78218 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 focuses 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 also apply and evaluate Martha Nussbaum’s “capabilities approach”, as an alternative to the traditional welfare/rights dichotomy in order to develop a more complex understanding of ethical considerations and a deeper appreciation of professional responsibility. 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.