MACQUARIE LAW SCHOOL POLICY ON ASSESSMENTS 

Applications for a Special Consideration Policy are made electronically via ask.mq.edu.au and should be accompanied by supporting documentation.  Students should refer to the Special Consideration Policy for complete details of the policy and a description of the supporting documentation required.

Word limits will be strictly applied and work above the word limit will not be marked. 

All assessments in the unit are to be submitted electronically. Plagiarism detection software is used in this unit.

MODERATION POLICY

Detailed marking rubrics will be made available on iLearn.  All Fail papers are double marked. 

DELIVERY

INTERNAL STUDENTS 

Students are expected to listen to one 2-hour lecture each week which will be posted online.

Lectures begin in Week 1. Lectures are also available on ilecture, but students are reminded that if they have not either attended a lecture or completed the ilecture prior to the tutorial they will not understand the tutorial discussion, will not benefit from it, and will not be able to participate in the discussion.

Tutorials will commence in Week 1. Questions for tutorials will be posted on the iLearn page regularly. Students are expected to have prepared for the tutorials. 

EXTERNAL STUDENTS

Students are expected to and complete the essential readings and listen to one 2-hour lecture which will be available online each week.

Students are expected to attend the OCS sessions for this unit. Attendance at the OCS is necessary for all external students. Please carefully check the dates, times and rooms for these sessions. Materials for discussion, including tutorial questions, will be posted online in Week 3.

TECHNOLOGY

Students are encouraged to check the unit webpage regularly, which can be accessed through http://ilearn.mq.edu.au Unit materials, including tutorial questions, are available through the unit webpage. 

The assignment and the final assessment are to be submitted using the Turnitin portal on the unit webpage.

PC and internet access are required, as are basic computer and word processing skills.

REQUIRED READING

Mandatory Texts

• For Competition Law:  
  • ​A. Bruce, Australian Competition Law (3^rd edn, LexisNexis, 2018);
  • Jurisprudentia, Competition Law I, II and III (Student Guide Card, 2019)
• For Consumer Law: A, Coorey, Australian Consumer Law (LexisNexis, 2015)

NB: A full reading list will be posted online prior to the commencement of the semester once the text books have been released from the publisher.

​Please note that the earlier editions of Bruce's text are not adequate.  The latest edition included the comprehensive changes brought about when the Harper Review changes and recommendations which have now been enacted.

Legislation

• You will need access to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). As we will see, this legislation is the subject of heavy and almost constant amendment, so it is critical to have access to an up-to-date version. The versions online are usually up to date, but not as helpful as the printed, annotated legislation. Two versions of the annotated legislation are available - one by Miller and one by Steinwall. Both are excellent, and it will be advantageous if you obtain a copy of the annotated legislation of your choice:
  • R. Miller, Miller's Australian Competition and Consumer Law Annotated 2018 (40th edn, Thomson Reuters, 2018)
  • R. Steinwall, Annotated Competition and Consumer Legislation, 2018 Edition (LexisNexis 2018)

Useful websites

• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission www.accc.gov.au 
• Australian Federal government consumer site www.consumer.gov.au
• Australian Productivity Commission www.pc.gov.au
• Consumers Federation www.consumersfederation.com
• European Union consumer materials www.europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/ 
• Home Page of Recalled Items www.recalls.gov.au 
• Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs www.consumer.gov.au
• New Zealand Consumer Affairs www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/productsafety/ 
• Office of Fair Trading New South Wales www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au 
• Standards Australia www.standards.org.au

GRADING CRITERIA

GRADING CRITERIA FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ASSESSMENTS

FAIL (49% AND BELOW)

• fails to identify  and discuss relevant issues of law raised by facts;
• contains incorrect statements of law;
• does not provide relevant authorities for propositions of law;
• inappropriate and/or irrelevant content;
• plagiarism, use of other students’ work, ‘recycling’ own work from other units;
• difficult to read and/or understand through poor grammar, expression or structure
• fails to comply with formatting instructions.                                    

PASS (50% - 64%)

• correctly identifies and discusses a limited number of issues of law raised by the facts
• contains no significant errors of law;
• provides correct authorities for propositions of law;
• attempts to apply relevant law to the given facts;
• adequate expression.

CREDIT (65%-74%)

• correctly identifies and discusses most of the issues of law raised by the facts;
• contains no errors of law;
• provides correct authorities for propositions of law;
• successfully applies relevant law to the given facts;
• identifies differences between facts in the question and fact patterns in cases, and attempts to discuss relevance of this to the solution;
• identifies discrepancies/inconsistencies within the law, and attempts to resolve these where they are relevant to the given facts;
• attempts to explain which outcome is more likely where there is more than 1 possible solution to the problem;
• has clear structure and clear expression

DISTINCTION (75%-84%)

• correctly identifies and discusses all of the issues of law raised by the facts;
• contains no errors of law
• provides correct authorities for propositions of law;
• successfully applies relevant law to the given facts;
• identifies differences between facts in the question and fact patterns in cases, and successfully discusses the relevance of this to the solution;
• identifies discrepancies/inconsistencies within the law,  and successfully resolves these where they are relevant to the given facts;
• successfully explains which outcome is more likely where there is more than 1 possible solution to the problem;
• has very clear structure and clear expression

HIGH DISTINCTION (85% and above)

• satisfies all the criteria for a Distinction;
• is exceptionally well written and exceptionally well-structured.
• demonstrates superior and original analytical skills.  

• Jurisprudentia, Competition Law I, II and III (Student Guide Card, Sydney, 2019) have been prescribed as additional mandatory reading. 
• Legislative texts have been updated.
• Class participation has been added as a form of assessment. 
• Competition law is now being taught first, and consumer law second.
• Weekly topics have been modified.