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Law and Indigenous Peoples (LAWS90008)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
To learn more, visit 2023 Course and subject delivery.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Overview
Availability(Quotas apply) | Semester 1 |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
The settler legal system in Australia has been built upon dispossession and erasure of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as well as their land, laws and knowledges. Law continues to closely (over)regulate the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, while failing to properly protect Indigenous interests. This course will investigate the variety of ways in which settler law has operated to afford (and deny) rights and interests to Indigenous people, both as individuals and as polities.
In this subject we will engage together with questions of Indigeneity, voice, recognition of Indigenous legal systems, settler-colonialism, sovereignty and self-determination as they relate to Australian legal systems and institutions. On this basis, the course will build upon and also reconsider the hegemonic knowledges introduced across a range of compulsory units in the Juris Doctor – including Principles of Public Law, Constitutional Law, Property, Criminal Law and Administrative Law.
The subject brings together these bodies of law to engage with the emerging debates in Australian law and politics – such as who gets do define Aboriginality and how, how our Constitutional arrangements can best recognise and respond to Indigenous peoples, and how settler law and legal institutions may better account for the ongoing practice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal systems.
This course will place emphasis on engaging directly with key leaders in Indigenous justice, and engage closely with Indigenous writings on how to respond to and challenge the injustices towards Indigenous peoples perpetuated by the settler-colonial state. We will also consider and seek to build the skills and knowledges, including self-knowledge, which lawyers require to work effectively alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their justice movements.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject students will:
- Recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values as they relate to the diversity of Indigenous systems of law and justice operating in Australia today, and compare and contrast these to the values underpinning the settler legal system in Australia.
- Understand and articulate key debates around the legal definition of Indigeneity in Australia and the impacts of these debates on the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
- Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of a range of critical and theoretical perspectives on the relationship between the Australian settler state and Indigenous peoples, and key frameworks for understanding Indigenous rights and resistance in Australia.
- Critically analyse the ways in which Australian law is similar to, and differs from, other settler states and international law in the regulation of state-Indigenous relationships;
- Express their views clearly in writing and orally and to contribute to constructive public and scholarly debates on issues relating to Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination;
- Demonstrate analytic and problem-solving skills necessary to engage with complex legal disputes involving Indigenous peoples and their interests
- Develop racial literacy with the ability to critically evaluate specific representations of Indigenous Australians and settler Australians within legal texts;
- Demonstrate an understanding and put into practice key protocols and knowledges relevant to respectfully working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in legal practice.
Generic skills
- Develop arguments as to the appropriate legal principles to apply in various contexts by creatively and critically evaluating Australian law as it relates to Indigenous peoples;
- Enhance their personal and professional skills, including learning autonomously, being accountable for one's work, self-reflection on performance and ethical professional conduct;
- Facilitate discussion around key debates to extend their own and their colleagues learning;
- Conduct self-directed research on topics relevant to this complex, cross-disciplinary field of law in written work showing evidence of critical thought, sophisticated analysis, self-reflection and rigorous argumentation;
- Present arguments in the form of written and oral work that is clear, responsive to purpose and in which arguments and claims are appropriately structured, developed, supported and referenced;
- Demonstrate reflection skills, including the ability to engage in high-level analysis and critical reflection, and to develop and articulate legal reform ideas for social change based on theoretical and empirical knowledge of the operation of the law.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Admission into the MC-JURISD Juris Doctor
AND
All of
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS50023 | Legal Method and Reasoning | Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50024 | Principles of Public Law | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50025 | Torts | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50026 | Obligations | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50028 | Constitutional Law | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50029 | Contracts | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS90140 | Disputes and Ethics | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS70114 | Human Rights of Groups | No longer available |
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 |
---|---|---|
Participation | Throughout the teaching period | 10% |
Interim reflective assessment (marking code 3)
| During the teaching period | 15% |
Facilitate classroom discussion on assigned reading
| During the teaching period | 10% |
Legal writing (marking code 2)
| During the examination period | 65% |
Additional details
The due date of the above assessment will be available to students via the Assessment Schedule on the LMS Community.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- Semester 1
Principal coordinator Eddie Cubillo Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours Total time commitment 144 hours Teaching period 27 February 2023 to 28 May 2023 Last self-enrol date 10 March 2023 Census date 31 March 2023 Last date to withdraw without fail 5 May 2023 Assessment period ends 23 June 2023
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Additional delivery details
This subject has an enrolment quota of 60 students. Your subject enrolment will not be confirmed until the selection process has been run. Selection is conducted on a random basis with outcomes communicated to students shortly after re-enrolment closes. Please refer to the Melbourne Law School website for more information on the JD Quota Elective selection process.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
- Specialist printed materials will also be made available from the Melbourne Law School.
- Supplementary materials will be provided via the LMS (Readings Online).
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Juris Doctor - 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: 31 January 2024