Overview
Family Law is an elective delivered via intensive mode. This unit will equip you with the knowledge and skills to practice family law by providing you with an understanding of the legislation and case law relating to the dissolution of the marriage relationship and defacto relationship, planning for future financial arrangements including the division of property, spousal maintenance and child support, the role of dispute resolution in family law and planning for child focused arrangements pertaining to children.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-Requisite: 48 credit points of law
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 - 2021
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 Student feedback
Students provided positive feedback that the unit materials, podcasts, previous zoom sessions and assessment information on Moodle two weeks before the term commenced.
The UC will continue to ensure all materials for the unit are available on Moodle two weeks before Term 2 commences.
Feedback from Student feedback
The current textbook is the 2nd edition published in 2016.
A 3rd edition of the textbook is currently with the editor and will be published in March 2021. The 3rd edition will be used in Term 2 2021.
- 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
3rd Edition (2021)
Authors: Harland, Cooper, Turnbull and Rundle
Thomson Reuters Lawbook Co.
Sydney Sydney , NSW , Australia
ISBN: 9780455244532
Binding: Paperback
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th 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, 14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom module 1
Module/Topic
Module 2 Property, spousal maintenance and child support
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module 3 Children, parental responsibility, ICL, evidence, family violence, relocation, location, contravention and child abduction
Chapter
6, 7, 8, 11, 10, 9, 18 (607-628) 19
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom module 3
Written Advice Due: Week 3 Monday (26 July 2021) 8:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Self guided learning
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Self guided learning
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
It is expected students will have an understanding of equitable and contractual principles including duress, undue influence, unconscionable conduct, mistake, misrepresentation and the law relating to trusts. Therefore, it is desirable that students have studied Equity and Trusts before they commence Family Law.
1 Written Assessment
You will be presented with a problem scenario, the assessment question will be released on Moodle when Moodle goes live two weeks before the commencement of term.
The question will include a marking rubric and marker's expectations to guide students.
You will be required to undertake research of family law legislation and case law and apply this research to support your legal argument and conclusion.
Week 3 Monday (26 July 2021) 8:00 am AEST
To be uploaded as a word document via the assessment one upload link on Moodle
Week 5 Monday (9 Aug 2021)
Grade and feedback will be returned on Moodle. Assessments cannot 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 and conclusion linking the law to the problem scenario using concise, clear and grammatically correct language. The marking rubric will apply the following criteria which are a general guide as to the standard expected at the various levels. It is not necessarily the case that all criteria will be met at a particular standard, as there may be superior performance on one of the criteria and not so satisfactory performance on another.
High Distinction standard:
the assignment is very well written/spoken and clearly expressed
· there is a demonstrated appreciation and understanding of the issues involved
· the assignment is well structured and logically organised
· demonstrated mastery of referencing system
· there is evidence of a comprehensive analysis of the issues
Distinction standard:
· the assignment is well written/spoken and expressed
· the assignment is structured and logical
· the issues have been reasonably well identified and appreciated
· there is correct use of referencing
· issues have been analysed
Credit standard:
· the assignment is generally well written/spoken and expressed
· the assignment is structured and sequential
· referencing is satisfactory
· issues are identified and addressed
· there has been an attempt to analyse some of the issues
Pass standard:
· the assignment is able to be followed and understood
· the assignment could perhaps be better organised and structured
· the referencing may need improvement
· issues may need to be identified and addressed in more depth
· analysis when present may be incorrect
Fail standard:
· the assignment is sometimes significantly short of the required length
· the expression is poor and difficult to understand
· the assignment is poorly organised
· there has been a failure to address the issues in the question
· referencing is generally inadequate
- 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
2 Written Assessment
The Final Take Home Paper will be released on Moodle on Friday 13 August at 11:59am and is due on Friday 13 August at 11:59pm.
The assessment will comprise family law problem scenarios requiring legal argument and a conclusion with reference to family law legislation and case law.
The question will include a marking rubric and marker's expectations to guide students.
This assessment task must be completed by the due date. Failure to submit by the deadline will result in a mark of zero for this assessment as the paper will not be marked. Extensions are not available for this assessment.
Week 5 Friday (13 Aug 2021) 11:59 pm AEST
To be uploaded as a word document via the assessment two upload link on Moodle
Given the final take home paper is treated like an examination, results will be released online on the date of certification of grades with a marker's feedback report on Moodle.
You will be assessed on your research skills, your ability to reference case law, reference legislation and outline your legal argument and conclusion 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?
