Course

Contemporary Indigenous Issues - JURD7415

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Postgraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2

Enrolment Requirements:

Pre-requisite: 36 UOC of JURD courses for students enrolled prior to 2013. For students enrolled after 2013, pre-requisite: 72 UOC of JURD courses.

Excluded: LAWS8415

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

This course examines contemporary issues in law and policy affecting Indigenous peoples, organisations and communities in Australia. Rapid changes have occurred domestically in recent years. The course looks at some of these and contextualises the changes with an examination of developments in international law and at the United Nations, as well as comparative perspectives from overseas jurisdictions. Case studies in areas such as welfare reform, land and economic development, public law recognition and family violence will allow students to review recent local developments in specific policy areas and integrate international perspectives. Participants will be better placed to draw their own conclusions about the contemporary legal position of Indigenous peoples in Australia and possible directions in the foreseeable future.

This course is also available to students undertaking relevant postgraduate non-law degree programs at UNSW, provided such enrolment is approved by the appropriate non-law Faculty.


Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

This course aims to enable participants to develop:
  • a sharper awareness of the structures, approaches and ideas that shape contemporary Indigenous law and policy in Australia
  • a greater appreciation of the major currents in international law of relevance to Indigenous peoples in Australia
  • a deeper understanding of law and policy in several areas of contemporary domestic relevance, informed by international and comparative as well as local perspectives
  • more specialised knowledge of a particular aspect of contemporary Indigenous law and/or policy through the production of a research essay.

Main Topics

  • Australian Indigenous Law and Policy post-1967
  • The Contemporary Influence of International Law
  • The Battle of Ideas in Contemporary Indigenous Law and Policy
  • Case Studies in areas such as welfare reform, public law recognition, land and economic development and family violence

Assessment

 
 Class Participation (preparation for and engagement in class)  20% 
 Research Essay (6000 - 8000 words)  80%

Course Texts

Prescribed

Course Materials will be available for purchase from the UNSW Bookshop prior to the course.

Library

Study Levels

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