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Consumer Law (BLAW20003)
Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5Online
From 2023 most subjects will be taught on campus only with flexible options limited to a select number of postgraduate programs and individual subjects.
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Overview
Availability | Summer Term - Online |
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Fees | Look up fees |
This subject examines the principal components of Australian consumer law. Parts 1 and 2 survey the relevant law and consider the purpose and policy issues associated with protecting consumers. Parts 3-9 then focus on the protections created by the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), the enforcement of those protections and the remedies available to consumers when they are not complied with. Consumer Law has a practical orientation, designed to assist consumers to know, understand and pursue their rights.
Topics include:
1. Scope
• Overview of consumer protection in Australia
• The Australian Consumer Law regime (ACL)
• Who are consumers?
2. Purpose and economics of consumer protection
• The policy objectives of the ACL
• Indigenous consumer policy
• The costs and merits of consumer protection
3. Misleading conduct and false representations
• Misleading or deceptive conduct
• False or misleading advertising
• False or misleading representations
• Scams
4. Unconscionable or unfair conduct or terms
• Unfair practices
• Unconscionable conduct
• Unfair contract terms
• Unfair pricing or prices
5. Consumer transactions
• Guarantees for goods and services
• Supplier warranties
• Door to door transactions
• Lay-by agreements
• Gift cards
• Proof and billing
6. Product safety and liability
• Safety standards and bans
• Information standards
• Manufacturers’ liability
7. Financial services and credit
• Scope and operation of the ASIC Act
• Regulation of consumer credit
8. Electronic transactions
• Jurisdictional issues
• Social media and website liability
• Online auctions
• Electronic contracting
9. Enforcement and remedies
• Public enforcement
• Industry codes
• Consumer remedies
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Explain the policy objectives that underpin consumer protection legislation
- Examine different forms of business behaviour with a view to identifying consumer protection law issues
- Undertake statutory interpretation
- Analyse and apply case law
- Construct and communicate a written legal argument based on understanding the facts, identifying the issues, analysing the applicable law and applying the law to the facts.
Generic skills
Successfully completing this subject will develop the following generic skills:
- The capacity for close reading and analysis of a range of sources
- The capacity to communicate, orally and in writing
- The capacity to plan and manage time
- The capacity to solve problems, including through the collection and evaluation of information.
Discipline specific skills
Successfully completing Consumer Law, will also develop the following skills specific to the discipline of law; the ability and capacity to
- Analyse and solve consumer law problems by collecting and evaluating information from a variety of sources
- Communicate solutions to consumer law problems orally and in writing
- Critically analyse complex materials.
Last updated: 9 February 2025