Course Coordinator:Jay Sanderson (jsander4@usc.edu.au) School:School of Law and Society
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course introduces you to the Australian legal system and the skills required to study law. You will study the context and principles of the Australian legal system and legal institutions, and will develop methods to find the key sources of law: legislation and common law. You will also start to develop your legal writing and referencing skills, which will be crucial for your study of law.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Online Learning Materials | 1hr | Week 1 | 11 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – On-Campus Mandatory Contact Point during Orientation Week | 3hrs | Orientation week | Once Only |
| Tutorial/Workshop 2 – On-Campus tutorials | 2hrs | Week 2 | 10 times |
| Online | |||
| Learning materials – Online Learning Materials | 1hr | Week 1 | 11 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – On-Campus Mandatory Contact Point during Orientation Week | 3hrs | Orientation week | Once Only |
| Tutorial/Workshop 2 – Online tutorial | 2hrs | Week 2 | 10 times |
Introduction to Law is a foundational course designed to equip students with essential legal concepts, research skills, and critical thinking abilities necessary for success throughout their law degree. This course will ensure that you are proficient in:
100 Level (Introductory)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Explain the relevant frameworks, processes and concepts of law. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker |
| 2 | Demonstrate knowledge of how to conduct legal research, including finding and evaluating authoritative primary and secondary legal sources. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker |
| 3 | Develop and demonstrate basic legal presentation skills, including proper referencing and citation techniques. | Empowered |
| 4 | Illustrate critical thinking skills to apply legal knowledge effectively in diverse contexts. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Empowered |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Enrolled in UB008 or AD001 or AR013 or AR390 or AR391 or AR392 or AR396 or AR397 or AB310 or AB311
Not applicable
LAW101
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Early feedback will be provided in the Week 2-4 tutorials.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1a | Activity Participation | Individual | 0% | 3 Hours |
Refer to Format | In Class |
| All | 1b | Activity Participation | Individual | 10% | Weekly two-hour tutorials |
Throughout teaching period (refer to Format) | In Class |
| All | 2 | Written Piece | Individual | 45% | 2,000 words |
Week 6 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 3 | Written Piece | Individual | 45% | 2,000 words |
Week 12 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1a:Mandatory Contact Point Attendance | |||||||
| Goal: | To successfully complete LAW100 Introduction to Law and meet the Bachelor of Laws accreditation requirements at UniSC, students must attend in-person and participate in the Mandatory Contact Point held in Orientation Week. |
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| Product: | Activity Participation | ||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||
| Format: | In-person attendance during scheduled orientation week activities. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Organisation |
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| All - Assessment Task 1b:Tutorial Participation | |||||||
| Goal: | To demonstrate consistent and active engagement during tutorials about law and the Australian legal system. |
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| Product: | Activity Participation | ||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||
| Format: | Oral responses to questions and engagement in discussion within the weekly tutorials. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Researching primary sources | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | To apply legal research techniques to locate appropriate primary sources to address a legal problem. |
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| Product: | Written Piece | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Format: | Written piece |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Researching secondary sources | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | To apply legal research techniques to locate credible and authoritative secondary sources to address a legal problem. |
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| Product: | Written Piece | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | Written piece |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Required | D Hamer; J Jones; P O'Mara; B Smith; T Taylor | 2023 | Laying Down the Law | 12 | Lexis Nexis |
This course is a pre-requisite course for almost all other legal courses and should be taken within the first trimester of study. This course contains a Mandatory Contact Point, requiring in-person attendance for all cohorts (including Online cohorts) for the preliminary workshops held in Orientation Week. To successfully complete LAW100 Introduction to Law and meet the Bachelor of Laws accreditation requirements at UniSC, students must attend in-person and participate in the Mandatory Contact Point held in Orientation Week. Failure to attend the Mandatory Contact Point will mean that students are not able to pass the course. Online options will be offered for all in-trimester classes, in-person attendance is only required for Orientation Week.
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.
For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.
For other enquiries or to access support, please contact Student Central: