The 'Family, Humanitarian and Other non-skilled visas’ course takes students through the statutory framework and its application to visas relating to family, humanitarian and other non-skilled visas. It enables students to understand the context and working mechanisms of these Australian visa systems, and prepares graduates for careers in legal practice or in migration law and policy making. It allows students to experience migration legislation in operation through statutory interpretation and analysis, review and analysis of complex cases in examining the range of specific requirements of these visas.
This course will inform academic scholarship in this area and increase students’ expertise in practice by teaching them to refer to legislation first, then analyse complex cases and correctly interpret legislation and policy. Students will learn how to apply their integrated knowledge when providing migration related legal services and managing client and stakeholder relationships. Students will be required to conduct research to evaluate law and policy on family, humanitarian and other non-skilled visas and produce submissions for the consideration of government decision makers in relation to visa applications.
The course complements and expands the knowledge and skills needed in professional legal practice. It is one of the four courses on aspects of migration law and practice. The other three course are 'Principles of Australian Migration Law and Practice', 'Skilled, employer sponsored and business visas' and 'Compliance, visa cancellation and review'.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Critically analyse and integrate knowledge of a range of Family, Humanitarian and Other non-skilled visas, application and grant procedures and relevant legislative requirements to provide accurate and appropriate advice to clients.
- Apply critical thinking and creativity to professionally diagnose client needs and create and justify strategies and solutions to resolve visa eligibility issues.
- Conduct research to plan and develop submissions for government decision makers to consider compelling and compassionate circumstances of prospective Family, Humanitarian and other non-skilled visa applicants.
- Research, evaluate, compare and contrast how other Western democracies approach the social and legal aspects of Family and Humanitarian migration.
- Critically reflect on and apply migration law practitioners’ ethical and professional obligations in diagnosing client needs, client communication, drafting and advocacy, and demonstrate expert judgment, adaptability and responsibility as a practitioner.
Indicative Assessment
- Online quiz: At the end of Week 6, students will be required to demonstrate an understanding of key visa concepts by completing an online quiz. (10) [LO 1,5]
- Research Essay: Students will be required to apply their learnings from the Topics and undertake a 4000 word research project. From a range of topics offered by the Convenor, each student will be able to select one that is most closely aligned to their personal and professional interest. (50) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Letters of advice: Students will be required to build on what they have learned in the Topics and provide simulated letters of advice to clients on three hypothetical scenarios with a combined word limit of 3000 words. (40) [LO 1,2,3,5]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
This is a 6-unit course with an equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL) of 6/48 = 0.125. The number of study hours allocated to an EFTSL of 0.125 is 10–12 hours per week.
All course materials will be available online.
The course requires continuous online participation throughout the course, as students must participate in discussion forums and other activities.
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
There are no prescribed texts.
Preliminary Reading
Legislation and relevant government agency policy is available online via the LEGENDcom subscription service and accessible to students enrolled in the course.
Government agency reports and other publications.
Parliamentary reports and submissions
A list of selected case law, books, journal articles, audio and video recordings will be provided in topic readings and resources on the Wattle course site.
Assumed Knowledge
It will be assumed that students or participants (CPD and audit) have some knowledge of, or experience in, constitutional law, administrative law, contract law, corporations law, legal drafting, statutory interpretation or related study or experience.
Those who do not will be provided with links on the Wattle site to information and expected to manage their own learning to attain basic background knowledge.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 34
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $4410 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $5880 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4235 | 22 Feb 2021 | 01 Mar 2021 | 31 Mar 2021 | 28 May 2021 | Online | View |
