Students

LAWS8021 – Health Law

2024 – Session 2, Online-scheduled-weekday

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Esther Erlings
Contact via iLearn
see iLearn
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(Admission to JD and (LAWS600 or LAWS8001) and (LAWS818 or LAWS8018)) or (admission to LLM)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

As a result of increased globalisation, technological change and social transformations, domestic and global health issues and challenges have become increasingly interconnected. This unit examines how domestic and international law serve as important tools in the quest to prevent injury and disease by lowering health risks among populations. Students will learn about the principal domestic and international legal instruments, regulatory strategies, and enforcement approaches that exist to improve health and wellbeing in a variety of critical contemporary health related contexts. Consideration will also be given to the important role other actors, such as intergovernmental organisations, business and civil society, may play in promoting and protecting health.

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: Identify, evaluate, critique and apply fundamental doctrines, concepts, principles in health law
  • ULO2: Analyse governance frameworks and their relationship to legal frameworks in health systems
  • ULO3: Carry out advanced research, synthesis and integration of knowledge to generate appropriate responses to contemporary socio-legal problems in health law
  • ULO4: Produce an independent research report at an advanced level of written expression in accordance with formal writing conventions

General Assessment Information

All written assessments submitted electronically must be submitted through the link provided in iLearn. This unit will utilise Turnitin plagiarism detection software. Students should carefully check that they submit the correct file for an assessment, as re-submissions will not be accepted after the due date and time, including instances where students upload an incorrect file in error.

The design, moderation and feedback of all assessments is in accordance with the Macquarie University Assessment Procedure (link provided under ‘Policies and Procedures’ below).

Late Submission Policy

A maximum penalty of five (5) percentage points of the total possible marks will be applied per day to late submissions, for up to a maximum of seven calendar days. Tasks that have not been submitted within the maximum number of additional late days will receive a mark of zero. This provision does not apply to online exams or other assessment with a time limit of less than 24 hours.

Penalties for late submission will be applied consistently and equitably to all students enrolled in the unit. Where short-term, serious and unavoidable circumstances have affected their ability to submit an assessment task, a student must submit a formal application for Special Consideration as per the Special Consideration Policy. Students should not request an informal arrangement from their tutor, lecturer or Unit Convenor.

Where an application for Special Consideration is approved, and the outcome is an extension to the due date of a task, submissions that are received after the new due date will be subject to late penalties that are calculated from the new due date. This only applies where the outcome is an extension to the due date – see the Special Consideration Policy for a schedule of all possible outcomes.

Special Consideration

Students should submit applications for Special Consideration electronically via ask.mq.edu.au, along with the supporting documentation. Before submitting their applications, students should refer to the Special Consideration Policy (link provided under ‘Policies and Procedures’ below)

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Research Essay 50% No 2024-10-27
Research Plan 30% No 2024-09-01
Class participation 20% No Ongoing

Research Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 50 hours
Due: 2024-10-27
Weighting: 50%

 

Students are required to submit a research essay — based on their research essay proposal — that critically analyses a current issue or development in health law.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify, evaluate, critique and apply fundamental doctrines, concepts, principles in health law
  • Analyse governance frameworks and their relationship to legal frameworks in health systems
  • Carry out advanced research, synthesis and integration of knowledge to generate appropriate responses to contemporary socio-legal problems in health law
  • Produce an independent research report at an advanced level of written expression in accordance with formal writing conventions

Research Plan

Assessment Type 1: Plan
Indicative Time on Task 2: 28 hours
Due: 2024-09-01
Weighting: 30%

 

Students are required to develop and submit a written research proposal for their research essay relating to a current issue or development in health law. The proposal must clearly set out the proposed research question and approach to the question.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify, evaluate, critique and apply fundamental doctrines, concepts, principles in health law
  • Analyse governance frameworks and their relationship to legal frameworks in health systems
  • Carry out advanced research, synthesis and integration of knowledge to generate appropriate responses to contemporary socio-legal problems in health law

Class participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 0 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 20%

 

Students will be required to facilitate and participate in weekly discussions, problem solving tasks or debates, both individually and in teams according to allocations made by teaching staff.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify, evaluate, critique and apply fundamental doctrines, concepts, principles in health law
  • Analyse governance frameworks and their relationship to legal frameworks in health systems

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

Delivery

Lectures: weekly pre-recorded online lectures (2 per week on average). See iLearn page for PPTs and recordings. 

Tutorials: Fortnightly online tutorials (Wednesday, 7-9pm), commencing in week 3. See iLearn page for ZOOM link and instructions.

This unit is worth 10 credit points, which equates to 150 hours of work. Therefore, students should expect to commit an average of 10 hours per week to this unit, including all scheduled and unscheduled activities and preparing and executing the assessment tasks.

Resources

There is no required textbook. Readings will be accessible through iLearn.

Students require access to a computer, internet with decent speed and a secure/reliable server. The iLearn page contains all Unit requirements and a weekly schedule for teaching, readings and tutorials. Information about all assessment tasks is also available on iLearn.

Unit Schedule

Week Topic
1 Overview/Professional Regulation
2 Social Determinants of Health
3 International Regulation (Tutorial 1)
4 Medicine and Intellectual Property
5 Public Health (Covid-19) (Tutorial 2)
6 Consent 
7 End of Life Decisions (Tutorial 3)
8 Restrictive Practices
9 Medical Negligence (Tutorial 4)
10 Apologies and Disclosure
11 Confidentiality and Privacy (Tutorial 5)
12 Workplace Regulation 
13 (Tutorial 6)

 

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 2024.01R of the Handbook