Information for students

Law courses are administered by UTS Law. The information provided in this section is an introduction to the full range of information that is available and is not intended to be complete. Students are advised to visit UTS Law and other UTS websites for more comprehensive information.

Location, contacts and inquiries

The Student Centre provides administration services, information and advice to students.

UTS Student Centre

CB10
Building 10, level 2
235 Jones Street
Ultimo NSW 2007
telephone 1300 ask UTS (1300 275 887)
Ask UTS

Postal address

UTS Law
University of Technology Sydney
PO Box 123
Broadway NSW 2007
Australia

Faculty structure

The UTS Law executive is led by the dean and is supported by five associate deans and the faculty general manager.

UTS Law is governed by the Faculty Board in Law which consists of ex officio members, elected staff members and elected student members. The Faculty Board in Law meets quarterly and is the formal decision-making body of UTS Law. A number of faculty committees report to the Faculty Board in Law.

The UTS Law Advisory Board comprises faculty management and representatives from the legal profession, government and the community. The UTS Law Advisory Board suggests and scrutinises proposed initiatives as well as offering strategic advice and an external focus for UTS Law.

Faculty policies and procedures

Progression and acceleration

Students are expected to follow the standard course progression. Students may seek permission from the director (students) (by way of eRequest) to enrol in subjects totalling more than 28 credit points a session if:

• there is no timetable clash
• maximum class size is not exceeded
• the student's academic record indicates that he or she is capable of performing satisfactorily with an increased workload, and
• the student can demonstrate that his or her work and other non-study commitments permit him or her to increase their workload without detriment to their studies.

UTS Law cannot guarantee avoidance of timetable and/or examination clashes where students do not follow the standard course progression.

Timetable

The UTS Timetable Planner enables current and future UTS students to view subject timetables.

Class attendance

Study load and class attendance details are available in course duration and attendance in the general information section.

Guide to written communication

Essays and other written work should be prepared in accordance with the guidelines laid down in UTS Law's Guide to Written Communication.

Unless advised otherwise by the lecturer, assignments must be typed and must also be properly written with due regard to spelling, punctuation, grammar and syntax.

Unless otherwise instructed by the subject coordinator, all written work should include footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography in the manner set out in the Guide to Written Communication.

Any piece of written work which does not comply with these requirements may be:

• required to be rewritten in proper form
• penalised in marks, or
• rejected without assessment.

Faculty of Law Inherent Requirements Statement

UTS strongly supports the right of all people who wish to undertake a course at our university to pursue their goals and achieve their personal potential. We welcome prospective students with disabilities, and students from diverse social, economic and cultural backgrounds.

Inherent Requirements are academic and non-academic requirements that are inherent in or essential to the successful completion of a course. By identifying and effectively communicating the Inherent Requirements of our courses, UTS aims to assist prospective and current students to make informed decisions about their study, and to facilitate productive and transparent discussions about career choices.

What does this mean for prospective and current students?

Prospective and current students should carefully read this Inherent Requirements Statement, and consider whether they might experience challenges in successfully completing their preferred or chosen course. This Statement should be read in conjunction with the UTS Student Rules.

If you are a prospective or current student and are concerned about your ability to meet these Inherent Requirements, you should discuss your concerns with the Academic Liaison Officer in your faculty or school and/or the UTS Accessibility Service on 9514 1177 or at accessibility@uts.edu.au.

Please note that UTS also requires students to comply with the UTS Student Charter and relevant University policies, procedures and regulations. In addition, students who enrol in professional degrees are required to comply with legal requirements relating to accreditation and registration.

Reasonable adjustments

UTS will make reasonable adjustments to teaching and learning, assessment, professional experiences, course related work experience and other course activities to facilitate maximum participation by students with disabilities, carer responsibilities, and religious or cultural obligations in their courses.

When making adjustments for students, UTS will continue to ensure the integrity of its courses and assessment requirements and processes, so that the students on whom it confers an award can present themselves as having the appropriate knowledge, experience and expertise implicit in the holding of that award. The purpose of reasonable adjustments is to assist students to meet the Inherent Requirements of a course, not to replace or override them.

Registration with the UTS Accessibility Service is necessary for students to obtain reasonable adjustments for their disability. Students are not otherwise required to disclose their disability or other personal circumstances to UTS, unless they pose a risk to their health or safety, or to that of others. Students should familiarise themselves with relevant deadlines and allow sufficient time for reasonable adjustments to be made.

The Inherent Requirements Statement relating to courses offered by the Faculty of Law can be viewed here (PDF 160KB).

Student facilities

The library supports the teaching, learning and research needs of students and staff at UTS Law. The law collection consists of extensive print and electronic sources, with library staff providing training and research assistance on request.

The library also has comprehensive legal Study Guides in a number of topic areas, which contain lists of resources, short instructional videos, search tips, and links to further information.

For information or assistance contact the UTS: Library.

Computer labs

ITD provides computer laboratories for UTS students on all campuses.

UTS Law Research

UTS Law Research is driven by a desire to achieve impact through research, a commitment to researcher development and a motivation to engage with the broader community.

The Faculty of Law is a central point for diverse research activities, exhibited by our Centres and Research Clusters.

UTS Law Research Clusters are groupings of researchers who are actively engaged in a particular theme of legal research. These groups are not only made up of UTS Law academics, but also external academics, postdoctoral research fellows and higher degree research students.

