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Digital Technologies and Labour Law (LAWS90205)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Dual-Delivery (Parkville)
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.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
April
Lecturers
Professor Sean Cooney (Co-Coordinator)
Associate Professor Alysia Blackham (Co-Coordinator)
Email: law-masters@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 8344 6190
Website: law.unimelb.edu.au
Overview
Availability(Quotas apply) | April - Dual-Delivery |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
This subject will be delivered entirely online in 2022.
Digital technologies raise new and challenging issues for labour law. This subject engages students with cutting-edge research on how digital technologies might frame the new world of work, with a focus on both national and transnational developments. The subject engages with key and emerging debates in labour law, including those relating to the regulation of the gig economy, social media and privacy, workplace monitoring, algorithmic discrimination and automation. It considers trends in legal and policy reform (including legislation and court judgements), and the ways in which labour law might need to be reformed to adapt to digital technologies. Drawing on the insights of expert international guests from academia, government and the union movement, it connects students with the leading experts in the field. The lecturers in this subject combine many years of academic scholarship in this area, engagement in law reform debates and practical advice to national and international regulators.
This subject provides a critical examination of the impact of digital technologies on work and labour law. It will focus on federal and Victorian jurisdictions, but also refer to international developments (including those at the ILO, in the European Union and the United States).
Principal topics will include:
- ‘Gig’ work, precarity and employment status, particularly where mediated through digital labour platforms;
- Algorithms, machine learning and equality law;
- Automation of work;
- Off-shoring and global work;
- Organising and collective bargaining in a digital age;
- Workplace monitoring, surveillance, and privacy;
- Social media in recruitment and disciplinary proceedings;
- Remote work and workplace inclusion.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Have an advanced and integrated understanding of how the legal principles of Australian labour law relate to advancements in digital technology
- Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess the effectiveness of these legal rules
- Be an engaged participant in debate regarding emerging and contemporary issues in the field, such as the gig economy, automatic, workplace surveillance, global work, remote work, and digital collective bargaining
- Have a sophisticated appreciation of the factors and processes driving parliamentary revision of the legal framework.
Generic skills
A student who has successfully completed this subject should:
- Have the cognitive and technical skills to generate critical and creative ideas relating to digital technologies and labour law, and to critically evaluate existing legal theories, principles and concepts with creativity and autonomy;
- Have the cognitive and technical skills to independently examine, research and analyse existing and emerging legal issues relating to digital technologies and labour law;
- Have the communication skills to clearly articulate and convey complex information regarding digital technologies and labour law to relevant specialist and non- specialist audiences;
- Be able to demonstrate autonomy, expert judgment and responsibility as a practitioner and learner in the field of labour law.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Admission into a relevant Melbourne Law Masters program
AND
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS70371 | Principles of Employment Law |
November (On Campus - Parkville)
March (Online)
|
12.5 |
or equivalent.
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: 31 January 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Assessment 1: Presentation
| During the teaching period | 10% |
Assessment 2, Option 1: Take-home exam
| 1 - 4 July 2022 | 90% |
Assessment 2, Option 2: Research essay on a topic approved by the Subject Coordinator(s)
| 27 July 2022 | 90% |
Attendance Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance. Note: the attendance hurdle does not apply when the subject is delivered online, however attendance at all live online sessions is expected. | N/A |
Additional details
Note: Students must choose assessment from the options listed above. If an option contains parts, all parts must be completed if that option is chosen.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- April
Principal coordinator Sean Cooney Coordinator Alysia Blackham Mode of delivery Dual-Delivery (Parkville) Contact hours Students are expected to attend all sessions whether participating on-campus or remotely. Total time commitment 170 hours Pre teaching start date 30 March 2022 Pre teaching requirements Please refer to the Reading Guide on the LMS subject page for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences. Teaching period 27 April 2022 to 3 May 2022 Last self-enrol date 4 April 2022 Census date 28 April 2022 Last date to withdraw without fail 17 June 2022 Assessment period ends 27 July 2022 April contact information
Lecturers
Professor Sean Cooney (Co-Coordinator)
Associate Professor Alysia Blackham (Co-Coordinator)Email: law-masters@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 8344 6190
Website: law.unimelb.edu.au
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students.
Enrolment is on a 'first in' basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of waitlisted 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.
Melbourne Law School may reserve places in a subject for incoming international cohorts or where a subject is core to a specialisation with limited alternate options.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Specialist materials will be made available via the LMS in 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
If required, please contact law-masters@unimelb.edu.au for subject coordinator approval.
Last updated: 31 January 2024