This course introduces you to the Australian legal system and the law regulating business activities. Particular focus is given to the law of contract. The course also covers the laws relating to particular types of business contracts such as sales of goods and insurance contracts. Aspects of property law and negligence are also covered.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Identify the sources of law that are applicable to Australia;
2. Identify the legal areas of particular relevance in a business context;
3. Articulate: (i) how binding agreements are formed under Australian law, and (ii) the rights and remedies that arise in relation to legally binding agreements;
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the circumstances in which persons, particularly in business, could have a legal liability in relation to careless conduct;
5. Recognize the major pieces of Australian legislation of relevance to business, and be able to articulate the legal obligations and duties that such legislation imposes;
6. Approach a legal problem, including knowing when it would be appropriate to seek professional legal advice.

Research-Led Teaching

This is an introductory course which gives an introduction to the legal system and to important areas of law relevant to business. The text and the course draw on relevant current examples and research. Most chapters and many lectures will refer to recent journal articles in the area.

Field Trips

No field trips are organised and attendance is not a requirement of the course, however students should be aware that there are free tours available at the Australian Parliament House and the High Court and are encouraged to visit these places in their own time.

Examination Material or equipment

The exam will be open book. No special equipment is required.

Required Resources

See below.

Recommended Resources

Graw S, Parker D, Whitford K, and Do C, Understanding Business Law, 10th edition, LexisNexis Butterworths, 2023.

Students are expected to have access to a copy of the text book for the duration of the semester. A few copies of the text are available for 2 hour loan in the reserve loan section of the Law Library. An ebook version of the text is available from the Law Library (https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/anu/detail.action?docID=30669587&query=understanding%20business%20law). Copies of earlier editions differ substantively from the current edition, and for this reason the 10th edition is preferred. Note that an ebook cannot be brought to the final exam.

Cook C, Creyke R, Geddes R and Hamer D, Laying Down the Law, LexisNexis Butterworths, 11^th edition 2020.

Gibson A and Fraser S, Business Law, Pearson Australia, 11^th edition, 2019.

Giancaspro, Nosworthy, Brown, Golding, Viven-Wilksch, Wawryk, Villios and Zito, Contemporary Australian Business Law, Cambridge, 1st edition, 2023.

Graw S, Parker D, Whitford K, and Do C, Understanding Business Law, 10th edition, LexisNexis Butterworths, 2023.

James N, Business Law, Wiley, 5th edition, 2019.

Parker D and Ward L, Business and Law in Australia, 3rd edition, Thomson Reuters 2020

Turner C, Australian Commercial Law, Sydney, Thomson Lawbook, 32nd edition 2019.

Web sites:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/ - the austlii site gives you free access to Australian cases, statutes and some other legal material. It also has links to equivalent overseas sites.

• http://anulib.anu.edu.au/online/eresources/ - you can gain access to various other commercial databases to which the ANU subscribes via the library. Go to on-line resources, select e-resources and search under subject Law.

See also http://anulib.anu.edu.au/subjects/law/ for guidance on law e-resources.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in various ways in this course, including verbal or written feedback on the return of assessment tasks, during class discussion, or during consultation with the lecturer and tutors.

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). Feedback can also be provided to Course Conveners and teachers via the Student Experience of Learning & Teaching (SELT) feedback program. SELT surveys are confidential and also provide the Colleges and ANU Executive with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement.

Other Information

ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS

Any student identified, either during the current semester or in retrospect, as having used ghost writing services will be investigated under the University’s Academic Integrity Rule.

COMMUNICATION

Email and the Wattle Course Website

Email and the Wattle course website are the preferred ways of communication.

If necessary, the lecturer and tutors for this course will contact students on their official ANU student email address. Students should use this email address when contacting staff as spam filters used by ANU may not allow other email addresses to be received. Information about your enrolment and fees from the Registrar and Student Services' office will also be sent to this email address.

Announcements

Students are expected to check the Wattle site for announcements about this course, e.g. changes to timetables or notifications of cancellations. Notifications of emergency cancellations of lectures or tutorials will be posted on Wattle or on the door of the relevant room.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Introduction to the Australian Legal System: Part 1 (Ch 1)
2	Introduction to the Australian Legal System: Part 2 (Ch 2 and 3)
3	Tort of Negligence (Ch 24 and 25)	Tutorial Preparation
4	Contracts: Part 1 (Chapter 4)	Tutorial Preparation
5	Contracts: Part 2 (Chapter 5)	Tutorial Preparation; Take Home Exam released
6	Contracts: Part 3 (Chapters 6 and 7)
7	Consumer Law: Part 1 (Chapters 8 and 10)	Tutorial Preparation
8	Consumer Law: Part 2 (Chapters 10 and 11)	Tutorial Preparation
9	Insurance (Chapter 23)
10	Property (Chapter 20)
11	Intellectual Property (Chapter 21)
12	Entity Specific Considerations: how the law applies differently to individuals, companies, partnerships, and trusts.

Tutorial Registration

Tutorials will be held weekly on campus (starting from Week 2). Tutorial times will be made available via MyTimetable. Two weeks before the commencement of semester, please check the MyTimetable website for details of tutorial availability and release. 

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities/tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage. 

Please see Wattle for tutor information. 

