Unit Synopsis
Bioethical principles and the law both inform and impact every aspect of contemporary paramedic practice. In this unit, you will gain introductory knowledge of the fundamentals of ethics, law, and professionalism. You will learn the skills you can apply and tools you can use to help navigate common legal issues and challenges in everyday situations. In the process of exploring ethical and legal issues in paramedicine, opportunities for deliberation, discussion, critique, and reflection will arise within a case-based framework.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 1 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Online Quiz(zes) | 30% |
| 2. Presentation | 30% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 40% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 39.22% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 10.81% response rate.
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.
Source: SUTE feedback
Students expressed that greater clarity is required for the assessment tasks
Provide additional resources to support student's understanding of tasks including assessment instruction videos and examples
In Progress
Source: SUTE feedback
Students enjoyed engaging content which included real world application, 5HP resources and case-based discussions
Continue to include 5HP resources, integration of 'real-world' application and case-based discussions with breakout rooms
In Progress
Source: SUTE feedback
Students requested more pre-recorded lectures, short summaries, and more interactive discussions rather than heavy reading loads
Weekly content will consider use of a greater number of smaller pre-recorded lectures on each topic with accompanying study guides
In Progress
Source: SUTE feedback
Students communicated the need for greater unit alignment of the poster presentation assessment task
Poster presentation assessment task will be reviewed, to ensure alignment with the unit learning outcomes
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Explain ethical and legal principles and ethical obligations as they relate to paramedic practice, with an emphasis on the care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
- Describe the features of the Australian legal system and statutory bodies
- Locate relevant and important legislation, legal concepts and case law, and discuss them with application to paramedicine
- Relate professionalism and regulation to paramedicine
- Identify and discuss ethical and legal issues arising within paramedicine, and apply relevant skills and tools to resolve these issues.
The Paramedicine Board of Australia requires that units align with the Professional capabilities for registered paramedics, which consist of five (5) domains. The below section aligns the proposed learning outcomes with these domains. In addition, the learning outcomes have been aligned with the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Ambulance Health Service Standards.
Professional capabilities for registered paramedics
| Standard/Attribute/Criteria | Learning Outcome/s |
|
Domain 1: The professional and ethical practitioner 1.1.1, 1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.1.5, 1.1.7, 1.1.8, 1.1.9, 1.1.10, 1.1.11, 1.2.4, 1.2.5, 1.2.6, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.4.1, 1.4.2 |
LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5 |
|
Domain 2: The communicator and collaborator 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, 2.1.7, 2.1.8, 2.2.2 |
LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5 |
|
Domain 3: The evidence-based practitioner 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.3.1, 3.3.3, 3.3.4, 3.4.1, 3.4.2 |
LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5 |
|
Domain 4: The safety and risk management practitioner 4.1.2, 4.2.1, 4.3.1, 4.4.1, 4.4.2, 4.4.4, 4.5.2, 4.5.3, 4.6.5, 4.7.4 |
LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5 |
|
Domain 5: The paramedicine practitioner 5.1.2, 5.1.3, 5.1.4, 5.1.5, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.2.3, 5.2.4, 5.2.5, 5.6.1, 5.6.2, 5.6.3, 5.6.4 |
LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5 |
National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards
| Standard | Learning Outcome/s |
| Clinical Governance: 1.01b, 1.01c, 1.08d, 1.16b, 1.16c, 1.17b, 1.17c | LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4 |
| Partnering with Consumers: 2.01a, 2.01b, 2.01c, 2.03a, 2.03b, 2.04, 2.05a, 2.05b, 2.06, 2.07, 2.08 | LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5 |
| Preventing and Controlling Infections: | - |
| Medication Safety: | - |
| Comprehensive Care: 5.03a, 5.03b, 5.03c, 5.13c | LO1, LO3, LO5 |
| Communicating for Safety: 6.03a, 6.03b, 6.03c, 6.09a, 6.09b | LO1, LO3, LO5 |
| Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration: 8.07 | LO1, LO3, LO5 |
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | ||
| 2 - Presentation | • | • | |||
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 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 | • | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |