Continuing Professional Development

This course undertakes a detailed examination of relevant legislation and practice with respect to mining and natural resources law in Australia and internationally. The course seeks to develop students' ability to solve complex legal problems relevant to the resources industry.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles will enable students to discover and develop knowledge of the key concepts, drivers and context of ESG in the law and business. And it will inspire students to query existing paradigms, demonstrate creative solutions, and apply their acquired understanding to contemporary problems.

This course will focus on selected topics in the law of war (or international humanitarian law). This body of law centres on the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977. We will examine issues such as the definition of armed conflict, the doctrine of military necessity, the significance of prisoner of war status, the relationship between international humanitarian law and human rights standards, and issues concerning implementation and enforcement. The course will consider the challenges posed to international humanitarian law by the changing character of armed conflict, the fragmentation of international law, and the evolving character of international relations. We will consider historical and current case studies to examine how humanitarian rules operate in practice.

This course is an introductory level examination of intellectual property law. It commences by examining the overarching international treaties that create a common global architecture for the domestic laws that exist in nearly all jurisdictions. The course, by recourse to not only Australian, but also extensive international legislative and case law examples, then seeks to develop students' understanding of the various forms of IP protection including copyright, passing off, trademarks, designs, patents, confidential information, circuit layout and plant breeders rights. The course will focus on subject matter that is protected, the pre-conditions for protection, the nature of infringement, and the remedies for infringement.

This course critically examines international and regional laws (treaties and case-law), and domestic policies and laws (legislation and case-law) and politics, relating to forced migration. Study will focus on both historical and contemporary refugee law and practice in Australia in light of international refugee law, and international human rights law in particular. The transplantation of those international norms into domestic law via the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (and key cases interpreting and applying those laws) will be carefully and critically analysed. Attention will also focus on the key challenges to refugee protection raised by contemporary Australian practices, especially in respect of asylum seekers arriving irregularly by sea; including mandatory detention, offshore (regional) processing and temporary protection. The course will encourage students to incorporate comparative and/or interdisciplinary perspectives into their legal analyses of international law and domestic law and practice.

Competition/antitrust law plays a significant role in the economy of individual countries and their welfare. At the same time, it has an enormous impact on the ways in which companies and other entities, including multinational corporations, conduct their businesses. It also impacts consumers.

The course will seek to develop practical mediation, dispute resolution and conflict management skills. It will provide an analysis of the framework, principles and values of mediation and other associated methods of dispute resolution.