LAWD107 - Introduction to Australian Public Law

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Incompatible

LAWS107 Introduction to Australian Public Law

Unit rationale, description and aim

Introduction to Australian Public Law is a first year subject. Together with LAWD104, it is intended to assist students in developing fundamental legal skills and knowledge. This unit introduces students to the common law and constitutional origins of Australian government institutions, the legal and conventional foundations of Australian Public Law, and the constitutional principles that circumscribe the exercise of public poser in Australia.

In this unit, students continue to develop legal skills in case analysis, legal reasoning, and academic research and writing that were introduced in LAWD104. In addition, students are taught to undertake extended critical analysis of legal issues. On completion of this unit, students should have a sound introductory knowledge of the law and the practice of government in Australia and a capacity to communicate this understanding clearly and critically.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Content

Topics will include: 

• The historical development of Australian Public Law 
• Federalism 
• The branches of government 
• The separation of powers 
• Judicial review 
• Human rights  

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit is an introductory subject that, together with LAWD104, is intended to assist students in developing foundational legal skills and knowledge. These foundational skills include the ability to reason and communicate in a formal, and specifically legal, manner. 

In order to consolidate these skills, students are encouraged to engage in active learning. They will undertake a number of tasks, such as reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving, that will develop their knowledge of class content and their mastery of legal discourse.  

Further to this, to ensure students are ready to transition from the Diploma and articulate into the second year of undergraduate study, transition pedagogies will be incorporated into the unit as the key point of differentiation from the standard unit. This focuses on an active and engaging approach to learning and teaching practices, and a scaffolded approach to the delivery of curriculum to enhance student learning in a supportive environment. This will ensure that students develop foundation level discipline-based knowledge, skills and attributes, and simultaneously the academic competencies required of students to succeed in this unit.

Assessment strategy and rationale

Assessment is an integral part of the learning process. This unit is assessed by two assignments, performance of seminar tasks, and a final exam. Assessment tasks in this unit are aimed at measuring and developing a student’s achievement of both the learning outcomes and graduate attributes noted above. The assessment in this unit may include, but are not limited to: essay, case notes presentations or examinations.

The foundation of the learning in this unit is developing high level written and oral communication and legal analysis, and the student's work in this area will be assessed by completing a series of workshop tasks. This may include short answers, legal writing, case analysis, and group discussion. These tasks draw on and promote an in-depth understanding of foundational concepts and knowledge in Australian public law and develop legal skills in case analysis. The research essay requires students to demonstrate their ability to critically analyse legal issues and to communicate in a formal manner. Students will be provided a list of essay questions, from which they are to choose a topic of interest, and then undertake a research essay on that topic. The final assessment requires extended analysis where students will be presented with a hypothetical case for which they will need to identify legal issues and demonstrate their critical thinking skills, knowledge of Australian Public Law, and their ability to analyse those legal issues.

Strategies aligned with transition pedagogies will be utilised to facilitate successful completion of the unit assessment tasks. For each assessment, there will be the incorporation of developmentally staged tasks with a focus on a progressive approach to learning. This will be achieved through activities, including regular feedback, particularly early in the unit of study to support their learning; strategies to develop and understand discipline-specific concepts and terminology; in-class practice tasks with integrated feedback; and greater peer-to-peer collaboration. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

David Clark, Introduction to Australian Public Law (LexisNexis, Butterworths, 5th ed, 2016).

Anthony J Conolly, The Foundations of Australian Public Law (Cambridge University Press, 2017).

Alexander Reilly, Gabrielle Appleby, Laura Grenfell and Wendy Lacey, Australian Public Law, (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed, 2014).

Prue Vines, Law and Justice in Australia: Foundations of the Legal System (Oxford University Press, 4th ed, 2022).