Government Law
Government operates within a framework of law and practice, consistently with the rule of law.
This framework includes constitutional law and administrative law but extends well beyond both to a host of particular legal regimes that apply to government actors. This is a dynamic branch of law, constantly changing in response to new pressures and government responses. It lends itself to comparison between countries, enabling students to understand different ways of tackling problems and to draw lessons from them. In an age of globalisation, it has a large and growing interface with international law, requiring a grasp of both areas. The specialisation in government law reflects the changing nature and complexity of the field. The subjects offer students expertise in matters that lie at the cutting-edge of government law in Australia and elsewhere.
The exceptional range of government law subjects, taught by an extraordinary range of leading legal practitioners and scholars, from Australia and overseas, shows why this is one of the most exciting, important and challenging areas of contemporary law.
- Professor Jason Varuhas, Director of Studies
Government Law study options
- Master of Public and International Law
- Graduate Diploma in Government Law
- Single subject study
Subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters are available as single subject enrolments, either with or without assessment. - Master of Laws (LLM)
- Graduate Diploma in Laws
Related courses

Each of the lecturers for the subjects I have completed has been inspirational, both in terms of their depth of knowledge on the subject and their ability to impart that knowledge. I have also found that the lecturers are very generous in sharing their career experiences as academics or practitioners (or both). Rachel Amamoo, Master of Public and International Law
Related research centres and institutes

Advisory Board
- Ian Cunliffe, formerly Department of Premier and Cabinet
- Dr Stephen Donaghue QC, Victorian Bar
- Dr Gavan Griffith AO QC, Victorian Bar
- Peter Hanks QC, Victorian Bar
- Wendy Harris SC, Victorian Bar
- The Hon Justice Christopher Maxwell, Victorian Court of Appeal
- Stephen McLeish SC, Victorian Bar
- The Hon Justice Debbie Mortimer, Federal Court of Australia
- The Hon Justice Mark Moshinsky, Federal Court of Australia
- Professor Brian Opeskin, Macquarie University
- Jason Pizer, Victorian Bar
- The Hon Justice Richard R S Tracey, Federal Court of Australia