This course examines the structure and themes of Australian public law, providing a bridge to all other public law study in the curriculum. In essence, the course examines how public power is structured, distributed, and controlled in Australia. The distinctive roles played by the legislature, the executive and the judiciary receive special attention. Subsidiary themes in the course are protection of individual rights in the Australian legal system, and constitutional change and evolution in Australia. The following topics will be covered:
- the constitutional and legislative framework for Australian public law
- major concepts and themes in Australian public law, including federalism, separation of powers, constitutionalism, representative democracy, rule of law, liberalism and Indigenous sovereignty
- the Legislature, including the structure of Australian legislatures, parliamentary supremacy, and express and implied constitutional limitations on legislative power
- the Executive, including the structure of Executive government, executive power, and liability of the Crown
- the Judiciary, including the constitutional separation of judicial power, and the administrative law implications of judicial separation
- constitutional change and evolution, including constitutional amendment.
In conjunction with LAWS2202 Commonwealth Constitutional Law, this course meets the requirements of the Law Admissions Consultative Committee Prescribed Academic Areas of Knowledge for Federal and State Constitutional Law.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Critically evaluate the reasons why countries adopt written constitutions to regulate the control of government power and the key features of Australia's Constitution, including the capacity for constitutional change, with reference to a range of diverse perspective that include developing an understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ knowledges and perspectives.
- Critically analyse the core features, principles and rules of the Australian constitutional framework covered in the course.
- Analyse and predict how unresolved and/or ambiguous questions of public law could be resolved by the courts through an analysis of case law, underlying policy and the judicial method.
- Select and apply a range of legally specific research principles, methods and tools appropriate to plan and execute a public law research project.
- Select and apply a range of approaches to written and oral communication, and apply the critical thinking required to propose solutions to complex legal problems and/or issues in the context of advising a client in an Australian public law matter.
- Synthesise and apply a range of domestic secondary legal resources to solve complex public law problems/issues.
Other Information
This course together with Commonwealth Constitutional Law, covers the essentials of Australian Constitutional Law. At the same time this course builds on Foundations of Australian Law, particularly the reception of law in Australia and the historical evolution of responsible and representative government, and also serves as an introduction to Administrative Law and to a number of the courses in the elective program. It must be taken early in the law degree.
Australian Public Law is taken in first semester of second year for all combined degree students. Students undertaking a single degree (LLB or JD) will study Australian Public Law in second semester of first year (or later for part-time students).
Indicative Assessment
- The proposed means of assessment for this course will provide students with at least two pieces of assessment, including one piece during the semester. More information about the means of assessment, including the relationship between the assessment and the learning outcomes of the course, will be available in the Class Summary and on the course WATTLE page. (100) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
The ANU uses 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. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
- Classes offered in non-standard sessions will be taught semi-intensively with compulsory contact hours of approximately 36 hours of face to face teaching. The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion of this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours.
- Classes offered during semester periods are expected to have three contact hours per week. Students are generally expected to devote at least 10 hours overall per week to this course. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion of this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours.
Click here for the LLB Program course list
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Students must rely on the approved Class Summary which will be posted to the Programs and Courses site approximately two weeks prior to the commencement of the course. Alternatively, this information will be published in the Program course list when finalised.
Preliminary Reading
Students must rely on the approved Class Summary which will be posted to the Programs and Courses site approximately two weeks prior to the commencement of the course.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 34
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $5280 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $6360 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
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.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3796 | 17 Feb 2025 | 24 Feb 2025 | 31 Mar 2025 | 23 May 2025 | In Person | View |