Digital Technologies and Labour Law (LAWS90205)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Not available in 2025
About this subject
Overview
| Fees | Look up fees |
|---|
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, and the use of regulatory technologies. 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;
- The use of regulatory technologies by statutory agencies.
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.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Option 1
Admission into a relevant Melbourne Law Masters program
| Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWS70371 | Principles of Employment Law |
November (On Campus - Parkville)
March (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
or equivalent.
Option 2
Admission into the MC-JURISD Juris Doctor
| Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWS50064 | Employment Law |
Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are taught at an advanced graduate level and requires a thorough background in common law. While efforts are made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, teaching and assessment activities are designed to give an advanced and integrated understanding of the discipline of law for legal practitioners, learners and researchers.
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: 4 March 2025
Assessment
April
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Assessment 1: Presentation
| During the teaching period | 10% |
Assessment 2, Option 1: Take-home exam
| 14 - 17 June 2024 | 90% |
Assessment 2, Option 2: Research essay on a topic approved by the Subject Coordinator(s)
| 19 June 2024 | 90% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance is required. | 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: 4 March 2025
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2025
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 a quota of 30 students.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters enrolment webpage for further information about re-enrolment, 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: 4 March 2025
Further information
- Texts
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Laws Course Graduate Diploma in Employment and Labour Relations Law Course Master of Employment and Labour Relations Law Course Graduate Diploma in Laws - 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.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If subject coordinator approval is required prior to enrolment, or for further information about the pre-requisites for Community Access Program study, please contact us:
- prospective CAP student enquiries;
- existing CAP student enquiries (if you have a current Unimelb login).
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
Last updated: 4 March 2025