Graduate Diploma in Government Law

This subject canvasses a wide range of the most challenging current questions in comparative constitutional law. It does so from a global perspective, which appreciates the diversity of constitutional arrangements across the world while acknowledging their interconnections and their many shared problems. The issues on which the subject focusses in 2025 range across questions of method to problems of substance and will be explored both conceptually and empirically. Each seminar is led by a comparative scholar affiliated with Melbourne Law School, drawing on the resources of one of the leading comparative constitutional law centres in the world.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The challenges of constitutional comparison
• Democracy and its discontents
• Legal and constitutional pluralism
• Comparative Indigenous constitutionalism
• Interpreting Constitutions
• Constitutional cultures
• Federalism in the Global South
• Constitutional amendment and change
• Fourth branch institutions
• Political parties
• Knowledge institutions
• Constitutions and climate change
• International leverage and national constitutions

The subject coordinators will ensure interlinkages between seminars and will draw the subject together in a final seminar on future directions. The subject should be of considerable interest to Australian and international students from all regions of the world.

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From one of the earliest concerns of political philosophy to the subject of a treaty ratified by almost every country in the world, corruption has played a fascinating role in human affairs. Corruption’s importance as a matter of law and policy has grown in recent decades, thanks to increasing awareness of its devastating effects on development efforts, human rights, democracies, economies, and environmental protection efforts. Responding to that growing importance, this subject provides an overview of domestic, regional, and global approaches to corruption.

Although this seminar provides an overview of many aspects of anti-corruption law and policy, it covers issues of political corruption in greater depth, such as bribery of public officials, campaign and party financing, lobbying, and conflicts of interest. It also covers in greater depth several current issues in Australian anti-corruption law—including the ideal role of the recently-established National Anti-Corruption Commission—and several “global pressure points”—including the effects of corruption on climate change mitigation efforts.

The domestic approaches examined in this subject include those undertaken by Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, as well as several Latin American and Asian countries. The regional approaches targeted include those sponsored by the Organization of American States, the Asian Development Bank, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the World Bank. Finally, at the global level, this seminar covers the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

Entering into force in 2005 and obtaining 191 States Parties by August 2024, UNCAC has brought about a comprehensive, global approach to corruption. This subject explores the five pillars of that approach—international cooperation, preventative measures, criminalisation and law enforcement measures, asset recovery, and technical assistance and information exchange—and their relationship with domestic and regional initiatives. A major question at this stage will be UNCAC’s ability (or potential) to improve those pre-existing initiatives.

At each of its three levels of legal inquiry (domestic, regional, and global), this seminar examines questions of substantive law (what conduct is targeted), procedure (how are suspected violations of the law exposed and addressed), institutions (how is each legal framework administered and modified), and effectiveness. This subject addresses not only the merits of anti-corruption law, but the criticisms and dangers of it as well.

Although this subject relies primarily on legal analysis, it also applies perspectives and findings from the fields of economics, history, and political science. That interdisciplinarity enables the consideration of the broader questions that inform anti-corruption law. Those questions include: How are definitions and patterns of corruption changing over time? What effects does corruption have on development, businesses, local economies, and global capitalism? What effects does it have on human rights, democratisation, elections, and lawmaking? What lessons have been learned about the effectiveness of different legal approaches to corruption? How could domestic, regional, and international anti-corruption initiatives be improved?

indicative list of principal topics:

• What is corruption? How is corruption defined by different legal regimes?
• How does corruption manifest in distinct environments, including campaign and party finance, elections, lawmaking, law enforcement, government procurement, business, international development and climate change mitigation efforts, and banking and finance? What are corruption’s economic, political, and social effects?
• What are the regulatory challenges involved in preventing, exposing, and punishing corruption in its distinct environments? To what extent have domestic, regional, and international legal regimes been successful in meeting those challenges?
• How could those laws and institutions be improved? In particular, what are the main successes and shortcomings of the UN system for preventing and combating corruption? What are its prospects for improvement?
• What are the different roles that lawyers play in addressing corruption? What skill sets do they employ?

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject focuses on the effectiveness of legislation. Legislation plays a fundamental, and ever more significant, role in our legal systems. Many lawyers and policy analysts advise on proposals for legislative change. But this is often done without explicit frameworks for assessing the effectiveness of legislation, the ways in which legislation has failed or risks failing, and strategies and design options for reducing the risk of failure.

