Memo · Military & Defence Law
Brief for a family on an Inspector-General inquiry into a death
Points for a family on an Inspector-General inquiry into the death of an ADF member: what the inquiry is for, that family involvement is usually voluntary, and that a Defence Counsel Services lawyer is not the family's lawyer.
- Kind
- Memo. An internal or advice memo.
- Where it applies
- Australia, Commonwealth
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the authority it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when advising a next of kin or another close relation about an Inspector-General inquiry into the death of an ADF member. It is not a statement for the inquiry, and it is not the checklist of formal notices given to a witness.
Used for these tasks
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may list the offers and documents the family has already received; the lawyer decides what the family is told and does not draft what they say to the inquiry.
AI may
- List dates of contact, documents provided, and updates against the monthly interval the page states for a senior next of kin
- Record whether a Defence Counsel Services lawyer has introduced themselves, and that the page says that lawyer acts for the deceased
AI must not
- Must not draft the family's account, a statement, or comments on a draft report
- Must not say the inquiry decides compensation
- Must not describe the Defence Counsel Services lawyer as the family's lawyer
The lawyer checks
- The family is told the inquiry is separate from the police, Comcare, and the Coroner, as the page states
- Participation is described as usually voluntary, and any formal notice is dealt with on its own terms
- A request for the report, a transcript, or travel costs is made to the Assistant Inspector-General rather than assumed
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
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The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Military & Defence Law
- Screen before a complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman about Defence
- Disciplinary infringement notice: election checklist (Defence Force Discipline Act)
- Service discipline matter register and material index (ADF member)
- Election to be tried by court martial or Defence Force magistrate: decision record
- Redress of grievance complaint about a service decision (Defence Regulation 2016 Part 7)
- Redress of grievance timetable after the complaint is lodged
- Command review of a senior discipline officer's punishment (DFDA s 9G)
- Petition to a reviewing authority for review of a service tribunal conviction or punishment (DFDA s 153)
- Appeal to the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal: time limit and filing checklist
- IGADF inquiry: notices, comment on proposed findings, and who may be told
- Scope of a submission to the Inspector-General of the ADF
- Summary authority hearing: documents and issues checklist (no statement)
All precedents for Military & Defence Law · Tasks and AI use in this area