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Course

Australian Immigration Law and Practice - LAWS3272

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3

Enrolment Requirements:

Pre-requisites: Administrative Law (LAWS1160/JURD7160) and Federal Constitutional Law (LAWS2150/JURD7250).

Excluded: JURD7372

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 teaches is focused upon Australian immigration law. The emphasis is on acquiring the knowledge as to how migration law works in practice and evaluating the operation of the law. The course explains the structure of the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994. The workings of the visa system and the different categories of entrants are outlined, as are the rules relating to citizenship. The general matters relevant to all visa classes are discussed as well as specific visa categories. Refugee and humanitarian visas are a topic of interest.  Compliance action against visa holders is examined, in particular the different ways in which visas can be cancelled. Particular attention is given to health criteria, and the public interest criteria based on 'character'. The system of merits review and judicial review of migration decisions is discussed. Some attention is given to the constitutional and international setting of migration law, in particular, the constitutional aspects of the mandatory detention system. The relationship between the migration rules and migration planning is a basic theme of the course as are the various ways of examining the efficiency of the migration rules. Attention is directed at other ways of evaluating our migration law – is it discriminatory, is it just, is it moral?


Recommended Prior Knowledge

See Enrolment Requirements

Course Objectives

  • To develop your thinking of migration law as a complex body of rules that is informed by other areas of law but whose application is closely connected to government policy
  • To develop your skills in applying statues, regulations, policy and principles in an appropriate way
  • To encourage a critical approach when considering migration law and the institutions that devise it and apply it
  • To explore the relationship between migration law and personal and public morality

Main Topics

  • Immigration law/policy: its subject matter and evaluation
  • Migration Act and Regulations
  • Citizenship
  • The constitutional and international setting
  • Visa cancellations
  • Migration decision-making
  • Family Migration
  • Character

Assessment

Research Paper - 40%
Class Participation - 10%
Exam - 50%

Course Texts

Prescribed

Crock and Berg, Immigration, Refugees and Forced Migration, 2011 The Federation Press

Students will be expected to access the Migration Act 1958 and Migration Regulations 1994

Resources

Refer to the course outline which will be provided by the lecturer at the beginning of the relevant semester.
Law Books

Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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