This course explores what it means for legislation to be effective. It takes as its starting point the critical analysis of failed laws, identifying common process errors and design flaws that contribute to such failures. It explores some common criticisms of legislation: that it is too uncertain, too prescriptive, too inflexible, too complex. It moves on to explore law reform strategies and legislative design options that can reduce the risk of failure, and the institutional prerequisites for those design options to be effective. Particular attention is paid to the challenges of designing legislation in the context of imperfect information and a changing environment, including the implications of technological change and the opportunities and challenges of automated decision-making, including use of algorithms and AI.

The subject will be of considerable interest to Australian and international students with an interest in the law reform and policy process. It is especially well suited to students with practical experience in these fields.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• What it means for legislation to be effective,
• Approaches to assessing the effectiveness of legislation,
• Analysing the nature and causes of legislative failure,
• Understanding interdependencies between legislation and the institutions that apply it,
• Strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of legislation,
• Complex legislation: causes of complexity and design options for reducing complexity,
• Designing legislation for an uncertain and changing world.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The executive is the branch of the constitutional order we associate with ‘the government’, as well as the branch whose conduct we primarily have in mind when we speak of the demands of ‘the rule of law’. The executive is also the most fluid and elusive branch of the constitutional order, in the sense that determining who or what is ‘the executive’ presents conceptual as well as practical puzzles. Executive branch actors and activities in Australia today, for example, feature a complex mix of logics and institutions inherited from the twentieth century ‘welfare state’ and ‘neoliberal’ and ‘managerial’ tools and commitments that have gained dominance since.

The aim of this subject is to bring these puzzles into focus by examining different conceptual, legal and practical expressions of the contemporary executive branch, in theory and practice. We begin by interrogating the location and role of executive branch actors and activities within the constitutional order and their relation to law and the ideal of ‘the rule of law’. We then examine the key ideas, objectives, features, operational logics and institutional structures typically associated with nine different expressions of the executive branch: bureaucracy, provider of social welfare, administrative decision-maker, algorithm, market facilitator, manager, contractual party, regulator, and lawmaker. Insights taken from these studies are then brought to an investigation of two Australian case studies to provoke reflection on the implications of the legal, conceptual and practical complexity of contemporary executive branch actors and activities for relationships between people and their governments and commitment to the ideal of ‘the rule of law’.

Indicative list of principal topics: ·

• Introducing ‘the executive branch’
• The executive branch and ‘the rule of law’
• The executive as bureaucracy
• The executive as provider of social welfare
• The executive as administrative decision-make
• The executive as algorithm
• The executive as market facilitator
• The executive as manager
• The executive as contractual part
• The executive as regulator
• The executive as lawmaker
• Case study #1 (eg, outsourced prison management
• Case study #2 (eg, social housing reform and regulation)

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject canvasses a series of cutting-edge issues in public law at an advanced level that requires deep analysis and critical thinking. While its primary focus is public law in Australia, many of the issues are relevant in common law systems elsewhere and comparative experiences are used to throw light on Australian law and practice. The issues range widely across constitutional and administrative law. Each seminar is led by one of Melbourne Law School’s leading experts in the field.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Judicial and merits review
• Non-statutory executive power
• Parameters of responsible government in Australia
• Treaties and agreements with Indigenous peoples
• Judicial power and punitive measures
• Citizenship
• Resource and environmental management in the Australian federation
• Political communication in a digital era
• Statutory bills of rights
• Climate change litigation
• Constitutional concepts of property
• External dimensions of the Australian Constitution
• ‘Fourth branch’ institutions.

The subject coordinators will ensure interlinkages between seminars and will draw the subject together in a final seminar on future directions. The subject should be of considerable interest to Australian students, to international students from common law countries and to all students curious about the latest developments in public law from a common law perspective.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This topical subject deals with the interface between private law and public law in common law systems from the perspectives of history, doctrine, theory and practice. It will explore the traditional absence of such a division in the common law, and the reasons for this, as a basis for understanding the relevance of the distinction in the contemporary legal system. The subject will critically assess the distinction from a theoretical perspective, testing whether the idea of a distinction between public law and private law can withstand scrutiny. A range of cutting-edge doctrinal issues will be examined and placed in wider context. These include whether public law principles should extend to the activities of non-governmental entities such as private firms and charities; whether the law should recognise a special set of rules to regulate public contracts; whether public authorities should be governed by the ordinary law of tort or a set of special administrative liability principles; procedural divisions between public law and private law; the role of the public interest in private remedies and of private remedies in public law cases; and whether public law issues should be heard by specialist administrative courts. The subject should be of interest to lawyers working in any field in a common law legal system and to those trained in the different traditions of the civil law who are interested in better understanding the structures and assumptions of the common law.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• History of the concept of public law in common law legal systems
• Concepts of public and private
• Implications of a distinction between public law and private law
• Overview of current practice
• Law applicable to non-governmental entities
• Legal framework for public contracts
• Liability of public authorities
• Remedies
• Specialist or generalist courts.

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Royal commissions and other forms of public inquiries are used by all governments. Inquiries such as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, the Hayne Banking Royal Commission and the Covid-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry are a frequent response by government to a major issue or event. Most Australian governments also have standing bodies with inquisitorial powers. The Federal Government has a variety of standing commissions, such as the Australian Crime Commission and the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Nearly every state now has a corruption commission, and several have crime commissions and police integrity bodies, all with coercive investigative powers. Coronial inquests occur in every state and territory. Lawyers advising clients affected by these inquiries require a detailed knowledge of their procedural rules, administrative and constitutional law, procedural fairness, common law privileges and other rights.

This subject is designed to equip students to deal with such inquiries at any level, whether in government departments, the private bars, working as solicitors or in corporate law offices, or as legal advisers to corporations.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Introduction to public inquiries
• Appointment and composition
• Supply of information
• Power to compel
• Limits on the power to compel, including public interest immunity, privilege against self-incrimination and privileges of parliament
• Application of administrative law, including procedural fairness and judicial review
• The role of counsel assisting
• Legal representation and assistance
• Contempt
• Reopening of completed inquiries.

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In the first half of the 20th century most civil actions were for causes of action not much affected by statute: trespass, negligence, libel and slander, breach of contract and the various forms of equitable suit. Most criminal prosecutions were for offences created by statute but whose elements were treated as identified largely by judge-made law. There were great codifying acts; intellectual property acts, facultative acts, and regulatory statutes, but judge-made law was of central and dominating importance. The second half of the 20th century saw many changes. Statute became the central and dominating form of regulation of rights and obligations. The proper construction and application of statutes always has been, but now more than ever is, an essential legal skill. This subject seeks to develop and refine those skills by seeking to have students consider basic questions about legal thought and legal reasoning and then apply those lessons to the tasks of construction and application.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Legal thought and legal reasoning – Framing the right question, assembling and stating relevant arguments and reaching a concluded view
• Construction—a text-based activity but involving more than a dictionary in one hand and the text in the other
• The importance of the constitutional framework and other basic assumptions
• The search for meaning and the metaphor of intention
• The place of Interpretation legislation, including rights Acts
• The canons of construction, their use and abuse ('canons to the right of them; canons to the left of them; on into the valley of death')
• Ambiguity and its resolution, including the use of extrinsic materials
• Inconsistencies, repeals, amendment, consolidation and retrospectivity
• The legislative misfire
• Special rules for special areas
• Rules and regulations—power to make, construction and use in construing the legislation
• Overarching theories and descriptions of the construction process.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The “administrative state” is the combination of many agencies and bureaucratic institutions exercising the practical power of government. It is traditionally aligned with the executive branch, and is subject to administrative law. But the administrative state is undergoing significant change in many Western liberal legal systems, due to the rapid uptake of algorithmic tools and decision support systems. For example, the United Kingdom’s Home Office used an automated system to make initial decisions on people’s visa applications, in a process that was later found to introduce racist discrimination. Where will these changes lead us? How does the turn to artificial intelligence (AI) further the aims and activities of the executive branch of government? In what ways does AI introduce tensions and conflicts, and how is it connected with broader transformations—intended and unintended?

In this subject, students will gain knowledge of the technical systems being deployed in the administrative state today, as well as a broad overview of the impacts of algorithmic technologies. These include changes to decision-making, organisational change, the evolution of administrative processes, and involvement in transformative ideas like “government as a platform”. These changes will be considered in light of emerging public law and broader regulatory frameworks, including shifts in public law doctrine and fundamental principles.

Students will also have the opportunity to consider bigger-picture effects on the rule of law, legitimacy and authority, public values, and changing modes of evaluation that accompany hybrid human-machine systems. The administrative state has always been a hybrid of political, technical and legal form – combining professional bureaucracy, scientific management and efficiency goals with political and normative theory, doctrinal law and resonant social values. Amidst contemporary debates over AI ethics, fairness and safety, the administrative state is a uniquely important site for examining the impact of data-driven algorithmic technologies on democratic institutions and public values.

We will make regular reference to the Australian content, but examples and issues for discussion will be drawn also from the UK, USA, and the EU.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Comparative Constitutional Studies is an important field of study and research in our times. It involves the study of different constitutions from across the world. This subject will cover the broad field but also focus specifically on the experience of Asian nations.

