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Unit of Study LEGL2013 - Law and Government Decision Making (2021)

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Unit Snapshot

  • Enrolment information

    N/A

Unit description

Provides an introduction to the basic principles of government decision making and to the role of tribunals, courts and the Ombudsman in enabling people to challenge federal government decisions that affect them, including the mechanisms by which the power exercised by governments and public officials may be reviewed and regulated.

Unit content

Topic 1: Holding government decision-makers accountable
Topic 2: Responsible government and the Constitutional separation of powers
Topic 3: Merits review (appeals) and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)
Topic 4: Right to reasons, Freedom of Information (FOI), and privacy laws
Topic 5: The Ombudsman
Topic 6: Judicial review - general
Topic 7: Procedural fairness (natural justice)
Topic 8: Standing to appeal or seek judicial review
Topic 9: Remedies for bad or unlawful decisions

Availabilities

Not currently available in 2021

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:

describe the elements of the Commonwealth system of administrative law;

evaluate the relationship between public administration and legal controls over administrative action;

explain the procedures for challenging administrative decisions;

explain the procedures for obtaining government documents and reasons for administrative decisions; and

identify the remedies which may be available to persons affected by administrative decisions.