University of Technology Sydney

78218 Animal Law and Policy in Australia

6cp
Requisite(s): ((22 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04264 Master of Legal Studies OR 22 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C07122 Graduate Diploma Legal Studies)) OR ((94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04236 Juris Doctor OR 142 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04250 Juris Doctor Master of Business Administration OR 94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04363 Juris Doctor Master of Intellectual Property OR 94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04364 Juris Doctor Graduate Certificate Trade Mark Law and Practice) AND 70106c Principles of Public International Law AND 70107c Principles of Company Law) OR (70106 Principles of Public International Law AND 94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04320 Juris Doctor Graduate Certificate Professional Legal Practice)
The lower case 'c' after the subject code indicates that the subject is a corequisite. See definitions for details.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 76033 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 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.


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.