The title of this subject indicates that its focus is not just on the study of constitutional texts, but also on constitutional politics. At the start of the subject, we will seek to gain an understanding of the broader field of comparative constitutional law/studies, and its approaches and methods. With this background, we will seek to understand aspects of constitutionalism in Asia.

The field of comparative constitutional studies has had, since 2010, to grapple with the rise of authoritarianism around the world. In this course, we will focus on the phenomenon of ‘Caesarism’ which seeks to bring some clarity to concepts such as authoritarianism/populism/constitutional retrogression that are generally used to describe politics in the contemporary period. A specific issue of scrutiny will be how courts and constitutional adjudication in particular are affected by the rise of Caesarist forms of politics, and how they, in turn, have sought to respond.

Students taking this subject will be able to first obtain an understanding of broader issues and debates in the field of comparative constitutional studies before undertaking individual research projects on topics they will choose to work upon under the supervision of the instructor.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Introduction to comparative constitutional studies and research methods
• The history, theory and practice of Constitutions
• Varieties of Constitutions/Constitutionalism
• Constitutions/Constitutionalism in Asia
• Constitutions in authoritarian regimes
• Constitutional Adjudication, including in authoritarian regimes

View detailed information in the Handbook

Whilst the High Court has recognised and applied an implied constitutional guarantee of freedom of governmental and political communication, speech on matters of public interest in Australia remains subject to a wide range of legal limitations, many of which would be struck down as unconstitutional in other common law jurisdictions. This subject explores the limitations on free speech that arise as a result of proceedings and processes initiated by arms of the state and prosecutorial authorities: legislative, executive and judicial, and from censorship of sexually-explicit material to restrictions applying to the advocacy of terrorism. Those restrictions profoundly affect the material that may be published by the media. It is the impact of the current restrictions on free speech on both the media and on non-media elements of civil society that are the focus of this subject. Taken individually and collectively, these regimes limit the access of Australians to speech that matters.

This subject provides an examination of Australian law affecting the media’s ability to report the courts, the executive and parliament.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Environmental law deals with pressing legal and social issues within Australia and internationally that range from biodiversity protection to waste reduction. This subject provides an overview of fundamental environmental law concepts and principles, such as the precautionary principle. It charts the evolution of Australian environmental law in response to global environmental challenges, such as climate change, as well as national regulatory reforms. The subject equips students with a thorough grounding in environmental impact assessment law by reference to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth). It examines the regulatory tools and approaches relevant to pollution control and ecological protection– including market mechanisms and offset models. This subject introduces international environmental law; dealing with issues such as trans-boundary harm and World Heritage protection, that have shaped Australian environmental law.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The scope of environmental law – nationally and internationally – including transboundary regulation.
• The multidisciplinary character of environmental law and regulation that needs to respond to complex, multilevel environmental problems.
• The diversity of environmental law approaches from the common law through direct regulation to market measures and community engagement.

These themes are illustrated by case studies in the following areas:

• Environmental law: Principles and concepts
• Environmental actors, including public interest litigation with a focus on biodiversity protection
• The procedures and substantive law governing impact assessment and development approvals.
• Legal and regulatory tools used in environmental law, including duty of care concepts in pollution laws.
• The interaction of law and science, with a focus on the precautionary principle
• Implementation, compliance and enforcement in Environmental Law
• International environmental law, including biodiversity protection, world heritage cases and climate change governance.

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Developments such as the decision to appoint a UN special rapporteur on human rights and climate change are significant milestones in the long-time efforts by international institutions and advocates to recognise and address the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the enjoyment of human rights. UN institutions and international treaty bodies responsible for human rights and environmental matters have over many years taken steps to deal with the serious impacts that climate change has on the rights to life, culture, health, food and an adequate standard of living for individuals and communities across the world. Advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have also provided insights on these matters. Meanwhile, advocates have initiated proceedings before courts and other complaints bodies claiming that human rights have been violated as a result of climate change. In the process, existing human rights have been repurposed towards environmental ends, and rights to a healthy environment and a safe climate have emerged for international recognition.

