SOWK11016 - Human Services and the Law

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will examine the relationship between human services and the legal context, and develop an understanding of the importance of integrating knowledge of legal systems and processes with human services practice and professional ethics. You will be introduced to the origins of the statutory contexts for human service work in Australia, and to the role which human service practitioners are required to play within these settings. Particular statutory areas are explored in some detail. This unit has a minimum grade requirement for assessments.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
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 - 2025

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
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).

Assessment Overview

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) 40%
2. Group Discussion 10%
3. Written Assessment 50%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 94.44% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 27.69% 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: Course Committee
Feedback
Learning outcomes are assessed in each assessment task, which limits incentives to complete all assessments.
Recommendation
Review learning outcomes across assessments to better reflect scaffolded learning throughout the unit.
Action Taken
A unit change proposal was completed to address this recommendation.
Source: Student qualitative evaluation
Feedback
Great assessment feedback that was helpful and informative.
Recommendation
Continue to ensure students receive detailed feedback on assessments.
Action Taken
Students continue to receive early and detailed feedback during the term.
Source: Unit Coordinator
Feedback
Variations in the quality and substance of group discussion input.
Recommendation
Provide a weighting for this assessment task.
Action Taken
A unit change proposal was weighting is now applied to Assessment 2 - Group Discussion.
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback
Two lectures were difficult to engage with.
Recommendation
Review lectures to identify ways to increase student engagement.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback
The unit Moodle site was easy to navigate, and there was a great range of resources. I was surprised at my enjoyment of this subject.
Recommendation
Retain the Moodle site format and the interactive elements of Assessments 1 and 2, and continually review and update unit resources.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Explain the origins of the statutory frameworks within which human service workers practice
  2. Demonstrate the difference between criminal and civil statutory processes and law
  3. Differentiate between the discrete jurisdictions within statutory systems with reference to the roles which human service workers are required to undertake
  4. Explain how statutory systems impact on the work of human services workers, clients, organisations and the community
  5. Explain the interaction of statutory systems and processes with professional codes of ethics in human service practice.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • •
2 - Group Discussion • • •
3 - Written Assessment • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • • • •
8 - Ethical practice • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10