Glossary

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Discrimination and the Law - LAWS3412

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-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: JURD7412, JURD7691, JURD7792, LAWS8391, LAWS8392

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

Anti-discrimination laws are a central feature of human rights protection in Australia, promoting the right to equality in public life. This course will examine Federal and NSW laws prohibiting discrimination on grounds including sex, race, disability and age from both a practical and theoretical perspective. It will:

Consider the theoretical underpinnings of anti-discrimination laws and encourage students to think critically about the limitations of concepts of 'equality' and 'non-discrimination' in the promotion and protection of human rights
Give students a solid practical understanding of the operation and coverage of anti-discrimination legislation and provide an overview of relevant case law to equip students for professional practice
Develop skills in legal problem-solving and statutory interpretation in the context of discrimination laws
Consider the appropriateness of conciliation and litigation as methods of resolving complaints of discrimination
Cover practical issues in the resolution of discrimination complaints, including administrative procedures before complaint-handling bodies, the process of conciliation and taking a matter before the Federal Court, Federal Magistrates Court or Administrative Decisions Tribunal
Encourage students to critique the operation of anti-discrimination laws as a means of overcoming social inequality and disadvantage and consider the experiences of groups that anti-discrimination laws are designed to 'protect'

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

Recall the central legal principles of anti-discrimination law with reference to the relevant legislation and any case law and explain them in plain English
Identify the legal issues in a hypothetical fact situation raising possible issues of discrimination and provide an opinion in the form of a legal advice on those issues
Identify procedural, evidentiary and other issues that may impact upon a person's ability to assert their rights under anti-discrimination law
Critique the operation of anti-discrimination laws from a practical and theoretical perspective
Present an argument in relation to the issues covered in the course in a reasoned manner, including the ability to recognise weaknesses in the argument and identify (and counter) contrary views
Communicate effectively in relation to the subject matter of this course both orally and in writing

Main Topics

Introduction and overview
Theoretical underpinnings - equality, equal opportunity and discrimination
The Australian Approach to Discrimination Law: 'Direct' and 'indirect' discrimination; Special measures, affirmative action and 'positive discrimination', Vicarious liability, ancillary liability and victimization.
Sex, marital status and pregnancy discrimination
Sexual harassment
Race discrimination
Racial vilification
Disability discrimination
Age discrimination
Practice and procedure and options for law reform

Assessment

Class participation	Preparation and engagement in class	15%
Research essay	3,000 words	35%
Exam	Take home examination	50%

Course Texts

Prescribed
Federal Discrimination Law, Australian Human Rights Commission: available free online via the Commission's website (PDF and Word formats: humanrights.gov.au/legal/FDL) and also via Austlii (html format: www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/HRLRes/2009/1/).

Students are also required to have a full copy of the following legislation, available on the internet, and will need to bring it to relevant classes: