Do we need a specialist military court

Historically, Australian Defence Force personnel were subject to a specialist disciplinary jurisdiction: the courts martial. Today, the military justice jurisdiction is contained in the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982 (Cth), which establishes a tripartite system of service tribunals - summary authorities (a senior officer who can deal with less serious service offences), courts martial (a panel of senior serving officers who determine questions of guilt and sentence) and Defence Force Magistrates (a legal officer who hears matters sitting alone). Convictions and sentences of these service tribunals are reviewed automatically by a reviewing authority before they become formally binding. There are rights to appeal to the Defence Force Disciplinary Tribunal and to the Federal Court.