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Course

Australian Consumer Law - LAWS3137

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: 4

Enrolment Requirements:

Pre-requisite: Crime & Criminal Process (LAWS1021/JURD7121) & Criminal Laws (LAWS1022/JURD7122) OR Crim. Law 1 (LAWS1001/JURD7101) & Crim. Law 2 (LAWS1011/JURD7111). Co-requisite: Litigation 1 [LAWS2311/ JURD7211] OR Res. Civil Disp. (LAWS2371/JURD7271)

Excluded: JURD7337

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is contained in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and operates as a law of the Commonwealth, and as a law of each of the states and territories by separate State and Territory application legislation. It containes the former Trade Practices Act Consumer Protection provisions as well as new laws on unfair contract terms, product safety, consumer guarantees law, lay-by sales, unsolicited selling, and new penalties & enforcement powers for the ACCC and state & territory agencies. These laws are now consistent across all jurisdictions, and enforceable in each. Many concepts from the former Trade Practices Act are still relevant, and although some have been redrafted to comply with newer style this is not intended to alter their legal effect.


Recommended Prior Knowledge

There is no pre-requisite for this course, however the course has a relationship with other subjects such as Contracts, Trade Practices Law and Commercial and Consumer Sales.

Course Objectives

At the conclusion of the course you should be able to:
  • Discuss the theory and process behind the ACL.
  • Understand the scope of the prohibition on misleading or deceptive conduct.
  • Determine the application of the ACL to particular conduct.
  • Understand the roles of the ACCC and other regulators and powers they have to investigate and enforce.
  • Understand the remedies available to private litigants.
  • By participation in class and completion of written examinations, develop communication skills in arguing a case for a consumer or business under the ACL.
  • Apply the law to factual situations and understand how it applies to corporations on a day to day basis.

Main Topics

The course covers topics such as:
  • The theory behind consumer protection laws.
  • The consumer protection provisions of the ACL.
  • Detailed consideration of misleading or deceptive conduct.
  • Misrepresentation.
  • Other unfair trade practices.
  • Unconscionable and unfair conduct.
  • Product liability.
  • Consumer guarantees.
  • Lay-by sales.
  • Enforcement, penalties and remedies.
  • Consumer claims processes.

Assessment

Class participation 10%
Essay 90%
 

Course Texts

Prescribed

  • Corones and Clarke, The Australian Consumer Law: Commentary and Materials, 4th Edition by Thomson Reuters.

Recommended
Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer.

Resources

Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer.
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Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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