LAW5485 Principles of discrimination law and policy
Faculty of Law
LAW5485 Principles of discrimination law and policy is a level 5, 6-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Law. It isn't offered in 2025. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2025
- Other periods
- Monash Law Chambers
- Assessment
- No exam
- 3 tasks
This is the 2025 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before LAW5485
Prohibitions
You can't enrol if you have passed any of these.
After LAW5485
No unit lists LAW5485 as a prerequisite in the 2025 handbook.
Enrolment rules
For Legal Studies students (L4004, L5004, L6013) you must have completed LAW5000 or LAW5081
and
For Juris Doctor (L6005) students, you must have completed 72 credit points of study.
Overview
This unit examines discrimination as a social and legal phenomenon, as one of the main areas in which Australia has sought to explicitly enshrine human rights protection. Discrimination law prohibits a range of direct and indirect conduct that perpetrates inequality on the basis of protected attributes, such as sex, race and disability. However, Australian discrimination law retains significant flaws and lags behind contemporary developments in comparable jurisdictions such as Canada, New Zealand, and the UK - especially regarding systemic, preventative measures.
This unit explores the key features and framework of discrimination law in Australia: its social context, underlying concepts and theories, federal and state/territory interactions, prohibitions of unlawful discrimination, protection of particular attributes, and use of exceptions and exemptions. Throughout, the focus will be on the following: to what extent is discrimination law an effective system in addressing, redressing, and preventing discrimination? Could it be improved and reformed, and if so how?
Offerings in 2025
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Term 3 | Monash Law Chambers | On campus, block |
Assessment
- Class participationDemonstration10%
- Research essayWritten40%
- Law reform submissionWritten50%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Demonstrate application of knowledge of the problem of unjustifiable discrimination and its
Australian social context, and of discrimination laws and their application and interpretation - 2
Identify, research, evaluate and synthesise legal and policy issues in discrimination law
- 3
Apply critical thinking to concepts of equality, discrimination, and the capacity and limits of law
and policy as mechanisms of social change - 4
Communicate effectively, appropriately and persuasively on issues of discrimination law
- 5
Develop highly coherent law reform proposals in order to evaluate discrimination law and
improve its effectiveness
Workload and teaching
- Workshops24 hours
- Teaching approachActive learning
24 contact hours per teaching period (either intensive, semi-intensive or semester long, depending on the Faculty resources, timetabling and requirements). Students will be expected to do reading set for class, and to undertake additional research and reading applicable to a 6 credit point unit.
Learning resources
Required resources
See the Moodle unit page for prescribed and recommended resources. Prescribed texts are usually available for purchase through the University Bookstore and are sometimes available for short-term loan or as eBooks through the library.
Where it fits
LAW5485 is part of 2 areas of study in the 2025 handbook.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Mr Liam Elphick
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for LAW5485?
LAW5485 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is LAW5485 offered?
LAW5485 has no offerings listed in the 2025 handbook.
Does LAW5485 have an exam?
No. LAW5485 has 3 assessment tasks and no exam.
Which majors and minors include LAW5485?
LAW5485 is part of Global society and human rights; and Public sector governance and regulation.