This course in Occupational Health and Safety Law will provide students with an understanding of the legal regulation of workplace safety, especially the employer's common-law duty to maintain a safe workplace and the employer's obligations under occupational health and safety statutes.
The course will consider the problem of work-related injuries in the workplace, and the nature of workplace accidents. It will consider briefly the history of workplace safety regulation, including the failure of the common law to reduce accidents in the workplace and the Robens reforms on which modern safety laws are based. The course will also consider the recent attempts to harmonise OHS laws.
The focus of the course will then shift to an examination of the new model Work Health and Safety legislation enacted in 5 Australian jurisdictions. The course will provide students with the opportunity to be completely up-to-date with these important changes.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Identify, explain and examine the legal regulation of workplace safety and critically evaluate past attempts to regulate safety at work;
- Demonstrate understanding and knowledge and ability to distinguish and explain the main provisions of the model Work Health and Safety legislation;
- Identify, explain and critically evaluate the functions, interests and limitations of the model Work Health and Safety laws.
- Identify, examine and demonstrate critical analysis of the causes of workplace accidents; and
- Demonstrate , at masters level, the ability to plan and execute a research project to demonstrate legal research principles and methodologies in applying critical analysis and application of legal principles and practice to complex matters arising in occupational health and safety regulation.
Indicative Assessment
- Class presentations on selected extracts from materials (15) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Class participation (10) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Research paper of approximately 6,000 words (75) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
In response to COVID-19: Please note that Semester 2 Class Summary information (available under the classes tab) is as up to date as possible. Changes to Class Summaries not captured by this publication will be available to enrolled students via Wattle.
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Workload
Classes offered in non-standard sessions will be taught on an intensive base with compulsory contact hours (approximately 26 hours of face to face teaching). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion of this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours. Classes offered during semester periods are expected to have 3 contact hours per week.
Click here for the LLM Masters Program timetable.
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
The prescribed text for this course is:- Richard Johnstone and Michael Tooma: Work Health and Safety Regulation in Australia — the Model Act (Federation Press, 2012) (Hereafter J and T).
Preliminary Reading
Students must rely on the approved Class Summary which will be posted to the Programs and Courses site approximately 2 weeks prior to the commencement of the course.
An e-brick will be available on the Wattle course site.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 3
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and 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). You can find your student contribution amount for each course 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 |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $4320 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $5760 |
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.