Law School

This unit provides an intensive study of Australia's GST law including its current scope and application to domestic supplies, exports and imports of goods and services. The course will be led by Professor Rick Krever. Rick is a leading taxation law and policy expert. He has been closely involved in modern Australian tax reform initiatives for many years, including in his roles as a member of the Commonwealth Government's Taxation Law Improvement Project Consultative Committee and the Review of Business Taxation (Ralph Review). Professor Krever has been a professor-in-residence at both the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Treasury, and has twice been seconded to the International Monetary Fund.

• Date: 7 – 10 June 2022
• Price: $3,300 incl. tax and booking fee
• CPD: For attendance at this short course, practitioners are entitled to 6 CPD points in competency area 4: Substantive Law. The practitioners must attend the entire workshop to claim the points.

Further information and registration here

These workshops discuss foundational materials and principles in international human rights law. Workshops are supplemented with online materials and pre-readings. Institutional frameworks and procedures for development, interpretation and enforcement are examined. Selected substantive issues of human rights are included as a means of engaging with specific treaties and cases and also in exploring the role of State and non-State actors. Methods of implementation and enforcement of human rights in the international sphere, through both global and regional instruments and institutions are presented and critiqued.

• Date: 20 and 24 June 2022
• Price: $1,583.59 incl. tax and booking fee
• CPD: For attending the entire workshop in person, practitioners can claim 6 CPD points in competency area 4 Substantive Law.

Further information and registration

This workshop has been postponed and the new dates will be advised once available. 

This unit will commence with a short introduction to insurance law, examining key concepts associated with general insurance as a risk transfer loss spreading arrangement. It includes analysis of the common law and relevant equitable principles and close examination of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cwlth), covering topics such as the duty of utmost good faith, causation, subrogation and double insurance and contribution. This will be followed by advanced teaching of insurance law topics selected for their interest, complexity, controversy or topicality.

• Date: 18 – 21 July 2022
• Price: $3,300 incl. tax and booking fee
• CPD: For attendance at this short course, practitioners are entitled to up to 6 CPD points to be selected from the competency areas Ethics and Professional Responsibility (1 point available) and Substantive Law (14 points available) depending on the sessions they attend.

Further information and registration
 

This short course is suitable for legal practitioners and other professionals interested in the environmental protection regulatory framework in Western Australia, in its national and international contexts. In 2022, the course will be conducted with a combination of online pre-recorded lectures and readings available in August, and interactive face-2-face sessions in the period 6-8 September, featuring presentations by guest experts. In 2022, we will give special attention to the implementation of the reforms made by the Environmental Protection Amendment Act 2020 (WA) and to some significant case law developments on the environmental impact assessment of greenhouse gas emissions. Alex Gardner, Professor of Law is the lead presenter and short course coordinator. 

• Date: 6 - 8 September 2022
• Price: $1,900.09 incl. tax and booking fee
• CPD: Full attendance entitles a legal practitioner to claim six CPD points, selected from Competency Area 2 (Professional Skills), Competency Area 3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility) and Competency Area 4 (Substantive Law) depending on the sessions they attend.

Further information and registration here 

Causation is one of the basic pillars of the law. Yet its nature, operation and relationship to other foundational concepts remains uncertain and contested, across virtually every field of civil and criminal law. This conference brings together a remarkable group of expert contributors to UWA Law Reviews’ 2022 special issue on causation, to debate, elucidate and resolve some of the law’s most pressing, and persistent, causal challenges. Speakers will bring their authoritative insights to bear upon the spectrum of private, commercial and criminal law doctrines in which causation plays a leading role, arising at common law, in equity and under statute.

Date: Friday 9 September 2022
Cost: $150.00 (in-person); $50.00 (remote); Free for AAL Members (remote attendance only). 
CPD: Full day in-person or remote attendance will attract 6 CPD points (Category 4 substantive law) (WA practitioners only). Points can also be claimed for individual sessions.
Registration: Please register here to secure your attendance. 
Download Conference program

This workshop will provide an intensive course of study on Mining Law in Western Australia. It is designed to be a comprehensive review for lawyers, for professionals and business people, non-government organisations and government administrators working in or with Mining Law. The three-day workshop will comprise of five sessions, each morning and afternoon, comprising a lecture followed by a tutorial discussion of a problem raising the issues of law presented in the lecture. There will also be two interactive seminars on the second morning. This course will be led by Professor Richard Bartlett.

• Date: 26 - 28 October 2022
• Price: $2,650 incl. tax and booking fee
• CPD: For attendance at this short course, practitioners are entitled to up to 6 CPD points to be selected from the competency areas Professional Skills (4), Ethics (1) Substantive Law (13) depending on the sessions they attend.

Further information and registration

Sustainability is now a critical factor in the development of Australia’s mineral and energy resources as companies and regulators seek to balance the competing requirements of the environment, society and the economy. Industry participants and their lawyers need to have a clear understanding of the applicable rules in order to develop appropriate responses for investors, regulators and the public and to balance competing objectives for the present and the future. This workshop will give a clear understanding of those rules, including in mining, petroleum, climate change and environmental legislation and ASX reporting requirements. The workshop will provide practical examples enabling participants to apply the rules. The workshop is designed for lawyers and non-lawyers.

