Josh Underwood

Contact

Areas of practice

  • Public and Administrative Law
  • Appellate
  • Criminal Law
  • Regulatory Law / Civil Penalties / Proceeds of Crime
  • Inquests / Commissions of Inquiry / Statutory Tribunals
  • Mining and Resources
  • Medical Negligence / Disciplinary Proceedings
  • Commercial disputes involving a public law component
Josh Underwood

Background

Josh was called to the Bar in 2021.

He has a diverse practice, spanning criminal, public and commercial law. He appears regularly in courts across Australia including the High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia, and State Supreme Courts, as well as in tribunals and inquiries (both led and unled).

Before joining the Brisbane Bar, he was a pupil barrister at 6KBW College Hill in London (Lincoln’s Inn), where he assisted Queen’s Counsel in murder trials at the Old Bailey. Before that, he served as an Associate to the Hon Justice PA Keane AC KC at the High Court of Australia. He worked as a commercial solicitor at Ashurst in Sydney and Brisbane in 2015–2017 and at the DPP (Qld) in 2017–2018.

He holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons I) and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland, and a Bachelor of Civil Laws from the University of Oxford, from which he graduated with the Vinerian Scholarship, Proxime Accessit, and the prize for Constitutional Law and Theory in 2019.

His proudest achievement is his family: his wife and three young children.

Selected Cases

High Court

Smith v Queensland Corrective Services & Ors [2026] HCA 37. Led by S Holt KC.

Hanson v Faruqi (special leave) (ongoing). Led by S Holt KC and J Taylor.

Charisiou v The King (reserved). Led by S Holt KC and A Haban-Beer.

Dayney v The King [2024] HCA 22. Led by R O’Gorman KC.

GJL v The Queen [2022] HCATrans 81. Led by S Holt KC.

Armitage v The Queen [2022] HCATrans 82. Led by S Holt KC.

Intermediate appellate courts

R v Makoul (ongoing). Led by T Game SC.

Nicholson v Karreman Quarries Pty Ltd (ongoing). Led by A Scott KC.

Hanson v Faruqi [2026] FCAFC 96. Led by S Holt KC and J Taylor.

Smith v Chief Executive, Queensland Corrective Services [2026] QCA 99. Led by P Morreau KC (unled for argument on costs).   

Nicholson v GCMR Project Services Pty Ltd [2025] QCA 242. Led by R O’Gorman KC.             

R v Ellul [2025] QCA 261. Led by T Ryan KC (speaking role).             

R v Brennan; Sipple [2025] QCA 57.             

Saraghi-Smith v The King [2024] QCA 180.

Mathews v Ipswich City Council [2025] QCA 1.             

Knight v The King [2024] QCA (unpublished decision re: successful conviction appeal against serious organised crime circumstance of aggravation).

R v Dumenil (2024) 19 QR 674. Led by C O’Connor.  

Palmer Leisure Coolum Pty Ltd v Magistrates Court of Queensland [2024] QCA 8. Led by P Dunning KC. 

R v Kulatunge [2023] QCA 252. Led by C O’Connor.             

R v Dayney (No 2) [2023] QCA 62. Led by B J Power KC.

R v Silcock [2022] QCA 234. Led by S Holt KC.             

R v Leach [2022] QCA 7. Led by P Dunning KC.

R v Armitage [2021] QCA 185. Led by S Holt KC.

Superior Courts

Australian Conservation Foundation Inc v Minister for the Environment and Water [2026] FCA. Led by A Scott KC.

Egan v Commonwealth of Australia [2026] FCA 1104.

Greenfield v Ipswich City Council [2026] QSC – unpublished judgment striking out judicial review application.

Greer v Commonwealth of Australia [2025] QSC (ongoing). Led by A Scott KC.

Smith v Chief Executive, Queensland Corrective Services [2024] QSC 288. Led by S Holt KC.             

Faruqi v Hanson [2024] FCA 1264. Led by S Holt KC and J Taylor.

YETI v Commissioner of Police Service & Anor [2023] QSC 174 – writ of habeas corpus for children held unlawfully in Queensland watchhouses. Led by E Nekvapil SC.             

Austin BMI Pty Ltd & Ors v Deputy Premier [No 1] [2023] QSC 95. Unled, opposing senior counsel.             

Austin BMI Pty Ltd & Ors v Deputy Premier [No 2] [2023] QSC 162. Unled, opposing senior counsel.             

R v Neary [2022] QSCPR 18.             

Palmer Leisure Coolum Pty Ltd v Magistrates Court of Queensland [2022] QSC 227. Led by P Dunning KC.             

Smith v PRQ [2022] QSC 123 – resistance of contempt proceedings brought by the Crime and Corruption Commission; meaning of “reasonable excuse”. Led by J R Hunter KC.

Work Health and Safety

Nicholson v BTS Manufacturing Pty Ltd [2026] QDC (reserved).

