This course is available for on-campus & remote (online) learning. All students participate in interactive, real-time classes.
Australia has a unique environment and a distinctive set of environmental policy issues including continued resource extraction, transitions to renewable energy, and movements for First Nations sovereignty. This course explores Australian environmental policy through the lens of problems, practices, and politics. Drawing on skills and methods from critical policy studies, the course follows a case-based learning approach to collaboratively explore policy issues such as: developing northern Australia, Indigenous Land and Sea Management, the Great Barrier Reef, management of invasive species, and renewable energy. Cases will vary year on year, and students will hear from guest speakers and policy practitioners active in each field, including First Nations perspectives. In addition, students will be encouraged to share practical experiences in relation to each case study, make comparisons with the treatment of similar issues in Australia and internationally, and use course tools to strengthen their critical thinking and practice in relation to their own environmental policy field of interest.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Critically assess how environmental problems are conceived and articulated in policy and management frameworks.
- Analyse how problem conceptualisation shapes the practices and politics of policy implementation and evaluation.
- Identify key patterns and logics of policymaking across multiple areas of Australian environmental regulation and management, and make connections with international cases.
- Formulate alternative or improved approaches to environmental policy and management, taking into consideration divergent perspectives and experiences.
- Explain the value of ‘problem-questioning’ as well as ‘problem-solving’ approaches to the analysis of environmental policy and management.
Indicative Assessment
- Weekly commentaries x 3 (900 words total) (15) [LO 1,2,3]
- Presentation (10 mins) (20) [LO 4]
- Presentation essay (1250 words) (20) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- A major research essay (2500 words) (45) [LO 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
The standard workload for a 6 unit course is 130 hours including class time and independent study
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Prescribed Texts
Bacchi, C & Goodwin, S 2016, Poststructural Policy Analysis: A Guide to Practice, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
Lea, T 2020, Wild Policy: Indigeneity and the Unruly Logics of Intervention, Stanford University Press, Stanford.
JM Lewis & A Tiernan (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Australian Politics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Preliminary Reading
Campion, OB, West, S, Degnian, K, Djarrbal, M, Ignjic, E, Ramandjarri, C, Malibirr, GW, Guwankil, M, Djigirr, P, Biridjala, F, O’Ryan, S, & Austin, BJ 2023, ‘Balpara: A Practical Approach to Working With Ontological Difference in Indigenous Land & Sea Management’, Society & Natural Resources.
Chester, L & Eliot A 2019, ‘Energy problem representation: The historical and contemporary framing of Australian electricity policy’, Energy Policy, vol. 128, pp. 102-113.
Howey, K & Neale T 2023, ‘Divisible Governance: Making Gas-fired Futures during Climate Collapse in Northern Australia’, Science, Technology, & Human Values, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 1080-1109.
Stephens, A, Oppermann, E, Turnour, J, Brewer, T, O'Brien, C, Rayner, T, Blackwood, G & Dale, AP 2015, ‘Identifying Tensions in the Development of Northern Australia: Implications for Governance’, Journal of Economic and Social Policy, vol. 17, no. 1, article 5.
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:
- 2
- 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 |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $4980 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $6720 |
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.