CQUniversity Unit Profile

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LAWS12067 Environmental Law
Environmental Law
All details in this unit profile for LAWS12067 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student).
The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile.
General Information

Overview

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.

Details

Career Level: Undergraduate
Unit Level: Level 2
Credit Points: 6
Student Contribution Band: 10
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.125

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisites: 24 credit points of law units

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Offerings For Term 3 - 2025

Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Class and Assessment Overview

Information for Class and Assessment Overview has not been released yet.

This information will be available on Monday 15 September 2025
Previous Student Feedback

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

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

Feedback

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

Recommendation

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

Feedback from Self-reflection and student evaluations.

Feedback

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

Recommendation

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

Unit Learning Outcomes

Information for Unit Learning Outcomes has not been released yet.

This information will be available on Monday 15 September 2025
Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes

Information for Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes has not been released yet.

This information will be available on Monday 15 September 2025
Textbooks and Resources

Information for Textbooks and Resources has not been released yet.

This information will be available on Monday 20 October 2025
Academic Integrity Statement

Information for Academic Integrity Statement has not been released yet.

This unit profile has not yet been finalised.