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Tutorial Preparation	10 %	05/08/2024	30/08/2024	1,2,4,5,6
Take Home Exam	30 %	30/08/2024	27/09/2024	1,2,3,5,6
Final Exam	60 %	31/10/2024	28/11/2024	1,2,3,4,5,6

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines , which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Integrity Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Extenuating Circumstances Application
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure
• Code of practice for teaching and learning

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the Academic Skills website. In rare cases where online submission using Turnitin software is not technically possible; or where not using Turnitin software has been justified by the Course Convener and approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on the basis of the teaching model being employed; students shall submit assessment online via ‘Wattle’ outside of Turnitin, or failing that in hard copy, or through a combination of submission methods as approved by the Associate Dean (Education). The submission method is detailed below.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Participation

This is an on-campus course with an on-campus lecture (recording on Echo360) and weekly on-campus tutorials. Attendance at all classes, while not compulsory, is expected in line with “Code of Practice for Teaching and Learning”, clause 2 paragraph (b). 

Examination(s)

Information regarding permitted examination materials for the course will be available on the examination timetable website when the examination timetable is released: https://exams.anu.edu.au/timetable/.

Assessment Task 1

Tutorial Preparation

Students are required to submit Tutorial Preparation on Turnitin by Monday 10am in Weeks 3-5 and Weeks 7-8 (i.e., on five occasions). A maximum of 2 marks per tutorial submission can be obtained for satisfactory preparation: 2 marks will be awarded where the student's submission shows a genuine attempt to answer all questions set for the tutorial, and it is essential that the answer contains relevant commercial law concepts and reference to legal authorities. 1 mark will be awarded if the student's submission shows some relevant material but the student has not attempted all aspects of the set questions or has not made an attempt to adequately reference legal authorities. A mark of 0 will be awarded if the student has failed to prepare or the submission substantially fails to attempt the set questions. Even where the student's submission appears to be complete with relevant material, a mark of 1 or 0 will be awarded where the student has copied excessively from teaching or other materials and overall it appears the student has not made a genuine attempt to answer the set questions.

Due Date: the due date listed in the assessment summary is the earliest possible date. The return date in the assessment summary refers to the tutorial preparation marks for Weeks 3-5, which will be made available by 31 August 2024. The final tutorial preparation mark for all applicable weeks will be made available early in the study week.

Assessment Task 2

Take Home Exam

Take Home Exam: You will be asked to analyse the application of commercial law principles to a hypothetical fact scenario in a business setting. The expected time required to write a very good answer to the Take Home Exam is about 1 day (10-12 hours working time). You will be given one week, and this is so that you can fit the Take Home Exam around your other commitments. You need to treat the Take Home Exam like an exam – this means that you cannot discuss the question with your classmates, and you need to prepare the answer entirely by yourself. You cannot seek help from your lecturer or tutor – this would obviously be unfair to other students. If you think some aspect of the question is unclear, you may seek clarification from your lecturer.

Length (guide): 1,500 words (no penalty for exceeding)

Presentation requirements: the Take Home Exam needs to be typed using size 12 font and either 1.5 or double spacing.

Due date: 30 August 2024

Estimated return date: 23 September 2024

Take Home Exam Submission: via Turnitin.

Submission: via Turnitin.

Referencing requirements: You will need to acknowledge sources to the extent that you rely on the analysis or arguments of others, and use Australian Legal Citation: https://law.unimelb.edu.au/mulr/aglc/about. No reference list is required - footnotes are sufficient.

Assessment Task 3

Final Exam

Centrally administered examinations through Examinations, Graduations & Prizes will be timetabled prior to the examination period. The due date listed in the assessment summary is the earliest possible date. Please check ANU Timetabling for further information. Information regarding exam script viewing will be provided in due course.

In-person exam with a duration of 3 hours writing time plus 15 minutes reading time. Details will be provided no later than Week 10.

In the Final Exam, students will be asked to discuss the application of commercial law principles to several hypothetical fact scenarios. There will be no multiple choice questions. All material is examinable. The style of questions in the exam will be similar to tutorial questions. Students will also be given revision questions on wattle. Students are encouraged to write practice answers to these questions prior to class discussion.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of the ANU culture as a community of scholars. The University’s students are an integral part of that community. The academic integrity principle commits all students to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support, academic integrity, and to uphold this commitment by behaving honestly, responsibly and ethically, and with respect and fairness, in scholarly practice.

The University expects all staff and students to be familiar with the academic integrity principle, the Academic Integrity Rule 2021, the Policy: Student Academic Integrity and Procedure: Student Academic Integrity, and to uphold high standards of academic integrity to ensure the quality and value of our qualifications.

The Academic Integrity Rule 2021 is a legal document that the University uses to promote academic integrity, and manage breaches of the academic integrity principle. The Policy and Procedure support the Rule by outlining overarching principles, responsibilities and processes. The Academic Integrity Rule 2021 commences on 1 December 2021 and applies to courses commencing on or after that date, as well as to research conduct occurring on or after that date. Prior to this, the Academic Misconduct Rule 2015 applies.

 

The University commits to assisting all students to understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. All coursework students must complete the online Academic Integrity Module (Epigeum), and Higher Degree Research (HDR) students are required to complete research integrity training. The Academic Integrity website provides information about services available to assist students with their assignments, examinations and other learning activities, as well as understanding and upholding academic integrity.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

No hardcopy submission.

Late Submission

• For tutorial preparation: Late submission is permitted. Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item.
• For take home exam: Late submission not permitted. If submission of assessment tasks without an extension after the due date is not permitted, a mark of 0 will be awarded.

Referencing Requirements

The Academic Skills website has information to assist you with your writing and assessments. The website includes information about Academic Integrity including referencing requirements for different disciplines. There is also information on Plagiarism and different ways to use source material. Any use of artificial intelligence must be properly referenced. Failure to properly cite use of Generative AI will be considered a breach of academic integrity.

Returning Assignments

Feedback will be provided on your assessment via turnitin and you may seek further feedback during lecturer and tutor consultation.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. Extensions may be granted for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

There is no option to resubmit.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Accessibility for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents all ANU students