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The Law and the Athlete (LAWS90173)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Not available in 2022
From 2023 most subjects will be taught on campus only with flexible options limited to a select number of postgraduate programs and individual subjects.
To learn more, visit COVID-19 course and subject delivery.
Overview
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This subject provides a critical examination of the development and current scope of sports bodies’ duty of care to participants, as relevant to athlete welfare, wellbeing and safety. It will focus on the federal and Victorian jurisdictions but will also be informed by international and comparative perspectives.
This subject is taught by former Olympian Tal Karp and Australian Institute of Sport's Richard Redman (Manager, Conduct & Professionalism). Both are highly qualified and experienced lawyers.
Principal topics will include:
- A working definition of the meaning and scope of duty of care and athlete welfare in sport;
- An analysis of the framework and key features of federal and state legislative provisions relevant to sports bodies within a duty of care context, including the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic), the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and the Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth);
- Debates regarding the meaning of equality, discrimination and other contested concepts such as “athlete wellbeing”, especially as it relates to high performance athletes;
- An examination of the general member protection provisions in federal and state law pertinent to sports bodies and particularly as relating to children;
- The application of occupational health and safety law to sport;
- An examination of human rights law compliance within the sports sector in Australia both at state and federal level;
- Conciliation, dispute resolution and alternative remedies for athlete grievances with a sporting body;
- The potential for future developments in the field.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess the effectiveness of these legal rules;
- Have an appreciation of sports bodies' duty of care and athlete welfare in a comparative international and human rights context;
- Be an engaged participant in the debate regarding the emerging and contemporary expectations on sports bodies towards participants and including those of an ethical, medical and legal nature;
- Have the cognitive and technical skills to generate critical and creative ideas relating to sports bodies' duty of care and athlete welfare, and to critically evaluate existing legal theories, principles and concepts with creativity and autonomy;
- Be able to demonstrate autonomy, expert judgment and responsibility as a practitioner and learner in the field of sports law generally;
- Have an advanced and integrated understanding of the legal principles of Australian law within the context of sport, including recent developments in this field of law and practice;
- Have the communication skills to clearly articulate and convey complex information relating to sports bodies' organisational duty of care to relevant specialist and non-specialist audiences;
- Have an advanced understanding of situations in which issues of potential breaches of a sport's duty of care may arise pertaining to athlete well-being and safety in personal or work relationships and management practices.
Generic skills
On completion of the subject, students should have developed the following skills:
- Mastery of both the principal practical areas of concern and the underpinning theoretical concepts of sports bodies' organisational duty of care towards athletes and including their wellbeing, welfare and safety;
- Expert, specialised cognitive and technical skills for critical and independent thought and reflection in this aspect of sports law and practice;
- Mastery of technical research skills relevant to sports bodies' organisational duty of care;
- Expert, specialised cognitive, creative and technical skills to solve problems, including through the critical evaluation of research relevant to athlete welfare and including the legal implications of athlete-participant safety; and
- The ability to expertly communicate specialised and complex information, ideas, concepts and theories relevant to sports bodies' organisational duty of care towards all athletes – elite, amateur and children.
Last updated: 24 January 2023
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Students must meet one of the following prerequisite options:
Option 1
Admission into a relevant Melbourne Law Masters program
Option 2
Admission into the MC-JURISD Juris Doctor
AND
| Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWS50025 | Torts | Semester 1 (Dual-Delivery - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
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: 24 January 2023
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Research paper
| 13 January 2021 | 100% |
| Hurdle requirement: Minimum 75% attendance is a hurdle requirement. | N/A |
Last updated: 24 January 2023
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2022
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students.
Enrolment is on a first come, first served basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of places in subjects will be given as follows:
- To currently enrolled Graduate Diploma and Masters students with a satisfactory record in their degree
- To other students enrolling on a single subject basis, eg Community Access Program (CAP) students, cross-institutional study and cross-faculty study.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Last updated: 24 January 2023
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Specialist materials will be made available from Melbourne Law School during the pre-teaching period.
- 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.
Additional information for this subject
Email law-admissions@unimelb.edu.au with any entry requirement queries.
- 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: 24 January 2023