Every society rests on rules, but law is more than rules alone. Introduction to Law opens up Australia's legal system: its common law tradition, constitutional structure, court hierarchies and the role of the legal profession. You'll explore the rule of law, precedent, legislation and statutory interpretation, alongside alternative dispute resolution and lawyers' ethical responsibilities. You'll leave with a clear picture of how Australian law works and why it matters for justice and community.
Winning arguments are built, not guessed. Legal Reasoning and Argument trains you to read judgments for the ratio and the dicta, spot logical fallacies, and construct arguments using syllogisms and sound logic. You'll practise legal problem-solving with persistence and integrity, and model ethical decision-making, servant leadership and respectful collaboration. You'll finish ready to analyse cases carefully and argue with precision.
Agreements shape business, work and everyday life. Contract Law 1 takes you through how contracts are formed, what they mean and what happens when they fail. You'll work through offer and acceptance, consideration, capacity, intention, terms, breach and remedies, drawing principles from leading cases and scholarship. You'll finish able to analyse contract problems and defend sound legal positions with confidence.
Not every contract survives the pressure of real life. Contract Law 2 examines what can go wrong once an agreement is on foot, from mistake and misrepresentation to duress, unconscionable conduct, unfair terms and frustration. You'll also explore misleading conduct under the Australian Consumer Law, illegal contracts, restraint of trade, restitution and remedies. You'll finish equipped to protect contracting parties and resolve complex contract disputes.
Most of the law that governs us begins in Parliament. Legislation and Statutory Interpretation shows you how statutes and regulations are made, amended and repealed, and how courts decide what they mean. You'll learn to identify the parts of a statute, apply purposive and contextual approaches, and use common law presumptions and extrinsic materials. You'll finish able to research legislation and interpret it the way Australian courts do.
Criminal law draws the line between liberty and punishment. Criminal Law & Procedure takes you through selected offences, from homicide and sexual offences to property, drugs and non-fatal assaults, alongside defences and rules of procedure. You'll interpret statutes, analyse leading cases and weigh theories of liability and punishment in their social and ethical context. You'll finish ready to work through criminal problems with clear, statute-grounded arguments.
Where the common law is rigid, equity softens the edges. Equity explores the origins and purpose of equitable jurisdiction and the doctrines that protect fairness: estoppel, undue influence, unconscionable dealing, fiduciary obligations and confidence. You'll compare remedies from injunctions and specific performance to equitable compensation and tracing. You'll finish able to analyse when equity steps in and how lawyers use it to remedy a wrong.
A constitution is the architecture of power. Constitutional Law 1 builds your understanding of Australian constitutionalism: the rule of law, representative and responsible government, and separation of powers. You'll examine how the High Court interprets the Constitution, how federalism works, and the roles of Parliament, the Executive and Chapter III courts. You'll finish able to evaluate contemporary constitutional questions with a clear, well-argued thesis.
Commonwealth power reaches only as far as the Constitution allows. Constitutional Law 2 examines the legislative and financial powers of the Commonwealth Parliament, from corporations and external affairs to taxation, trade and commerce. You'll analyse express and implied freedoms, including religion, just terms, political communication and the right to vote, and how constitutional change happens. You'll finish ready to extract principles from leading cases and apply them with critical judgement.
A trust separates legal ownership from beneficial interest, and that changes everything. Trusts introduces what a trust is, the three certainties, and how trusts are validly created for charitable and other purposes. You'll examine the duties, powers and rights of trustees, the position of beneficiaries, and what follows from a breach, including resulting and constructive trusts. You'll finish able to distinguish trust types and explain them clearly to legal and non-legal audiences.
Property is how the law organises ownership, use and transfer. Property Law explores the concept of property, legal and equitable interests, and the Torrens system that underpins Australian land title. You'll work through mortgages, leases, easements, covenants, co-ownership and neighbouring rights, and consider how technology is changing practice. You'll finish ready to analyse property disputes and propose practical, well-grounded solutions.
When someone is harmed, tort law asks who should answer for it. Torts distinguishes civil wrongs from contract and crime, then takes you through negligence, trespass, nuisance, defamation, strict and vicarious liability. You'll research cases, apply principles to complex facts and reflect on tort as an instrument of social policy. You'll finish able to advise a client on the torts that matter in their situation.
Family law touches the most personal decisions people make. Family Law examines marriage, cohabitation, divorce, family violence, parentage and children's best interests, alongside child support, property division and third-party rights. You'll consider the role of the Family Court, dispute resolution and the lawyer's duty to promote justice. You'll finish ready to advise on validity, dissolution and the rules that shape modern Australian family life.
What happens to property after death is shaped carefully by law. Succession Law covers wills, intestacy, family provision, probate and administration. You'll examine capacity and undue influence, formalities and judicial dispensing powers, revocation by marriage or divorce, statutory wills and the duties of executors and administrators. You'll finish able to work through succession problems across the full life of a will and estate.
Companies concentrate capital, risk and responsibility. Corporations Law unpacks how Australian companies are formed, governed and wound up, including directors' duties, members' rights, financing, disclosure and corporate liability. You'll interpret the Corporations Act, advise on common law and ethical challenges facing directors, and evaluate corporate law as a tool of social and economic policy. You'll finish ready to give clear advice on corporate fact patterns.