R v Mastermyne Crinum Operations Pty Ltd [2026] QDC; QDCPR 21 – successful conviction for industrial manslaughter, contrary to the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act. Led by J Hunter KC.     

Nicholson v Thomas Borthwick & Sons (Australia) Pty Ltd [2026] QDC 15. Led by R O’Gorman KC. 

Karreman and Karreman Quarries Pty Ltd v Simon Nicholson (Work Health and Safety Prosecutor) [2026] ICQ 11. Led by G Rice KC. 

Stone v Anglo Coal (Moranbah North Management) Pty Ltd [2025] ICQ 11. Unled, opposing S Holt KC and A Freeman.        

Stone v Anglo Coal (Moranbah North Management) Pty Ltd [2023] QMC – successful two-week prosecution for breach of section 34 of the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999. Led by J Trevino KC.

Guilfoyle v BMD Constructions Pty Ltd [2023] QMC – Unled, opposing C Murdoch KC.

Guilfoyle v Kouzoukas [2022] QDC 8.

Environment

Hail Creek Coal Holdings Pty Ltd v Mackay Conservation Group Inc & Anor [2026] QLC (ongoing).

Australian Wildlife Conservancy v Remining Pty Ltd [2026] QLC (ongoing).

Bowen Basin Coal Pty Ltd v Environmental Advocacy in Central Queensland Inc & Anor [2026] QLC 18. Led by S Holt KC.             

Sconi Mining Operations Pty Ltd v Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation [2026] QLC11.                                            

Rolleston Coal Holdings Pty Ltd v Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation [2025] QLC 22. Led by D Clothier KC.

BHP Coal Pty Ltd & Ors v Chief Executive, Department of Environment, Science and Innovation [2024] QLC 9. Led by S Holt KC.

BHP Coal Pty Ltd & Ors v Chief Executive, Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (No 2) [2024] QLC 13. Led by S Holt KC.

Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation v BHP Coal Pty Ltd [2025] QLAC 1. Led by S Holt KC.

Whitehaven WS Pty Ltd v Australian Conservation Foundation Inc (judgment reserved) – application for mining leases and an environmental authority for a greenfields coal mine. Led by S Holt KC and J O’Connor.

Whitehaven WS Pty Ltd v Australian Conservation Foundation Inc (No 2) [2025] QLC 16. Led by S Holt KC and J O’Connor.

Whitehaven WS Pty Ltd v Australian Conservation Foundation Inc (No 3) [2025] QLC 26. Led by S Holt KC and J O’Connor.

Coronial

Inquest into the death of Matthew Carroll – Counsel Assisting.

Inquest into the death of Rickie Makin – instructed by Wotton & Kearney.

Inquest into the death in custody of Mr George, a Kowanyama man – instructed by the Queensland Human Rights Commission.

Inquest into the death of Ikraam Bahram [2025] QldCorC 1 – appeared for treating psychiatrist.

Inquest into the death of Selesa Tafaifa – instructed by the Queensland Human Rights Commission.

Inquest into the deaths of Doreen Langham and Gary Hely – appeared for treating doctor.

Medical disciplinary

Health Ombudsman v Manfield [2026] QCAT 211.

Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia v Willis [2026] QCAT 54.             

Medical Board of Australia v AXZ [2025] QCAT 363.

Medical Board of Australia v Hanafy [2024] QCAT 569.

Other

R v HTD [2024] QDCPR 30 – permanent stay of prosecution. 

R v Seymour [2024] QDC 93 – permanent stay of prosecution.

Mathews v Ipswich City Council [2023] QDC 21.

McEwan v Rains; Challans (private prosecution). Led by J Single SC.

Barada Barna Aboriginal Corporation v Attorney-General for the State of Queensland & Ors (ongoing) – complex contractual / native title dispute concerning a large North Queensland coal mine project. Led by D Clothier KC.

Caterer v The King [2023] QDC – application of the Human Rights Act 2019 to police search and seizure of mobile phone (nolle prosequi entered following submissions). Unled.

Qualifications

Admitted to Practise (Qld Bar)

  • April 2021

Qualifications

  • BCL (Dist) (University of Oxford)
  • LLB (Hons I) (University of Queensland)
  • BA (Politics & Philosophy) (University of Queensland)

Selected Publications and Presentations

Hearsay, Measure for Measure – Police Powers v Privacy (with Anthony W Collins)

6KBW Law Blog, The impact of Coronavirus, part 5: the Coronavirus Act 2020 (with Annie Fendrich)

Seminar: “No man shall profit by his own wrong”

Seminar: Baden-Clay v R [2015] QCA 265

Seminar: PT Bayan v BCBC Singapore [2014] HCA 36

Dissertation, The Nature of the Role of the Admiralty Marshal (2014, supervised by Prof Sarah Derrington, as her Honour then was; awarded High Distinction)