Students

PICT8921 – Australia's Strategic and Defence Policy

2022 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Adam Lockyer
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MPICT or MCPICT or GradDipPICT or GradDipCPICT or MPICTMIntSecSt or MCPICTMIntSecSt or MIntSecStud or GradDipIntSecStud or GradCertIntSecStud or MSecStrategicStud or MSecStrategicStudMCrim or MSecStrategicStudMIntell or MSecStrategicStudMCyberSec or MSecStrategicStudMCTerrorism or admission to BSecStudMSecStrategicStud
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

The rise of China and India to great power status, arms modernisation trends across the region and unresolved territorial disputes in the South China Sea are collectively producing an unprecedented period of uncertainty in Australian defence policymaking. Against this backdrop, Australia's major ally, the United States, is increasingly expecting its allies and partners to play a more active role in the region. Consequently, the debate over Australia's strategic and defence policy choices has intensified in recent years. This unit investigates the current debates in Australia’s strategic and defence policy. Students will not only explore how external developments are shaping defence policy, but also look internally into the process of how Australian defence policymaking is created. In particular, this unit will examine the bureaucratic politics within the Department of Defence and between the three Services (Navy, Army and Air Force) when shaping defence policy.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the historical evolution of Australia’s strategic and defence policy since Federation in 1901.
  • ULO2: Evaluate Australia’s defence decision-making process and its key actors, including theories of defence decision-making.
  • ULO3: Critically analyse and judge key defence policy concepts and primary sources, including defence white papers and force posture reviews.
  • ULO4: Demonstrate a reflective evaluation of the challenges for the force structure of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), including capability development and defence economics.
  • ULO5: Critically analyse the key strategic and defence policy choices facing Australia’s decision-makers. This includes the future of the Australia-US alliance (ANZUS) and the strategic relations with key Asian players such as Indonesia, China and Japan.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Major Essay 45% No 1 May 2022
Analytical Reading 45% No Ongoing
Participation 10% No Ongoing

Major Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 33 hours
Due: 1 May 2022
Weighting: 45%

Students will complete an analytical research essay


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the historical evolution of Australia’s strategic and defence policy since Federation in 1901.
  • Evaluate Australia’s defence decision-making process and its key actors, including theories of defence decision-making.
  • Critically analyse and judge key defence policy concepts and primary sources, including defence white papers and force posture reviews.
  • Demonstrate a reflective evaluation of the challenges for the force structure of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), including capability development and defence economics.
  • Critically analyse the key strategic and defence policy choices facing Australia’s decision-makers. This includes the future of the Australia-US alliance (ANZUS) and the strategic relations with key Asian players such as Indonesia, China and Japan.

Analytical Reading

Assessment Type 1: Log book
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 45%

Students will produce an analytical reading assignment by annotating their weekly readings


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the historical evolution of Australia’s strategic and defence policy since Federation in 1901.
  • Evaluate Australia’s defence decision-making process and its key actors, including theories of defence decision-making.
  • Critically analyse and judge key defence policy concepts and primary sources, including defence white papers and force posture reviews.
  • Demonstrate a reflective evaluation of the challenges for the force structure of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), including capability development and defence economics.
  • Critically analyse the key strategic and defence policy choices facing Australia’s decision-makers. This includes the future of the Australia-US alliance (ANZUS) and the strategic relations with key Asian players such as Indonesia, China and Japan.

Participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 13 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 10%

Participation (in-class or online)


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the historical evolution of Australia’s strategic and defence policy since Federation in 1901.
  • Evaluate Australia’s defence decision-making process and its key actors, including theories of defence decision-making.
  • Critically analyse and judge key defence policy concepts and primary sources, including defence white papers and force posture reviews.
  • Demonstrate a reflective evaluation of the challenges for the force structure of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), including capability development and defence economics.
  • Critically analyse the key strategic and defence policy choices facing Australia’s decision-makers. This includes the future of the Australia-US alliance (ANZUS) and the strategic relations with key Asian players such as Indonesia, China and Japan.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

UNIT REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS 

  • You should spend an average of 12 hours per week on this unit. This includes listening to lectures prior to seminar or tutorial, reading weekly required materials as detailed in iLearn, participating in Ilearn discussion forums and preparing assessments. 

  • Internal students are expected to attend all seminar or tutorial sessions, and external students are expected to make significant contributions to on-line activities. 

  • In most cases students are required to attempt and submit all major assessment tasks in order to pass the unit. 

  

REQUIRED READINGS 

  • The citations for all the required readings for this unit are available to enrolled students through the unit iLearn site, and at Macquarie University's library site.  Electronic copies of required readings may be accessed through the library or will be made available by other means. 

  

TECHNOLOGY USED AND REQUIRED 

  • Computer and internet access are essential for this unit. Basic computer skills and skills in word processing are also a requirement. 

  

SUBMITTING ASSESSMENT TASKS 

  • All text-based assessment tasks are to be submitted, marked and returned electronically.  This will only happen through the unit iLearn site.  

  • Assessment tasks must be submitted as a MS word document by the due date. 

  • Most assessment tasks will be subject to a 'TurnitIn' review as an automatic part of the submission process. 

  • The granting of extensions is subject to the university’s Special Consideration Policy. Extensions will not be granted by unit conveners or tutors, but must be lodged through Special Consideration: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration 

  

  

LATE SUBMISSION OF ASSESSMENT TASKS 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – 10 marks out of 100 credit will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted seven days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments - e.g. quizzes, online tests. 

  

WORD LIMITS FOR ASSESSMENT TASKS 

  • Stated word limits include footnotes and footnoted references, but not bibliography, or title page. 

  • Word limits can generally deviate by 10% either over or under the stated figure. 

  • If the number of words exceeds the limit by more than 10%, then penalties will apply. These penalties are 5% of the awarded mark for every 100 words over the word limit. If a paper is 300 words over, for instance, it will lose 3 x 5% = 15% of the total mark awarded for the assignment. This percentage is taken off the total mark, i.e. if a paper was graded at a credit (65%) and was 300 words over, it would be reduced by 15 marks to a pass (50%). 

  • The application of this penalty is at the discretion of the course convener. 

  

REASSESSMENT OF ASSIGNMENTS DURING THE SEMESTER 

  

STAFF AVAILABILITY 

  • Department staff will endeavour to answer student enquiries in a timely manner. However, emails or iLearn messages will not usually be answered over the weekend or public holiday period. 

  • Students are encouraged to read the Unit Guide and look at instructions posted on the iLearn site before sending email requests to staff. 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.


Unit information based on version 2022.04 of the Handbook