This course will introduce and explore the main concepts, laws, institutions and policies at the intersection of international human rights law and international law on climate change. Through an examination of treaties and case law, it will consider how international law and policy is being developed to protect human rights affected by climate change.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The human rights of particular groups – including Indigenous Peoples, children and displaced people – affected by climate change.
• The different responsibilities of nations and businesses to address the human rights impacts of climate change.
• Key developments in UN bodies, treaty institutions and courts dealing respectively with human rights and environmental protection, including existing and emerging human rights such as the right to a healthy environment.
• Critical perspectives on the use of human rights law and procedures to tackle harms arising from greenhouse gas emissions.
• The international movement on rights of nature as part of the context in which international human rights law is evolving to address climate change.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Since 11 September 2001, there has been a global trend towards enacting new laws and adopting new measures against terrorism, reflected in developments on the national, regional and international levels. Many such counter-terrorism laws and measures have raised questions about the nature of human rights law, and the extent of its adaptability in face of security imperatives. Others have revealed clear human rights violations and exposed the fragility of respect for the rule of law. Responses by the courts and international mechanisms have had a role to play in redressing this reality in various ways, but they too have met challenges. This subject addresses the international law framework within which responses to terrorism, and to counter-terrorism, unfold. It considers human rights law in the context of other relevant areas of international law and practice, such as humanitarian law and the law on peace and security. It examines legal questions not in abstract but by reference to examples from practice, and in light of the many real-life challenges to giving effect to the law in the security context today. It provides a stock-taking review and questions the human rights implications of global counter-terrorism practice.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• What is ‘terrorism’ and how does it fit within the framework of international law?
• Do terrorists violate human rights, and can they be held accountable?
• Which human rights are affected by counter-terrorism measures by states and how they are affected in practice?
• Is the prohibition against torture absolute, and what have been the challenges in practice since 9/11?
• How has the criminal law adjusted, and expanded, in recent years and what are the implications?
• Have restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly been legitimate?
• How has terrorist listing and sanctions against individuals and entities developed and what human rights issues arise?
• What implications are there for refugee and immigration law in the era of terrorism?
• What is the phenomenon of ‘foreign terrorist fighters’ and legal responses to it?
• How has the right to privacy been eroded in the name of countering terrorism, and when is surveillance lawful?
• What are strategic approaches to preventing and combating terrorism, and what are the long –term implications of trends in counter-terrorism practice to date?

View detailed information in the Handbook

This highly topical subject analyses the rights of Indigenous peoples in Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand. Topics are discussed within a framework of encounter and include land and resource rights; doctrine of discovery; Aboriginal title; human rights; treaties; role of cultural institutions in state narratives; and constitutional freedoms. The subject is taught from a critical perspective, comparing and assessing law’s responses to and attempted control of Indigenous peoples in a global context.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• History of the concept of Aboriginal title and the doctrine of discovery
• Concepts of sui generis agreement-making between Indigenous peoples and governments
• Encounters between governments, public cultural institutions, and Indigenous peoples
• Implications of government constitutional obligations and Indigenous rights
• Overview of current practices
• Human rights and their influence on Indigenous rights

View detailed information in the Handbook

Following a five year inquiry and the 2017 release of the report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse after, the issue of child sexual abuse in institutional settings gained extensive attention from the public, political representatives and legal commentators. The inquiry contributed to new understandings of the incidence and extent of physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse in a range of institutional settings, including schools, hospitals, churches, sporting organisations, foster homes and other accommodation services. The debate on how the law may best respond to the abuse continues, with judicial attention to the now current law, and some political attention to law reform. There are many challenging issues associated with the legal redress of child abuse, including time limits for claims, liability for the criminal acts of others, the onus of proof, and the appropriate compensation regime.

This subject examines the relevant tort law in Australia and the challenges of its application to abuse situations, recent and proposed tort law reforms, and Australian ‘Redress Scheme’.

Bill Madden is a lawyer specialising in injury compensation including intentional torts and the overlays provided by statutory reform and statutory schemes. He is a regular writer and presenter on tort law topics.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Findings of the Royal Commission
• Liability of perpetrators
• Direct liability of organisations
• Vicarious liability
• Non-Delegable duty
• Damages
• Limitation laws
• Applications to stay proceedings
• Setting aside earlier settlements
• Statutory reforms
• The Redress scheme
• Challenges

