigation, leaving the firm as a Senior Associate.

Mike joined the ADF Legal Corps in 1987 and in 1993 was deployed to Somalia to participate in Operation Restore Hope as Legal Adviser with First Battalion Royal Australian Regiment.  A major achievement of the Australian deployment was the re-establishment of an indigenous Somali criminal justice system.  For his contributions as Legal Adviser to Headquarters of the 1st Division and Headquarters Australian Forces Somalia, Colonel Kelly was awarded the Chief of the General Staff Commendation (1993) and made a Member of the Order of Australia (1994).

In 1996 Mike was seconded to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia.  He was responsible for training and negotiating with the armed forces of various warring factions, as well as training the International Police Task Force.  Later in the same year he was deployed to Kenya with the Australian Consular Response Group to assist in the rescue of an Australian citizen held hostage in Somalia.

Mike continued to study, and in 1999 obtained his doctorate from the University of New South Wales.  The research work undertaken for his doctoral dissertation has subsequently formed the basis for two books: Peace Operations: Tackling the Military, Legal and Policy Challenges, and Restoring and Maintaining Order in Complex Peace Operations: The Search for a Legal Framework.

From July 2001 to the end of Jan 2002 Mike served as the Chief Legal Adviser to the UNTAET Peacekeeping Force Commander in Timor-Leste. His work involved security issues relating to returnees, the relationship between peacekeeping forces, East Timorese Police and Defence Forces and the Serious Crimes Unit, and the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), as well as the delimitation of the international border between Timor-Leste and Indonesia. For his work in this area, Dr Kelly was awarded a Force Commander’s Commendation.

Mike‘s long-term relationship with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) culminated in his central involvement with the preparation and implementation of legislation governing the use of the ADF in domestic counter terrorist operations, which was introduced in the lead up to the Sydney Olympics in September 2000.

In 2003 Mike became involved in the preparation of Rules of Engagement and managing operational issues for the war in Iraq. This was followed by a tour of duty in Iraq as a legal adviser in the Office of General Counsel within the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) from May 2003 – July 2004. In this role he helped shape the framework for post‑conflict management of Iraq and the regulation of security, and worked closely with the anti-oil smuggling effort.

Mike has also been involved in international negotiations on anti-personnel mines and peace and conflict issues as a legal adviser to the Australian Government. He regularly speaks at military training programs and conferences around the world and is widely regarded as a leading expert on Operations Law issues and particularly on the International Law of Occupation.