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Unit of Study LEGL1004 - Australian Legal System (2025)

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Unit Snapshot

  • Anti-requisites

    Not available for students admitted to an LLB course.

  • Enrolment information

    N/A

Unit description

Introduces students to the concept of law and to the Australian legal system. Discusses basic concepts such as federalism, parliamentary sovereignty, separation of powers, rule of law, statutory interpretation, the doctrine of precedent and procedural fairness. Explores issues related to Indigenous Australian peoples and to effective equality before the law for all Australians.

Unit content

Module 1: Law in context

Module 2: Laws and legal systems in Australia

Module 3: Institutional structures

Module 4: Judge-made law

Module 5: Legislation

Module 6: Law in practice

Availabilities

Location Domestic International
Gold Coast
Term1,3
Term1,3
Online
Term1,3,5
N/A

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental concepts of the Australian legal system, including federalism, parliamentary sovereignty, separation of powers, rule of law, statutory interpretation, the doctrine of precedent and procedural fairness

recognise the historical, social and political context of the foundations of the Australian legal system and evaluate whether the system achieves equality before the law for disadvantaged groups

identify how the law is made and the institutions and processes that influence change

identify how law enforcement operates in practice and the role of legal and paralegal professional roles.

Prescribed learning resources

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Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.