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Health Law, Ethics and Society (LAWS20013)
Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
Availability | Semester 2 |
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Fees | Look up fees |
This subject will be delivered online in 2020 over the scheduled dates.
This subject is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of some of the current legal and ethical issues arising in promoting and protecting human health in contemporary society. It will engage students to think about human health, illness and disability through the traditional legal framework of legislation and case law and to introduce them to some of the different ethical approaches commonly applied in this area, including utilitarianism, human rights, ethics of care, principle-based ethics and Kantian ethics.
The subject will use case studies to explore specific health issues and evaluate how well ethical theories address competing values and perspectives in relation to health. In class, we may consider different works of fiction and non- fiction, newspaper articles, film and works of art that depict the topic of the week in the context of health in society.
We will consider current health dilemmas that arise from pre-birth to end of life decisions, which will include a selection of the following issues:
- Issues at beginning of life, including ethical and legal questions about the status of the embryo, the welfare of the child to be born and the role of the state in regulating reproductive choice about abortion, selective reproduction, surrogacy and donor conception.
- The limits of consent, including body modification surgery, gender reassignment treatment, male and female circumcision, refusal of treatment by parents, decision-making by minors and complex situations where the individual has diminished capacity or mental health issues.
- Emerging health technologies.
- Public health concerns including organ donation, the legal response to communicable diseases for example, Ebola and Zika viruses, and non-communicable diseases, such as those related to lifestyle factors, for example, tobacco use.
- Decision making at the end of life, including advance care decisions, withholding and withdrawing life sustaining treatment and assisted dying.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed the subject should have:
- Acquired a general knowledge of some of the major human health issues in contemporary society
- Obtained an overview of legal, regulatory and ethical issues arising in human health
- Explored legal and ethical issues in human health through a variety of contemporary media sources including, fiction and non-fiction, film and works of art
- Applied the relevant law and selected ethical theories to a range of topical factual scenarios in human health
Generic skills
On completion of this subject, students should have:
- Developed oral skills through contributing to tutorial discussion groups;
- Developed analytical style writing skills through preparation for tutorials and the assignments; and
- Developed an attitude to learning which views pre-reading, reflection and class discussion as essential to learning.
In addition, on completion of the subject, students should have developed the following skills more specific to the discipline of law:
- Developed strategies for responding to legal and ethical issues in contemporary health topics.
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Assessment
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Report: analysis of legal and ethical aspects of a contemporary health issue
| Week 6 | 30% |
Research essay from choice of 10 topics
| End of semester | 70% |
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Coordinators Paula O'Brien, Michelle Taylor-Sands, and Carolyn Johnston Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 1 x 1.5 hours recorded content; 1 x 45 min online tutorial Total time commitment 150 hours Teaching period 3 August 2020 to 1 November 2020 Last self-enrol date 14 August 2020 Census date 21 September 2020 Last date to withdraw without fail 16 October 2020 Assessment period ends 27 November 2020
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 19 March 2024