Overview

This unit aims to develop students’ understanding of legal processes essential to the administration of public and environmental health law with a focus on the Australian context. The unit also aims to prepare students to effectively operate as an authorised officer within the environmental health area of practice.

Requisites

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-March-2025
01-June-2025
Last self-enrolment date
16-March-2025
Census date
31-March-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
24-April-2025
Results released date
08-July-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Critically analyse the legislative framework for protecting health and the environment within Australia, with a focus on the Victorian context
  • Articulate the key concepts of Criminal and Administrative law applicable to environmental health practice
  • Assess and appraise the range of options available to seek compliance with Acts appropriate to the environmental health context, identifying the key considerations when gathering evidence
  • Analyse the role of the authorised officers in effectively implementing health and environmental legislation

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
On-campus
Lecture		 3.00  3 weeks  9
Online
Lecture		 3.00  9 weeks  27
Unspecified Activities
Independent Learning		 9.50 12 weeks  114
TOTAL     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
AssignmentIndividual 30 - 40% 1,2,3 
ExaminationIndividual 30 - 40% 1,2,3,4 
Online ParticipationIndividual 20 - 30% 1,2 

Hurdle

As the minimum requirements of assessment to pass a unit and meet all ULOs to a minimum standard, an undergraduate student must have achieved:

  1. an aggregate mark of 50% or more, and
  2. at least 40% in the final exam.

Students who do not successfully achieve hurdle requirement (2) will receive a maximum of 45% as the total mark for the unit.

Content

  • Overview of the Australian legal system
  • Scope, nature and framework of public and environmental health laws
  • Statutory interpretation, procedural fairness, legal liability, establishing entities 
  • Statutory delegation, powers, penal, offence and defence provisions, elements of an offence
  • Achieving compliance, approaches to regulation, role of risk assessment when exercising discretion, alternatives to prosecution
  • Role of the authorised officer in evidence collection, powers and procedures of entry
  • Evidence, general principals and rules, witness statements and environmental health investigations 

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.