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Course specification
The current and official versions of the course specifications are available on the web at http://www.usq.edu.au/course/specification/current.
Please consult the web for updates that may occur during the year.

LAW3444 Competition and Consumer Law

Semester 1, 2019 Online
Short Description: Competition and Consumer Law
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Law and Justice
Student contribution band : Band 3
ASCED code : 090901 - Business and Commercial Law
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner: Rachel Burgess

Requisites

Pre-requisite: (LAW1111 & LAW1112) or LAW1201 or (LAW5111 & LAW5112) or LAW5501 or LAW1101 or LAW1500

Other requisites

Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at http://www.usq.edu.au/current-students/support/computing/hardware.

Rationale

Every law student who works in the field of business requires a detailed understanding of the legal environment relating to competition and consumer protection law. There are heavy penalties for non-compliance. This unit is an essential elective for lawyers working in these areas.

Synopsis

This unit examines the nature and operation of Australian competition and consumer protection law, primarily under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). There are two broad areas:
1. Competition Law, focusing on areas including market definition, competition, market power, cartels, anti-competitive agreements, exclusive dealing, resale price maintenance, anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions, authorisation and notifications and remedies and enforcement; and
2. Consumer Law, focusing on areas including the changes to consumer protection pursuant to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), misleading or deceptive conduct, unconscionable conduct, unfair contracts regime, false or misleading representations, other unfair practices, consumer guarantees, product safety standards, remedies and enforcement.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to demonstrate:

  1. detail the provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) that regulate a range of business activities, including dealings between businesses and with consumers and small businesses
  2. apply knowledge of the enforcement priorities of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in the areas of cartel conduct, misuse of market power, vertical restraints on competition and anti-competitive acquisitions
  3. articulate the key aspects of Australian consumer law including: misleading and deceptive conduct, unconscionable conduct and unfair contract terms
  4. understand the range of remedies and enforcement mechanisms that are available to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
  5. analyse legal and business issues that involve competition and consumer law arising from real cases so as to be aware of the legal risks in business, and show how these risks may be managed.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Competition law provisions 50.00
2. Remedies and enforcement, including authorisations and notifications 10.00
3. Australian consumer law, including remedies and enforcement 25.00
4. Case studies and risk analysis. 15.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2019&sem=01&subject1=LAW3444)

Please contact us for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

Bruce, A 2014, Consumer Protection Law in Australia, 2nd edn, LexisNexis Butterworths, Sydney, New South Wales.
Bruce, A 2018, Australian Competition Law, 3rd edn, LexisNexis Butterworths, Chatswood, New South Wales.
Australian Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (as amended).

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Corones, S G 2016, The Australian Consumer Law, 3rd edn, Lawbook Co, Pyrmont, NSW.
Miller, R. V 2018, Miller's annotated Trade Practices Act : Australian competition and consumer law, 36th edn, Thomson Lawbook Co, Pyrmont, N.S.W.
(Also titled: Miller's annotated Trade Practices Act.)
Steinwall, R 2017, Annotated Competition and Consumer Legislation, LexisNexis Butterworths, Sydney, New South Wales.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Assessments 40.00
Directed Study 35.00
Private Study 90.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT 40 40 23 Apr 2019
EXAMINATION 60 60 End S1 (see note 1)

Notes
  1. This will be an open examination. The total working time for the examination is 2 hours. The examination date will be available via UConnect when the official examination timetable has been released.

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    Online: If you are an international student in Australia, you are advised to attend all classes at your campus. For all other students, there are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.)
  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=14749PL (point 4.2.4)
  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must obtain at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course (i.e. the Primary Hurdle), and have satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), i.e. the end of semester examination by achieving at least 40% of the marks available for that assessment item.

    Supplementary assessment may be offered where a student has undertaken all of the required summative assessment items and has passed the Primary Hurdle but failed to satisfy the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), or has satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised) but failed to achieve a passing Final Grade by 5% or less of the total weighted Marks.

    To be awarded a passing grade for a supplementary assessment item (if applicable), a student must achieve at least 50% of the available marks for the supplementary assessment item as per the Assessment Procedure http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents/14749PL (point 4.4.2).
  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
  6. Examination information:
    There will be an OPEN examination in this course. Candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination.
  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    Any Deferred or Supplementary examination for this course will be held during the next examination period.
  8. University Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au.

Assessment notes

  1. Students studying this course as part of a Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor must use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) style. Students who are not enrolled in a Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor may use either Harvard (AGPS) or the AGLC style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. For AGLC style guide enquiries, consult the AGLC manual from the USQ Library's referencing guide at http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing, or contact the Law librarian. The AGPS style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide at http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing.