• Offered by Research School of Accounting
  • ANU College ANU College of Business and Economics
  • Course subject Business
  • Areas of interest Law, Accounting, Commerce
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Course convener
    • Adrian Diethelm
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in First Semester 2026
    Second Semester 2026
    See Future Offerings

This course explores the legal principles shaping business structures in Australia, with a strong focus on corporate law. Topics include corporate governance, directors’ duties, shareholder rights, corporate liability, contracting and negligence, corporate finance, and external administration processes such as insolvency, receivership, and winding up. Students will develop skills in legal analysis, identifying issues in complex factual scenarios, and applying case law and legislation to real-world business contexts. The course also builds professional communication, strategic problem-solving, and the ability to engage with policy considerations and adapt to ongoing changes in corporate law.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

  1. apply advanced knowledge of corporate law to analyse and address legal issues typically encountered by Australian companies and their advisers;
  2. demonstrate an understanding of the way the law will view a set of circumstances and why the law exists, including policy considerations and settings, and also know how to apply this to influence and inform decision making;
  3. identify legal issues amongst complex factual scenarios;
  4. find current statements of case law and legislation regarding legal issues;
  5. direct ongoing learning especially in the context of amendments to corporate law.
  6. implement a professional communication style in providing strategic direction in commercial applications.

Indicative Assessment

  1. Typical assessment may include, but not restricted to, class participation, assignment(s), quizzes and examination(s). (100) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]

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

Students taking this course are expected to commit at least 10 hours a week to completing the work. This will include 3 hours per week in class and at least 7 hours a week on average (including non-teaching weeks) on course reading, research, writing and assignment work.

Inherent Requirements

No inherent requirements.

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must have completed BUSN7052 You are not able to enrol in this course if you have previously completed BUSN2101.

Prescribed Texts

Information about the prescribed textbook (if any) will be made available via the Class Summary.

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
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2026 $5520
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2026 $7020
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

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.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
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
2142 23 Feb 2026 02 Mar 2026 31 Mar 2026 29 May 2026 In Person N/A

Second Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
7141 27 Jul 2026 03 Aug 2026 31 Aug 2026 30 Oct 2026 In Person N/A

Responsible Officer: Registrar, Student Administration / Page Contact: Website Administrator / Frequently Asked Questions