Note: This subject includes reference to material which some participants may find confronting or difficult at a personal level. Students may have differing views on some of these topics, but they do form part of the subject and may be discussed in class. Universities are neutral places for objective study and rational discussions. Any discussions on such topics in class must be respectful of differing views. The University of Melbourne Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) provides free, confidential, short-term professional counselling to currently enrolled students and staff, as well as a range of workshops, mental health training, and helpful resources.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The field of international human rights law is today composed of a multitude of legal instruments, implementation bodies, special procedures, human rights NGOs and transitional justice mechanisms. This subject provides the opportunity to examine this field in many of its dimensions, equipping students to navigate the system and critically assess its fundamental features. It will be of interest to all students who want to develop a detailed understanding of how the international human rights law system operates, including those with limited or no background in the area. The two lecturers have significant experience across a diverse range of topics and issues within international human rights law, which they draw upon to create an engaging and thought-provoking subject.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Human rights and the challenges posed by state sovereignty and national security
• The contested universality of human rights
• The international institutional framework for the protection of human rights, with a special focus on the Human Rights Council and treaty monitoring system
• The interpretation and application of selected rights from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
• Domestic measures for the implementation of human rights, such as judicial implementation of economic, social and cultural rights
• The norm of non-discrimination as it relates to race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity
• The contribution of truth and reconciliation commissions to the protection of human rights
• Human rights law relating to refugees and asylum-seekers
• The challenges posed by economic globalisation.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Issues concerning children, whether they arise at the international, regional or local level, are increasingly being examined from a human rights perspective. Much of the momentum for this movement has been generated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989, and has been ratified by every state in the world except the United States and South Sudan. This subject is designed to provide students with an understanding of the CRC and the idea of a human rights-based approach to matters involving children. It will be of interest to anyone who works in areas that impact on children, either directly or indirectly, at the international, regional or local level. The lecturer has extensive networks with civil society, international bodies and government agencies that he draws on to provide an appropriate blend of academic and practical content.

The subject consists of two parts. Part one involves a general discussion of:

• The notion of children’s rights
• The international framework for the protection of children’s rights, with particular emphasis on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
• The factors that impact on the implementation of the Convention, both in Australia and overseas.

Part two involves an examination of specific issues relevant to children and how the Convention and a rights-based analysis can be used to respond to these issues. The issues will be drawn from areas such as:

• Sexual exploitation, including trafficking, prostitution and pornography
• Child labour
• Juvenile justice
• Child refugees
• Violence against children
• Children in armed conflict
• HIV/AIDS and children
• Child poverty and homelessness.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject will examine the ways in which geopolitical concepts and arguments relate to various fields of international law, and the way in which they are given expression in legal doctrines, principles and practice. Together we will explore the way in which geopolitical contests, such as those associated with the Cold War, have led to the formation of ‘international frontiers’ in both geographical and disciplinary terms. We will explore examples of these contests, and examine their effects on international legal doctrines (such as the use of force, intervention, sovereignty and statehood), and on the formation of new legal regimes (such as the deep sea bed, and the law of outer space).

The purpose of this subject is to offer a contextual reading of the role of international law in both resisting and giving expression to the geopolitical dimensions of the long history of contestation over material and spiritual values in the world today.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• An introduction to the ‘science’ of geopolitics and its relationship to international law.

• An analysis of the relationship between geopolitical frontiers and national borders, and their constitution in international law

• A study of the emergence and effects of such geopolitical frontiers in the following fields of international law:

  • Statehood and self-determination (especially ‘divided’ states)
  • Borders and frontiers (including land and maritime borders, armistice lines and spheres of influence)
  • The use of force, intervention and regional security
  • The Law of the Sea and the regime of the deep sea bed
  • The Law of Outer Space

• An examination of various ‘case studies’ such as the status of Taiwan and North Korea, the conflict in Ukraine, contestation over the South China Seas, and current proposals for the exploitation of the resources of the deep sea bed and outer space

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject explores and examines the international legal regime for the protection of refugees. The essential premise of the subject is that refugee law should be understood as a mode of human rights protection, the viability of which requires striking a balance between the needs of the victims of human rights abuse and the legitimate aspirations of the countries to which they flee. The primary objective of the subject is to enable students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the international legal regime for international protection – the basis for being granted protection in 147 countries, including Australia. The subject will situate Australian refugee law and policy within the context of Australia’s international obligations.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• History of the international system of refugee protection
• Legal and institutional framework of international legal protection
• The implementation of the Refugee Convention in Australian law
• Refugee status determination: domestic and international dimensions
• Responsibility sharing and shifting
• Principles of treaty interpretation applied to refugee law
• The definition of ‘refugee’ in international law
• Exclusion from refugee protection.

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This subject examines the law applicable to planning and development projects within Victoria. A detailed analysis of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) and its application will be supplemented by an examination of the various political, environmental, social and economic aspects that bear upon decision-making under the Victorian planning system. The subject will also address the interaction of the Victorian planning system with a number of other statutory processes relevant to the development of land within Victoria, including those contained within the Environment Protection Act 1970 (Vic) and the Subdivision Act 1988 (Vic).

