- Subject Code :LAWS2003
Assessment 2: Professional Blog Post
Overview
Developing your ability to engage with lawyers and non-lawyers about current issues in Australian administrative law via a collaborative blogging project.
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Details |
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Task type |
Method |
Individual weighting |
Due date |
Length/time |
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Blog post |
Individual |
35% |
Week 4, Sunday, 23:59 Canberra Time |
1,750 words +/- 10% |
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Outcomes |
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Unit learning outcomes alignment |
Graduate learning outcomes alignment |
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ULO 1: Advise on the avenues available to citizens who wish to challenge governmental decision making and action by means of merits review in administrative appeals tribunals and by other institutions, such as the Ombudsman, in Commonwealth and State/Territory spheres, and judicial review. ULO 2: Apply the principles of sound administrative decision making found in the common law and legislation in the pursuit of statutory, common law and equitable remedies and obstacles such as objections to standing and on the basis of crown immunity and justiciability. ULO 3: Identify the policy and import of freedom of information and privacy legislation, and the importance of the New Administrative Law reforms in resolving problems with common law approaches and extending opportunities for scrutiny of governmental decision making. ULO 4: Critically reflect on the suitability of the approaches of Australian Administrative Law in the context of constitutional principles and structure considering contemporary challenges, including common law approaches to protection of civil rights and the impact of human rights legislation. |
GA 1.5: Display initiative and drive and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload. GA 2.6: Behave ethically and sustainably in their professional and personal lives. |
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Instructions
Background (why am I doing this?)
You’ll gain:
- confidence to participate in legal blogging gain insight, practice, and feedback on engaging via a blog post;
- creation of commentary and analysis on recent cases / reports and legislative change;
- some confidence to participates in future debates about Australian administrative law by understanding the history of our current system and developing an informed view on topical issues; and
- familiarity withAUSPUBLAWLinks to an external site. an established blog website that discusses Australian public law, including administrative law.
Assessment details (what is it?)
Create a Professional Blog post forAUSPUBLAWLinks to an external site.that answers:
Howhave the recommendations of theRoyal Commission into Robodebt in relation to theLinks to an external site.AAT, influenced theNew Federal System of Administrative LawLinks to an external site.?
OR
Will the proposedNew Federal System of Administrative Lawaddress the concerns identified, and recommendations made, in the reportRoyal Commission into Robodebt(July 2023) with respect to the (former) AAT.
The relevant recommendations of the Royal Commission are extracted below: [noting that mentions of the AAT are historical]
Recommendation 20.1: AAT cases with significant legal and policy issues
Services Australia should put in place a system for identifying AAT cases which raise significant legal and policy issues and ensuring that they are brought to the attention of senior DSS and Services Australia officers.
Recommendation 20.2: Training for DHS legal officers
Services Australia legal officers whose duties involve the preparation of advices in relation to AAT decisions should receive training which emphasises the requirements of the Standing Operational Statements in relation to appeal recommendations and referral to DSS; Services Australias obligations as a model litigant; and the obligation to pay due regard to ART decisions and directions.
Recommendation 20.3: Identifying significant AAT decisions
DSS should establish, or if it is established, maintain, a system for identifying all significant AAT decisions and bringing them to the attention of its secretary.
Recommendation 20.4: Publication of first instance AAT decisions
The federal administrative review body which replaces the AAT should devise a system for publication on a readily accessible platform of first instance social security decisions which involve significant conclusions of law or have implications for social security policy.
Recommendation 20.5: Administrative Review Council
Re-instate the Administrative Review Council or a body with similar membership and similar functions, with consideration given to a particular role in review of Commonwealth administrative decision-making processes.
Writing your response (how do I do this?)
- Review2 How has administrative law evolved, and how might it continue to do so?
- Familiarise yourself withAUSPUBLAWLinks to an external site.especially the make asubmission pageLinks to an external site.;
- Create a Word document that will contain your blog post (you do not need to consider publication just content);
- Comply with all the instructions in tabs below;
- Comply with the requirements set out below including referencing (AGLC4 and hyperlinks);
- Draft your blog post;
- Stick to the word limit and submit on time.
In order to complete this assignment you will gain:
- a broad understanding of the nature and purpose of Australia’s administrative law framework;
- up-to-date knowledge about Robodebt;
- critical and creative thinking needed to answer the specific question posed;
- and an ability to express your own informed views within the form and style of a professional blog post, using the specific parameters of an existing blog series. ?
Click on the tabs below to reveal more information.
Accessible Interactive Instructions:Use the arrow keys to navigate between tabs. After selecting a tab, use the Tab key to move to the tab content.
- Australia’s administrative law framework and its purpose
- Robodebt
- Critical thinking
- Professional blog form and style
To do this you will need to familiarise yourself with ‘Robodebt’ and the Royal Commission and its impact upon Australian administrative law.
The information in your blog post should be current.
The following might help you better understand Robodebt :
- Royal Commission into Robodebt(Final Report , July 2023).Links to an external site.
- Justice Emilios Kyrou, ‘Mechanisms in the ART Bill to Thwart Robodebt-type Maladministration’ (Speech, Australian Academy of Law conference, Melbourne, 18 March 2024).Links to an external site.
- ABC Rear Vision — Annabelle Quince (2022) Centrelink, the Coalition and Robodebt. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Links to an external site.
- Terry Carney, The New Digital Future for Welfare: Debts without Legal Proofs or Moral Authority?Links to an external site.(2018)UNSW Law Journal Forum1
- Commonwealth Ombudsman, Centrelinks Automated Debt Raising and Recovery System: A Report about the Department of Human Services Online Compliance Intervention System for Debt Raising and RecoveryLinks to an external site.(April 2017)
Examples
Here are examples of good blog posts (on a different topic) that would be suitable as the concluding post of the original AUSPUBLAW series.
- Assessment 2 example 1Download Assessment 2 example 1
- Assessment 2 example 2Download Assessment 2 example 2
- Assessment 2 example 3Download Assessment 2 example 3
- Assessment 2 example 4Download Assessment 2 example 4
Requirements
- Referencing style:Australian Guide to Legal CitationLinks to an external site.(4th ed.) – AGLC4; references/footnotes are for noting your sources or to clarify minor matters, not to park content
- Only Word (*doc or *docx) to be uploaded
- Submission via the teaching site in UCLearn; access to draft plagiarism checking via Turnitin is available
- In submitting, students acknowledge that they have presented their own work and that they have acknowledged fully when relying on the knowledge or sources of others.
If you would like to check your draft submission for accidental plagiarism, select the button below to access the draft submissions box.