Research Clusters hold events and activities in order to promote their research and engage with the community outside their group. Whilst these groups do not encompass the entirety of research areas being undertaken in UTS Law, they highlight areas of focus and collaboration within our Faculty.

Research Clusters:

Law and History
Criminal Justice
International Law
Feminist Legal Research
Migration and Labour Law
Technology and Intellectual Property

Centres

AustLII

UTS Law is home to the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) which is the national provider of legal research infrastructure. AustLII was established in 1995 and is committed to promoting free access to law both in Australia and internationally. It is the largest source of Australian legal materials on the internet, with over 4,000,000 searchable legal documents comprising both primary materials (e.g. cases, legislation, treaties) and secondary materials (e.g. journals, reports).

Anti-Slavery Australia

Anti-Slavery Australia is an award-winning centre of the Faculty of Law and the only university-based legal, research and policy centre in Australia focused on human slavery, trafficking, forced labour, forced marriage and extreme labour exploitation. The centre also runs Australia’s national forced marriage service, My Blue Sky. The centre develops leading research, advocates for key policy changes and law reform and delivers face-to-face and online training to frontline staff, businesses, students and organisations nationally. Anti-Slavery Australia also provides access to legal advice and representation for survivors of slavery, trafficking and extreme exploitation; and works with law students on a range of social justice initiatives.

Centre for Media Transition

The Centre for Media Transition (CMT) researches the challenges of a changing media environment, particularly as they relate to news media and journalism. As the transition to digital media continues at pace, the Centre brings expertise from the fields of journalism and communications law to address pressure points such as media sustainability, the regulation of digital platforms, and the pernicious challenge of mis- and disinformation. Our research and policy work explores the ways in which journalism practice and media regulation can adapt to meet the changing environment. As a joint initiative of the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, we explicitly embrace a cross-platform approach to media production, distribution and consumption. We work with news producers, digital platforms, government, the community and other researchers to investigate current challenges, to foster the public interest and to promote a vibrant, viable and responsive media environment.

Law | Health | Justice

Law Health Justice aims to advance legal, policy, and practice responses to issues at the intersection of law and health. We pursue health justice for - and with - populations that experience harms rooted in systemic inequities.

Industrial training/professional practice

Admission to legal practice in Australia

Admission to the Supreme Court of NSW to practise as a lawyer in New South Wales is based upon the successful completion of an accredited academic legal qualification and an accredited course of practical legal training (PLT).

The UTS Bachelor of Laws (C10124) (LLB), Juris Doctor (C04236) (JD) and the Graduate Certificate in Professional Legal Practice (C11232) (GCPLP) are accredited academic legal qualifications.

Practical legal training

The Faculty of Law's PLT program is accredited by the Legal Profession Admission Board of the Supreme Court of NSW (LPAB). UTS Law was the first to offer an accredited PLT program in Sydney at a university level. The program comprises subjects which satisfy the competencies required by the Legal Profession Admission Rules 2005 and a practical experience work placement.

Further details regarding the structure of the PLT program can be obtained from UTS Law.

International law graduates

If you are an international lawyer seeking admission to legal practice in Australia, you need to have your overseas legal qualification assessed by the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board (LPAB). The LPAB assessment determines the number of subjects (academic and/or PLT) you need to complete to be eligible to practice law in Australia.

Depending on the number of subjects required by the LPAB, a study plan will be tailored to meet the individual student needs.

Candidates may need to complete one of the following courses:

• Graduate Certificate in Australian Law (C11211),
• Graduate Diploma in Australian Law (C07073),
• Juris Doctor (C04236)
• Juris Doctor Graduate Certificate in Professional Legal Practice (C04320)
• Master of Legal Studies (C04264)
• Graduate Certificate in Professional Legal Practice (C11232)

Subject substitution is available for one subject only where it is approved.

To receive a study plan that fulfils LPAB requirements from courses offered by UTS, please email a scanned copy of your LPAB assessment to: law@uts.edu.au. Depending on the number of subjects required, a study plan will be tailored to your individual needs from one of the above courses.

Cross-disciplinary subjects

UTS Law offers a range of cross-disciplinary law subjects — studies in various strands of the law for students not undertaking a law qualification but who wish to become familiar with the law as it affects their chosen profession. Through its cross-disciplinary program, UTS Law offers subjects for students in the UTS Business School; UTS: Engineering and Information Technology; UTS: Health; and UTS: Science.

Cross-disciplinary students enrol in UTS Law subjects through their home faculty and any inquiries should be made in the first instance to the UTS Student Centre.

Further information is available from:

telephone 1300 ask UTS (1300 275 887)
Ask UTS

Majors and sub-majors offered to students from other faculties

Majors

The following law majors are available within courses from other UTS faculties.

• Master of Business Administration (C04018)
  • Business Law (MAJ09446)
• Bachelor of Business (C10020/C10026)
  • Business Law (MAJ09401)

Sub-majors

The following law sub-majors are available within courses from other UTS faculties.

• Bachelor of Business (C10020/C10026)
  • Business Law (SMJ09030)
  • Taxation Law (SMJ09033)
• Master of Business Administration (C04018)
  • Business Law (SMJ09037)

Some courses from other UTS faculties may also include law subjects not listed under any of the above majors and sub-majors; students should check the handbook entry for the course in which they are enrolled for further details or contact the UTS Student Centre.