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The conceptual framework for planning law in Victoria
• Evaluation of the various components of the Victorian planning regime, focusing on the operation of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) and the Victoria Planning Provisions
• The role of key actors under the Victorian planning regime (such as the Victorian Minister for Planning and municipal councils) and the key processes established under the regime
• The review of decisions made under the regime (both in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Supreme Court of Victoria) and the powers available to relevant planning authorities under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic)
• Particular problems that arise in the Victorian planning system such as the fair and equitable distribution of undesirable land uses, the limitation of urban sprawl within metropolitan Melbourne, the appropriate level of public participation in decision-making processes, and the need to deliver sound planning outcomes in a timely and efficient manner
• The key processes under the Planning and Environmental Act 1987 (Vic).

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject is an introduction to the foundational principles and rules of the public international legal order. It is designed to provide students with an understanding of the key concepts of international law, its history and contemporary relevance, sources of international law and the role of some key international institutions, such as the United Nations (UN). The subject is grounded in both theory and practice in order to consider how international law works in shaping and dealing with a range of global issues, including the creation, recognition and sovereignty of states, self-determination of peoples and the use of force in international relations.

Using contemporary examples and case studies which address recent and current developments, students will critically evaluate the position and relevance of international law in international politics and society.

The teaching integrates both content and skills in advanced legal research and writing. We will purposefully introduce students to the practices and protocols of advanced study in international law, as well as to the specialised knowledge and skills required of studying at postgraduate level in the Melbourne Law Masters.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The nature, purpose and language of international law;
• Sources of international law;
• International legal personality, statehood and sovereignty;
• Jurisdiction of states and jurisdictional immunities;
• The responsibility of states for violations of international law;
• Peaceful settlement of disputes and the functions of the International Court of Justice; and
• Regulation of the use of force in international relations (jus ad bellum).

Important information about this Subject

This subject is a pre-requisite for many other international law subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters. We recommend full-time students enrol in this subject when they first start their program of study. For part-time students, International Law (LAWS70173) is the alternative five-day intensive offering.

All students enrolled in the following internationally focussed courses are strongly recommended to take either LAWS90295 Principles of International Law or LAWS70173 International Law (if you don't already have prior professional or educational background in public international law):

• Master of Environmental Law
• Master of Human Rights Law;
• Master of Law and Development;
• Master of Public and International Law;
• Graduate Diploma in Environmental Law
• Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law
• Graduate Diploma in Environmental Law
• Graduate Diploma in International Law.

More information on course planning in the Melbourne Law Masters.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Privacy has been valued for centuries but now there is a resurgent interest in its protection as a result of new technologies, changing social norms and a rise of markets focused on the commodity value of information. Overlapping with the resurgent interest in privacy is a related concern about the management of data flows, especially on the part of government agencies and business organisations. The legal frameworks that deal with privacy and data protection have a long history but are coming under pressure to adapt to a more complex modern environment.

In this subject, you will pay particular attention to the scope and nature of privacy protection as well as appropriate limits and exceptions, the ongoing pressures for law reform, and the practical operation of privacy and data protection laws in Australia and comparable jurisdictions.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• What is privacy?
• Conceptual and legal definitional issues
• International and comparative privacy and data protection regimes
• Protection of privacy in general law in Australia and comparable jurisdictions
• The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth): regulation of personal information held by the private and public sectors
• State/territory (especially Victorian) legislative regimes for the regulation of personal information
• Current topics in privacy law such as privacy and the media, privacy and health information, online privacy, telecommunications and surveillance privacy
• Current reform inquiries and proposals and likely reforms.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Over the past few years there have been profound changes in the regulation and registration of the health professions. Fifteen professions are now included in a national scheme and others may join them. All of the registered professions are covered by the same legislation for accreditation, registration and the monitoring of practice, to ensure that standards are maintained to protect the public. More than 700,000 health practitioners are registered under the national scheme and, when it was adopted in July 2010, 66 acts of parliament were repealed and about 85 health professional boards were abolished. This subject will provide a detailed examination of the scheme, which has centralised the disciplinary process, with the state and territory registration bodies acting under delegated authority from the federal board. The subject will also provide an understanding of how health practitioners, their employers and educators can report ‘notifiable conduct’ of practitioners to the national regulator, and how healthcare consumers (patients) can lodge a ‘notification’ about the practice of a health practitioner. The course will scrutinise the concept of revalidation, and the health, fitness/character, performance and conduct pathways, analysing the factors that lead to different forms of disciplinary findings and determinations for different forms of problematic conduct, including sexual misconduct and serious error. It will examine what differentiates permissible from impermissible advertising, will evaluate how unregistered practitioners are now regulated and will explore how registered, unregistered and deregistered practitioners’ conduct is regulated by consumer protection legislation.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Legal requirements for accreditation, registration and monitoring of practice of health practitioners in Australia
• The process and grounds for disciplinary action
• An examination of specific disciplinary proceedings against health practitioners, looking at issues of conduct, health, performance and fitness
• A comparison of disciplinary proceedings and other legal action against health practitioners
• Analysis of the regulatory mechanisms applicable to unregistered practitioners
• An evaluation of the new registration scheme and its operation to date
• A review of consumer protection actions that can be taken against health practitioners, both those who are registered and those who are not.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Effective tax administration is at the heart of making tax policy work in practice. This subject takes you inside the workings of the Australian tax system — and beyond — to explore how laws are applied, enforced, and interpreted in the real world. We will examine the central role of the Federal Commissioner of Taxation and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), uncovering how they exercise their powers, make decisions, and interact with taxpayers, tax professionals, and other government bodies at home and abroad.

