ADFA is sited in the suburb of Campbell in Canberra, the Capital city of Australia, adjacent to the Royal Military College, Dintroon.

In late 2003, the Australian Department of Defence entered into another agreement with the University of New South Wales for the operation of ADFA which is thus the 'University College'.

ADFA is governed for the University by a Rector. ADFA is commanded for the Australian Defence Force by a "One Star" officer (Commodore, Brigadeer, Air Commodore) on rotation.

Midshipmen (Navy) and Cadets (Army & Air Force) undertake more involved military training during academic breaks; however, they do some military training during academic semesters.

University of New South Wales Degrees are offered at Diploma and Associate Diploma, Bachelor, Masters, and Doctorate level.

UNSW@ADFA Schools were restructured from twelve discipline-based Schools to five multi-disciplinary Schools as of 1 July 2003.

Aerospace, Civil and Mechanical Engineering - (formerly Schools of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering)

Business - (formerly School of Economics and Management)

Humanities and Social Sciences - (formerly Schools of History, Language Literature and Communication and, Politics)

Information Technology and Electrical Engineering - (formerly Schools of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering)

Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences - (formerly Schools of Chemistry, Geography and Oceanography, Mathematics and Statistics and Physics)