The environmental movement is strong and getting stronger. It is an important social revolution. Environmental law is a new and exciting area of legal practice. The Constitution of Australia does not include power for the Federal Parliament to make laws in relation to the environment. In this unit we will consider how the Commonwealth does have a role to play in environmental law despite its lack of constitutional power. We consider the role of State Governments at the Parliamentary and Executive level. The impact of environmental groups has gained more momentum year by year; after an initial explosion of publicity which led to blockade of the Franklin River and ultimately the High Court Tasmanian Dam decision in 1983. New philosophies such as the precautionary principle will be explored and explained. The apparent conflict between environmental law rights which are in the public domain and landowners' property and contractual rights in relation to land will be considered. We will also deal with environmental litigation, including prosecution and the difficulties which face environmental groups. Discussion points include recent developments such as the extraction of coal seam gas and the development of the Gas Fields Commission. We explore the process of environmental impact assessment.

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from Student emails and student evaluation

Students have raised the issue they would like more time in advance to view the assessment items.

In future terms, I will look to releasing the assessment items significantly earlier than in the past.

Feedback from Self-reflection and student evaluations.

Students struggle with theory and with the relevance of theory to practice.

I will revise the learning materials to recalibrate the balance in favour of reducing the theoretical content.