This subject offers a rare opportunity to view tax administration from multiple perspectives — as a taxpayer, a tax professional, a regulator, and a policy-maker — giving you a deeper understanding of how the system really works and how to navigate it successfully.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• How the tax system operates under Australia’s self-assessment regime
• The ATO’s structure, governance and internal checks and balances
• Compliance strategies, information-gathering powers and investigations
• The ATO’s advice and guidance to taxpayers — and how to use it effectively
• The Commissioner’s general and remedial powers
• The relationship between the ATO, the tax profession, and the Tax Practitioners Board
• Taxpayer rights, including challenging ATO decisions
• Oversight and scrutiny of the ATO by Parliament and other government agencies
• The ATO’s role in shaping tax policy and legislation
• The ATO’s engagement with global bodies such as the OECD

This subject is taught by Professor Ali Noroozi who has more than 32 years of experience spanning government, private practice, and academia. He offers a unique insider’s perspective on tax administration. As Australia’s Inspector-General of Taxation from 2008 to 2018, he led an independent agency reviewing the actions of the ATO and the Tax Practitioners Board, driving reforms that shaped the modern tax landscape. His earlier career included senior roles in leading law and accounting firms in Australia and the UK. Students benefit not only from his deep technical expertise but also from the wealth of real-world insights and practical strategies he brings to the classroom.

View detailed information in the Handbook

All governments need robust tax systems capable of funding them. Modern tax systems have also taken on other public policy roles, in income distribution and economic activity, and become integral to governments’ social and economic policies. Tax policy design thus entails a challenging mix of economic, social, legal, accounting and administrative policies - which has become more complex in a world of increasingly mobile capital and labour.

This subject looks at Australia’s tax system and experience with reform over recent decades, comparing it with other countries. The subject will analyse the available tax bases, the interactions between the tax and transfer systems and issues of tax law design and administration.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Introduction to economics, fiscal policy and the processes of government
• Principles, objectives and main concepts in tax policy formulation
• Analysis of the main tax bases in Australia
• Major issues in tax reform in Australia, including in relation to revenue adequacy, economic efficiency, social equity and administrative simplicity
• Interactions between the tax and transfer systems
• The potential of the tax system to pursue environmental objectives

View detailed information in the Handbook

Water law and natural resources management are fundamental to human society, environmental protection and economic productivity. Legal rules around water are found in all societies. Water is both a human right but also a source of conflict – that law seeks to regulate. There is increasing pressure on water globally, and extreme events such as drought, heighten tensions around water allocation in Australia and many other countries.

The subject considers the international laws governing freshwater, including trans-jurisdictional water governance for major shared river systems. It examines contemporary trends in water law and governance such climate change impacts on water availability. It provides an overview of common law rules around water allocation and water quality. There is a major focus on indigenous water rights and rights for rivers.

The subject provides an in-depth understanding of the federal water legislation governing the Murray-Darling Basin and the Victorian water legislation- including water trading. It introduces urban water laws, with a focus on water pollution controls. It examines the innovative reforms around environmental water and the ecological protection of rivers and groundwater. It provides a case study of the impacts on groundwater due to mining and fracking.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• International and comparative law and policy governing water, including relevant treaties and conventions, and case law
• Water rights: including human rights and Indigenous peoples’ rights
• Common law rules for surface and groundwater
• The Australian national water law reform model
• The Water Act 2007 (Cth), including water trading and water planning
• Environmental water law and regulation – including the Environmental Water Holders
• Victorian water laws, including water authorities and governance models
• Water quality: addressing point source and diffuse water pollution
• Integrated catchment legislation
• Urban water laws, including water-sensitive urban design.

View detailed information in the Handbook