University of Technology Sydney

76033 Animal Law and Policy in Australia

6cp
Requisite(s): ( 70616 Australian Constitutional Law OR (70110 Introduction to Law AND (76006c Public International Law OR 70108c Public International Law OR 76110c Introduction to Public International Law)))
The lower case 'c' after the subject code indicates that the subject is a corequisite. See definitions for details.
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 78218 Animal Law and Policy in Australia AND 78219 Animal Law and Policy in Australia

Description

This subject examines the effectiveness of animal welfare regulation in Australia, as it applies to companion animals, farm animals, wild animals, animals in entertainment, and animals in experimentation. Students also evaluate Australia's regulatory regime alongside selected topics from international and comparative perspectives. The subject materials focus on the legal status of animals and the law’s role in preventing cruelty. This provides the foundation for evaluating whether regimes in Australia, or internationally, foster accountability and ethical standards. A consistent theme that weaves through the subject is the animal welfare versus animal rights debates that are presented against the historical influences of philosophy, morality and science. Students are encouraged to question and strengthen their ethical stance, building on their research skills to delve deeply into ethical and justice issues underpinning animal law. Students study, at an introductory level, Martha Nussbaum’s “capabilities approach”, that provides an alternative to the traditional welfare/rights dichotomy. The subject takes a practice-oriented approach to student learning, by including interactions with a rich array of expert speakers. It also provides students with practical assessments, including writing case notes that are collated into an animal law case book, freely available in the public domain.


Detailed subject description.

Fee information

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Access conditions

Note: The requisite information presented in this subject description covers only academic requisites. Full details of all enforced rules, covering both academic and admission requisites, are available at access conditions and My Student Admin.