• Date: Tuesday 22 – 24 November 2022
• Price: $2,650 incl. tax and booking fee
• CPD: Full attendance at this short course entitles a practitioner to six Legal CPD points. Points can be selected from Competency Area 2 (1 point available) and Competency Area 4 (19 points available) depending on the sessions they attend.

Further information and registration

UWA Law School CPD events for 2022 - 2023 will be listed in the coming weeks. 

The Private and Commercial Law Research Cluster of UWA Law School will again host the annual private law conference previously hosted by the Obligations Group at Melbourne Law School. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Civil Remedies’. The conference will be held on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 December 2022 using a ‘blended’ format, allowing in-person and remote presentations and attendance. For more information and to register 

Conference Program

The Judge in Residence program encourages and fosters engagement between the judiciary and Law School staff and students. It supports sitting and retired judges to engage in academic activities, including writing and developing research topics and projects.

The 2022 Judge in Residence is The Honourable David Newnes. Open to sitting judges during a sabbatical (WA, Australia, overseas) or retired state, federal and High Court judges (including overseas judges) who wish to be part of the Law School community, the Judge in Residence program offers:

• The opportunity to be involved in the life of the UWA Law School.
• An office in the UWA Law School.
• Access to UWA Library facilities and service during your time in residence.
• Access to student researchers (with payment arrangements subject to negotiation).
• The opportunity to guest lecture and make other presentations to students and staff.
• Audit of postgraduate units taught by the UWA Law School.
  

In return, the Judge in Residence:

• Has regular interaction with members of the Law School.
• Provides informal mentoring of academic staff and students.
• Maintains a regular presence at the Law School (at least once a week) throughout their residency. 
• Has opportunities to contribute to teaching. 

How to apply

Contact Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head (Community and Engagement) Jacinta Dharmananda:

Tel: +61 8 6488 3955
Email: jacinta.dharmananda@uwa.edu.au

The John Toohey Oration is a biannual Oration organised by the UWA Law School. The Oration, which commenced in 1998, honours the career and contribution to public life of a distinguished graduate of The University of Western Australia, the Hon. John Leslie Toohey. After graduating in Arts and Law, the Honourable John Leslie Toohey AC QC went on to become an outstanding legal practitioner and, as a Justice of the High Court of Australia, one of the country's most eminent jurists.

The Oration is given by distinguished speakers on a variety of topics. The most recent Toohey Oration was on Thursday 19 August 2021 at the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The Hon. Robert French AC delivered the Oration which was titled ‘A true Australian Republic: True to our history, fit for our future.’ 

For more details about the Hon. John Toohey AC QC and details of past Oration speakers, visit the John Toohey Oration Lecture Series. 

The UWA Mediation Clinic offers a tailored mediation service to help people to resolve University, workplace, family and community conflict.

Find out more

The UWA Law School’s Visiting Scholars Program hosts academics from around Australia and overseas to undertake research and to participate in the communal life of the Law School. Approved visiting scholars are provided with a workspace, IT access and a computer (where possible) and library access. They are encouraged to participate in the academic life of the Law School and University, including seminars and public lectures.

Application process

Prospective visitors should email the following to the visiting scholars coordinator at least three months prior to their intended visit:

• a brief curriculum vitae that includes details of academic employment, qualifications and publications
• a one- to two-page proposal outlining the research project, planned collaboration with UWA Law staff and any other activities intended during the visit
• a copy of a letter from your home university confirming that you are an academic (not a student) and will be taking sabbatical leave for the duration of your visiting academic appointment, and confirming that you will be returning to full-time employment when the visiting appointment ceases
• copy of biodata page (photograph page) of passport (if available). An appropriate visa must have been obtained to allow commencement of this appointment

Applications are considered in advance of the proposed visit and all applicants will be notified as soon as possible after a decision is reached. Any further information that is required to implement the decision will be sought at this point. The Visiting Scholars Program receives many applications from prospective visitors and unfortunately not all can be supported.

The Law School provides a Clinical Legal Education program through which our students can participate in local, national and international legal internships with law firms, courts, government agencies, non-governmental organisations and the UWA Mediation Clinic. The focus is upon social justice and commercial placements. If your organisation is interested in offering an internship to a law student, to find out more please refer to our ‘Internship Expressions of Interest’ webpage.

UWA Law School and the Minderoo Tech & Policy Lab in the Law School held the inaugural French Dialogues on Thursday 6 October 2022 at 5.30pm. The French Dialogues is a panel of experts from various disciplines who discuss a contemporary and pressing issue.

The 2022 Dialogues addressed 'The Future of Artificial Intelligence and Humans: Should we unplug the machines?'. The panel consisted of experts from law, computer science, business and the humanities. The French Dialogues honours the Hon. Robert French AC, a UWA Law School alumnus (LLB ’71), former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and current Chancellor of UWA.

UWA Law School and the Supreme Court of Western Australia hosted an address by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Singapore on Wednesday 27 July 2022 in the Supreme Court of WA, Stirling Gardens.

The topic of the Chief Justice’s address was 'The Law of Commerce in the 21st Century: Transnational Commercial Justice Amidst the Wax and Wane of Globalisation.'

A copy of the Chief Justice's paper is available here.