Course Coordinator:Alex Pelizzon (apelizzon@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 constitutional arrangements for allocating powers to governmental institutions and for establishing the legal relationship between those institutions and the people of Australia. You will examine the law-making powers of the Commonwealth and Queensland parliaments with emphasis upon matters about which the Commonwealth may make laws; the relationship between the three branches of government - the legislature, the executive and the judiciary - and the role of the High Court in deciding whether they have acted within their constitutional powers.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Online Learning Materials | 1.5hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – On-Campus Tutorial | 2hrs | Week 2 | 10 times |
| Online | |||
| Learning materials – Online Learning Materials | 1.5hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Online Tutorial | 2hrs | Week 2 | 10 times |
Constitutional Law offers a comprehensive exploration of the fundamental principles and structures that govern a nation's highest legal framework. Specifically, this course covers:
200 Level (Developing)
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 | Analyse facts to identify legal issues within complex constitutional law scenarios, including the legal issues posed by Australia's federal system of government. |
Knowledgeable Empowered |
| 2 | Explain the relevant laws, processes and concepts of constitutional law to resolve a legal issue. | Knowledgeable |
| 3 | Utilize critical thinking, analysis, and sound judgment to apply legal knowledge effectively in diverse contexts, generating appropriate and practical responses to complex problems and ethical issues. |
Creative and critical thinker Empowered Ethical |
| 4 | Demonstrate effective, persuasive, and contextually appropriate written and oral communication. | Empowered |
| 5 | Develop and demonstrate effective presentation skills, including proper referencing and citation techniques, to communicate legal information accurately and professionally. | Empowered |
| 6 | Demonstrate understanding of the implications of Australia's constitutional arrangements for the country's future as a liberal, democratic state. | Sustainability-focussed |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
LAW102 or LAW108 or LAW105 or LAW103
Not applicable
LAW301
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
By Week 4 of this course students will have received feedback on their understanding of key concepts and principles covered in Weeks 1-3.
| 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 | 1 | Activity Participation | Individual | 10% | Weekly |
Throughout teaching period (refer to Format) | In Class |
| All | 2 | Oral and Written Piece | Individual | 40% | 20 minutes oral presentation and 10 minutes questions, plus 2,000 words. |
Week 12 | To be Negotiated |
| All | 3 | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 50% | 3 Hours |
Exam Period | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Active Participation | ||||
| Goal: | In this task, you will demonstrate active and regular engagement with the course's learning materials. |
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| Product: | Activity Participation | |||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||
| Format: | Active participation in weekly activities |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Collaboration, Problem solving, Organisation |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Constitutional Reflection | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | To test your ability to provide legal advice using the skills of legal reasoning and analysis in the context of constitutional law and your ability to understand the implications of that legal advice on governance issues. |
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| Product: | Oral and Written Piece | ||||||||||||
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| Format: | Oral & Written Piece |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Invigilated Final Examination | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | In this task, you will demonstrate your knowledge and application of Constitutional Law in response to unseen exam questions. |
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| Product: | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | |||||||||||||||
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| Format: | This assessment task is an online, open-book and invigilated exam. You will be required to attend a live Zoom session throughout the duration of the exam and need access to a working computer, a stable internet connection, and a webcam. |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation |
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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 | John Pyke | 2023 | Government Powers Under a Federal Constitution | 3rd | Thomson Reuters |
This course meets the necessary content requirements for Constitutional Law under the Prescribed Areas of Knowledge of Schedule 1 of the LACC Uniform Admission Rules 2015 (the ‘Priestley 11’).
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
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For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.
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