Justice Dennis Cowdroy was appointed to the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal as a member on 1 September 2011. His Honour has been a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia since March 2006 and has also been serving as an Additional Judge of the ACT Supreme Court since 2007. Prior to this he had been a Judge of the Land and Environment Court of NSW since 1999.

Justice Cowdroy obtained a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney, and a Master of Laws from the University of London. He was also awarded a Diploma of Air and Space Law. He was called to the New South Wales Bar in 1971 and appointed Queens Counsel in 1989.

In 1995 Justice Cowdroy was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the Returned Services League, Law and the Community.

Justice Cowdroy holds the rank of Commander in the RAN Reserve and is a member of the Defence Legal Reserve Panel. In 2010 he was appointed as a Defence Force Magistrate and a member of the Judge Advocates Panel.