Environmental Planning and Administration (GEPL535)

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. demonstrate a critical understanding of the Australian legal system and the legal framework of environmental and planning law and administration, including the Constitution and the court system, legal processes and doctrines such as statutory interpretation, precedent, native title, and the way power is distributed between the different arms of government
2. demonstrate a comparative and critical understanding of legal approaches to development control, environmental assessment, ecologically sustainable development, pollution control, ethical conduct in the context of administrative decision-making, and dispute resolution in relation to the administration of planning law, including the role of the public, civil and criminal actions and remedies, corruption commissions and alternative dispute resolution;
3. demonstrate a critical understanding of, and apply this understanding to critically evaluate, legal approaches to environmental and planning issues and the consequences for the environment, society and the law itself, including social, ethical, environmental and economic considerations;
4. demonstrate an understanding of the nature of the legal system and the mechanism of the law as a tool of social control and behavioural change;
5. demonstrate advanced problem solving abilities, analytical capacities and research, report writing, group participation, communication and critical thinking skills; and
6. demonstrate an enduring curiosity and high capacity for continuing engagement in the field.