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Free Speech and Media Law (BLAW10002)
Undergraduate level 1Points: 12.5Dual-Delivery (Parkville)
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 2
Overview
| Availability | Semester 2 - Dual-Delivery |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
Our current laws regarding free speech and media have grown up in an era of mainstream media institutions. Now every individual with a computer or mobile device and access to the internet can record, report and comment on events, and frequently does. The old focus on organised media and largely passive audience is breaking down. As a result, the regulation of free speech and media has to contemplate the whole gamut of media from highly institutionalised to highly diffused, and the question is whether these diverse arrangements can be addressed without unduly constraining public debate.
Principal topics:
- introduction: law's regulation of free speech and media;
- history and philosophy of free speech;
- development of a 'media law': the inherited British tradition of law-making and interpretation, role of the High Court, international influences on local law, etc;
- the High Court's implied constitutional freedom of political communication, comparisons with explicit rights frameworks in other jurisdictions (especially US), problems of the national law approach in an interconnected environment;
- reporting the courts and constraints on freedom of speech: contempt, suppression orders and the right to a fair trial;
- censoring the media: defamation laws and the significant constraints they impose on speech;
- contemporary and comparative defamation laws and their reform;
- confidentiality, privacy and the media;
- the protection of journalists' sources;
- blasphemy and obscenity laws and the shaping of public opinion, racial and religious vilification and other forms of 'offensive' speech; and
- possible futures - disaggregating free speech and media.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject students should:
- Recognise that free speech and the media have various legal connection points;
- appreciate the multiple ways in which free speech and the media may be protected and restricted by the law; and
- understand the basic features of the legal treatment of free speech and the media.
Generic skills
On completion of the subject the student should have:
- Capacity for self-directed learning, specifically the ability to plan work and use time effectively;
- cognitive and analytical skills;
- ability to speak about complex ideas in a clear and cogent manner;
- an awareness of diversity and plurality;
- write essays which develop structured argumentation; and
- capacity to judge the worth of their own arguments.
Last updated: 6 December 2023
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: 6 December 2023
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Discussion board media diary
| Throughout the teaching period | 20% |
Written Assignment
| Week 8 | 30% |
Take home examination
| During the examination period | 50% |
Additional details
The due dates of the above assessment will be available to students via the LMS subject page.
Last updated: 6 December 2023
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Principal coordinator Jason Bosland Mode of delivery Dual-Delivery (Parkville) Contact hours 1 hour lecture and 1.25 hour online tutorial (option of on-campus tutorial). Total time commitment 136 hours Teaching period 26 July 2021 to 24 October 2021 Last self-enrol date 6 August 2021 Census date 31 August 2021 Last date to withdraw without fail 24 September 2021 Assessment period ends 19 November 2021 Semester 2 contact information
Time commitment details
136 hours
Last updated: 6 December 2023
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Specialist materials will be made available via the LMS.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Breadth Track Law - Media and Intellectual Property Law - Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- 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 (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Science
- 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.
Additional information for this subject
If required, please contact law-admissions@unimelb.edu.au for subject coordinator approval.
- 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: 6 December 2023