States live under law as well as within it. Public International Law introduces the nature, sources and subjects of international law, and how it relates to Australian domestic law. You'll examine treaties, state responsibility and jurisdiction, the law of the sea, international organisations and the protection of human rights. You'll finish ready to locate, interpret and apply primary sources of international law.
A case is only as strong as the evidence that proves it. Evidence grounds you in federal and state evidence law: burdens and standards of proof, competence of witnesses, character, privilege, hearsay and opinion. You'll learn what is and is not evidence, and what makes material admissible in court. You'll finish able to argue the difference between criminal and civil standards and apply the right law to the right court.
Legal skill without integrity is not enough. Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility examines the ethical obligations of lawyers under the rules of conduct: confidentiality, conflicts, competence, candour and duties in the adversary system. You'll identify common dilemmas, draw on ethical theory and practise servant leadership and respectful collaboration. You'll finish ready to manage ethical risk while upholding justice, the rule of law and service to the community.
Winning on the law still means getting the procedure right. Civil Procedure takes you through the stages of a civil action at state and federal levels, from commencing proceedings and pleadings to discovery, settlement, trial, appeals, costs and enforcement. You'll draft court documents, apply the Rules of Court and make oral submissions with proper etiquette. You'll finish proficient in the paperwork and practice that move a civil case forward.
Government power needs accountability. Administrative Law shows how Australian law keeps the executive in check through merits review, judicial review, ombudsmen, freedom of information and other safeguards. You'll distinguish review pathways, examine procedural fairness and ultra vires, and identify remedies that protect individual rights against abuses of power. You'll finish ready to resolve complex administrative problems with ethical, rights-aware reasoning.
Cross-border disputes raise a hard first question: whose law, and whose court? Private International Law examines jurisdiction, judgments, choice of law and the enforcement of foreign decisions in Australia and abroad. You'll analyse conflict-of-laws rules for contracts, torts, family, property and company matters, and evaluate anti-suit injunctions in foreign proceedings. You'll finish able to apply private international rules to complex transnational problems.
Clear writing is a lawyer's most powerful tool. Legal Research and Writing teaches you to find the cases, scholarship and sources that matter, and to turn them into plain, persuasive prose. You'll master Australian Guide to Legal Citation referencing, plan and edit your work, and practise professional writing from memoranda to client letters. You'll finish able to research with confidence and write with clarity, structure and academic integrity.
Behind every legal rule sits a theory about what law is for. Legal Theory surveys the major schools, from natural law and positivism to realism, feminist and postmodern jurisprudence, and economic and libertarian approaches. You'll explore how political, ethical and moral philosophies shape law, and the role of religious belief in Western legal foundations. You'll finish with a clearer critical view of your own understanding of the law.
Advocacy is where research becomes persuasion. Legal Advocacy puts you in a moot setting to prepare written and oral submissions, appear before an arbiter and protect a client's interests under pressure. You'll refine court etiquette, handle judicial intervention and conduct rigorous research within tight timeframes. You'll finish able to argue persuasively on paper and on your feet, reflecting on the lawyer's duty to seek justice.
Not every dispute belongs in a courtroom. Alternative Dispute Resolution surveys the methods that resolve conflict without formal adjudication, from negotiation and mediation to arbitration and collaborative processes. You'll build practical skills, examine commercial arbitration in New South Wales and consider international disputes, ethics and enforcement of outcomes. You'll finish ready to choose and apply the right process across workplace, professional and societal settings.
The classroom prepares you; practice tests you. Clinical Legal Education lets you integrate what you have learned into real client work: drafting documents, attending interviews and court hearings, and evaluating complex legal materials. You'll navigate supervision, ethics, confidentiality and conflicts, and reflect on public interest lawyering. You'll finish with professional experience and a clearer sense of your responsibilities as a future lawyer.
Competitive markets need rules that keep them fair. Competition and Consumer Law examines how Australian law regulates markets, from cartels and anti-competitive agreements to mergers, misuse of market power and exclusive dealing. You'll consider the ACCC's enforcement role, the link between competition and consumer provisions, and how technology is reshaping practice. You'll finish able to identify anti-competitive conduct and appraise the law that answers it.
The employment relationship is one of the law's most everyday contracts. Employment Relations Law covers how that contract is formed, what employers and employees owe each other, and how it ends, alongside awards, enterprise agreements, industrial action and work health and safety. You'll apply state and federal frameworks and reflect on the lawyer's duty to promote justice. You'll finish ready to solve employment problems with persistence, independence and integrity.
Tax law decides how income, gains and benefits are treated. Taxation Law builds a working grasp of Australia's income tax, fringe benefits and related legislation, and the key cases that interpret them. You'll evaluate ordinary and statutory income, deductions, capital gains, entities, anti-avoidance rules and tax planning, then compute taxable income and liability. You'll finish able to advise on the tax consequences of transactions and events.
Original legal scholarship starts with a question worth answering. Advanced Legal Research takes your research and writing further: finding a topic, building proof, writing with clarity and preparing work as if for publication. You'll address academic integrity and ethics, evaluate what counts as a real contribution to knowledge, and produce original research with persistence and rigour. You'll finish with a substantial research essay shaped for scholarly standards.
The common law did not grow in a vacuum. Christian Jurisprudence traces how Christian concepts of natural law, natural rights and natural justice shaped English, American and Australian legal traditions. You'll study great common-law jurists, the Rule of Law in the West, American constitutionalism and religious freedom in Australia. You'll finish able to appraise the shared Christian heritage that still echoes in these legal systems.