Students

LAWS8036 – Insolvency Law

2025 – Session 3, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor/Tutor
Tony Antoniou
Max Barnett
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(Admission to JD and 80cp in LAWS or LAW units at 6000 level or above) or (admission to LLM)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit covers the law and practice relating to the insolvency of corporations. The unit examines the potential consequences of insolvency for the individuals who ran the business and the rights and obligations of employees, creditors and other parties linked to the business or its officers.

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: Investigate, analyse and synthesise complex information, problems, concepts and theories in relation to the impact of insolvency generally on a corporation's rights and liabilities
  • ULO2: Appraise the development and the operation of personal and corporate insolvency law and how it has evolved in a wider social, economic and international context  
  • ULO3:   Evaluate the effectiveness of insolvency law in resolving issues of bankruptcy and corporate insolvency.    
  • ULO4: Apply relevant rules and principles to resolve complex legal problems dealing with insolvency.

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’).

Assessments 2 and 3

Word limits are strictly adhered to. For this reason, no +/- 10% applies and any words at the end of your response which exceed the word limit will not be marked.

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’).

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Professional Skills 20% No Weekly and Ongoing
Practice-Based Task 40% No 04/01/26 (11.55pm)
Final Assessment 40% No 27/01/26 (9am-12pm)

Professional Skills

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 0 hours
Due: Weekly and Ongoing
Weighting: 20%

 

Students will develop essential legal professional skills through structured classroom activities such as oral advocacy, critical reasoning, strategic problem-solving, collaborative work, team leadership, mooting, simulated client consultations, legal presentations or demonstrations, doctrinal analysis and problem solving, and/or collaborative legal research. These activities are designed to develop students’ professional capabilities including capacity to communicate legal concepts clearly and engage professionally with diverse audiences in diverse contexts.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Investigate, analyse and synthesise complex information, problems, concepts and theories in relation to the impact of insolvency generally on a corporation's rights and liabilities
  • Appraise the development and the operation of personal and corporate insolvency law and how it has evolved in a wider social, economic and international context  
  •   Evaluate the effectiveness of insolvency law in resolving issues of bankruptcy and corporate insolvency.    
  • Apply relevant rules and principles to resolve complex legal problems dealing with insolvency.

Practice-Based Task

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 50 hours
Due: 04/01/26 (11.55pm)
Weighting: 40%

 

An assessment on professional skills and knowledge relevant to the unit. This could be a legal or policy brief, a report, an essay, a law reform proposal, legal pleadings or other related professional task. This assessment may require students to prepare a response through research and adhere to discipline-specific scholarly conventions.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Investigate, analyse and synthesise complex information, problems, concepts and theories in relation to the impact of insolvency generally on a corporation's rights and liabilities
  • Appraise the development and the operation of personal and corporate insolvency law and how it has evolved in a wider social, economic and international context  

Final Assessment

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: 27/01/26 (9am-12pm)
Weighting: 40%

 

This final assessment will test student's knowledge of the whole of the course content

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Investigate, analyse and synthesise complex information, problems, concepts and theories in relation to the impact of insolvency generally on a corporation's rights and liabilities
  • Appraise the development and the operation of personal and corporate insolvency law and how it has evolved in a wider social, economic and international context  
  •   Evaluate the effectiveness of insolvency law in resolving issues of bankruptcy and corporate insolvency.    
  • Apply relevant rules and principles to resolve complex legal problems dealing with insolvency.

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

Online Zoom Tutorials will take places as follows:

Week 1 - Friday 19/12/25 (9am-12pm) (Module 1, 2 and 3)

Week 2 - Friday 09/01/26 (9am-12pm) (Module 4, 5 and 6)

Week 3 - Friday 16/01/26 (9am-12pm) (Module 7, 8 and 9)

Week 4 - Friday 23/01/26 (9am-12pm) (Module 10, 11 and 12)

Each tutorial will cover three (3) Modules. There will be short breaks between modules. Please join on time and stay for the entire session. If you are going to miss part of the session, please apply for special consideration. Classes are online over Zoom and a Zoom link is available under the "Online Tutorial Zoom Link" section.

It is expected that you keep your camera on. Students who leave their camera off and do not contribute will be assumed absent and will receive "zero" for participation for that tutorial. Zoom Troubleshooting If you are having issues accessing the Zoom class, please try logging in on a different device. To minimise issues, please sign in using your Macquarie Zoom account. The best people to contact for technical issues are the IT service desk: +61 (2) 9850 4357

Unit Schedule

Week 1 (19/12/25)

 

Module 1 - Introduction to Insolvency Law and Insolvency Theory

Module 2 - Corporate: Liquidation Part 1

Module 3 - Corporate: Liquidation Part 2

 

Week 2 (9/01/26)

 

Module 4 - Corporate: Liquidation Part 3

Module 5 - Corporate: Voluntary Administration Part 1

Module 6 - Corporate: Voluntary Administration Part 2

 

Week 3 (16/01/26)

 

Module 7 - Corporate: Voluntary Administration Part 3

Module 8 - Corporate: Deeds of Company Arrangement and Small Business Restructuring

Module 9 - Corporate: Receivership

 

Week 4 (23/01/26)

 

Module 10 - Personal: Bankruptcy Part 1

Module 11 - Personal: Bankruptcy Part 2

Module 12 - Insolvency and Trusts

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 connect.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/

Academic Success

Academic Success 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 the Service Connect Portal, 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 2025.03 of the Handbook