LAW5368 - Regulation of Australian water resources - 2017

This unit studies how Australia allocates and protects its most crucial natural resource - water. The emphasis is on current regulatory arrangements, although key aspects of the history of water development and politics in Australia are also examined. The approach taken is both legal and policy-oriented with significant elements of critique.

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

• Apply knowledge and understanding of the principal legal and policy instruments generally applied to the management of water resources in Australia with creativity and initiative to new situations in professional practice;
• Investigate, analyse and synthesise complex information, problems, concepts and theories in relation to explain the legal aspects of water resources management at different scales, including current frameworks aimed at ensuring efficient allocation of water in Australia, whilst paying due attention to the technical and scientific context;
• Conduct research into the institutional arrangements for water resource management in Australia, with a particular emphasis on the interaction between Federal/State and public/private arrangements based on knowledge of appropriate research principle and methods; and
• Use cognitive, technical and creative skills to generate and evaluate at an abstract level complex ideas and concepts relevant to the regulatory arrangements governing the management of water resources in Australia, including the inherent tensions and difficulties within these.

Essay (1,500 words): 20%

Assignment (6,000 words): 80%

24 contact hours per semester (either intensive, semi-intensive or semester long, depending on the Faculty resources, timetabling and requirements).