Overview
Family Law regulates relationships including marriage and defacto, the division of property and living arrangements for children. This unit will equip you with the knowledge and skills to practice family law by providing you with an understanding of the legal aspects of constitutional and jurisdictional framework, the dissolution of the marriage relationship and defacto relationships, the division of property and child focused arrangements pertaining to children.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre req LAWS11057 and LAWS11059.
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 2 - 2018
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).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
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 In zoom sessions and via email communication
Students commended the Unit Co-ordinator for releasing the first assessment question with the marking rubric and marker's expectations on the day the unit went live (that is 2 weeks before the commencement of Term 2).
The Unit Co-ordinator will continue to provide to students a marking rubric and marker's expectations guide with the first assessment question before the commencement of Term 2.
- Research and analyse the approach taken by the courts in resolving family law issues and applying the Family Law legislation, Family Law rules, Federal Circuit Court rules and case law.
- Critically evaluate family law disputes, identifying relevant issues and options to resolve family law disputes including property, children and international jurisdictional issues involving the removal of children from Australia.
Not applicable.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 60% | ||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||
| 5 - Team Work | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 60% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Family Law Principles
2nd Edition (2015)
Authors: A.Harland et al
Thomson Reuters Lawbook Co.
Sydney Sydney , NSW , Australia
ISBN: 9780455233192
Binding: Other
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 3rd ed
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
l.rundle@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Module 1 Introduction, ADR, family law courts, and relationships
Chapter
4, 5, 2, 3 (pp 71-78) and 14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom session 1
Module/Topic
Chapter
12, 13, 15, 16
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Self guided learning
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module 3 Children, parental responsibility, ICL, evidence, family violence, relocation, location, contravention and child abduction
Chapter
7 (pp 217-221), 8, 11, 6, 10, 9, 18 (pp 604-626) and 19
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Self guided learning
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Self guided learning
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Final assessment task due
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Family Law is a 3rd year elective offered in the Bachelor of Laws degree.
Family Law will be delivered in an intensive mode. The materials are presented in 3 modules and delivered via 3 zoom sessions.
1 Written Assessment
You will be presented with a problem scenario, the assessment question will be released on Moodle when Moodle goes live- 25 June 2018. You will be required to undertake research of legislation and case law and apply this research to support your legal argument and conclusion.
Week 3 Friday (27 July 2018) 11:55 pm AEST
To be uploaded as a word document on Moodle
Vacation Week Monday (13 Aug 2018)
Grade and feedback will be returned on Moodle. Assessments can not be returned until all students have submitted the task. Therefore, the proposed date of return may change if there are approved extensions in this unit.
You will be assessed on your research skills, your ability to reference case law, reference legislation and outline your legal argument linking the law to the problem scenario using concise, clear and grammatically correct language.
- Research and analyse the approach taken by the courts in resolving family law issues and applying the Family Law legislation, Family Law rules, Federal Circuit Court rules and case law.
- Critically evaluate family law disputes, identifying relevant issues and options to resolve family law disputes including property, children and international jurisdictional issues involving the removal of children from Australia.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
2 Written Assessment
The Final Take Home Paper will be released on Moodle at 4pm Friday of the mid term break. The assessment will comprise family law problem scenarios requiring legal argument based on legislation and case law.
You must upload your answer on Moodle in a word document.
This assessment task must be completed by the due date at 4pm Monday of week 6.
In the absence of an approved extension, there will be no opportunity to complete the task after this date and there will be no opportunity to apply a late penalty of five per cent per day and you will receive a mark of zero for this assessment task.
Week 6 Monday (20 Aug 2018) 4:00 pm AEST
To be uploaded as a word document on Moodle
Given the final take home paper is treated like an examination, the final take home paper will not be returned to students. Students will receive their mark for this assessment and their grade for the unit on the date of certification/ release of grades.
You will be assessed on your research skills, your ability to reference case law, reference legislation and outline your legal argument linking the law to the problem scenario using concise, clear and grammatically correct language.
- Research and analyse the approach taken by the courts in resolving family law issues and applying the Family Law legislation, Family Law rules, Federal Circuit Court rules and case law.
- Critically evaluate family law disputes, identifying relevant issues and options to resolve family law disputes including property, children and international jurisdictional issues involving the removal of children from Australia.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
