Undergraduate
Law and Society
Contact us
Address
Student Central
The University of Western Australia (M355), 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, Western Australia 6009
Telephone
131 UWA (131 892)
International
(+61 8) 6488 1000
Hours
Frequently asked questions
Events you may be interested in
Show more eventsCareers and further study
This course opens up a world of future study pathways and career options.
6 surprising jobs you can get with a law degree
From joining legal practices around the world and shaping policy nationally, to becoming educators and starting up businesses to address global challenges, our law graduates go places.
We caught up with six alumni to hear where their law degrees have taken them.
Career Pathways
Further Study
Law Assured Pathway
If you're interested in undertaking the Law and Society, Business Law or Criminology major, you may want to check out our Law Assured Pathway.
Our pathways combine your first degree with your second degree, giving you an assured place in your postgraduate course and providing you with a clearer direction to your career of choice.
Juris Doctor
Fees and scholarships
Undergraduate – Full Fee Paying (FFP) & Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP)
The Annual Fee is an estimate only based on a standard annual study load of 48 points. (Courses may teach up to 72 points in a year)
FFP
For Full Fee Paying places, students are charged an annual course fee. Visit the Fee Calculator select 'Postgraduate Coursework Fee-Paying' and chose your course to see the annual and total course fees.
CSP
For Commonwealth Supported Places, student contribution amounts are charged by unit. For an accurate fee estimate, go to the Fee Calculator select 'Postgraduate Coursework Commonwealth-Supported' and chose ‘I want to price my units’.
Scholarships
Scholarships are available to students from a diverse range of backgrounds, including academic achievement, financial need, educational disadvantage, leadership and community service, artistic or sporting achievements, and being from a rural or remote area.
Cost of living
Undergraduate – onshore students
Annual course fees are calculated based on a standard annual study load of 48 credit points.
Scholarships
Scholarships are available to students from a diverse range of backgrounds, including academic achievement, financial need, educational disadvantage, leadership and community service, artistic or sporting achievements, and being from a rural or remote area.
Cost of living
Admission requirements
The University of Western Australia welcomes applications from international and domestic school-leavers. If you’re interested in studying this major, find out the admission details below.
Minimum entry requirements
- 8
- 525
- 12
- 3.3
- 27
- 8
- 66
- 60
- 270
- 75
- 75
- 320
Admission requirements
English competency
English is the language of instruction and assessment at UWA and you will need to meet the English language requirements of the University to be eligible for a place.
Minimum overall score of 6.5 with no band less than 6.0 (must include Academic Reading and Writing modules).
How to apply

Ready for the next step?
Find out how to apply through our simple online application process.
We'll guide you through our entry requirements, admission pathways available to you and application deadlines for your chosen course.
We can’t wait for you to join us!
Course details
About the course
From human rights, crime and justice to Indigenous rights, freedom of expression and religion, and social media and the law, the Law and Society major explores the impact of legal and social policy on all areas of our lives.
Through this major you’ll understand, apply and adapt concepts in socio-legal studies while developing skills in research analysis, teamwork and communication.
Quick details
- Available
- Perth (Crawley campus)
- Full-time
- Part-time
- On-campus
- Semester 1, Semester 2
- 12-15 contact hours, plus at least twice as much of your own study time
- Undergraduate
- MJD-LWSOC
- 3 years (BA); 4 years (BPhil [Hons])
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4 reasons to do Honours
- Boosts analytical, critical, problem solving skills and project management.
- Regarded highly by future employers in wide range of sectors: business, law, government, semi-government.
- Leads to higher earnings and better career advances.
- Increases admission chances of highly-sought graduate degrees domestically and internationally, including the Juris Doctor and the Master of Business Administration (MBA).
Course Structure
Our undergraduate degrees offer you a broad range of options allowing you to combine subjects in a way that matches your career goals and personal interests.
Popular combinations
The UWA Law School is certified by the Australian Law School Standards.
Why Law and Society?
- If you're considering studying the Juris Doctor in the future, it’s excellent preparation. There are many teachers in this major who teach in the JD, so you'll become used to their teaching. You can also get an idea if you find law interesting, to help you decide whether to undertake the JD.
- You'll really improve your analytical and research skills.
- You're able to go on exchange.
Get hands-on learning
- Role plays: tenancy agreements, government consultation on the rights of older persons and potential for a new UN treaty, negotiating conflict situations in emerging countries and the role of the UN Security Council, mock Law Reform Commission Inquiry
- Students draft social media policy for a business or be involved in creation and promulgation of an online petition.
- Honours students undertake applied research projects in partnership with Community Legal Centres such as Law Access and the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA.
Take a second major
Employers seek graduates with a breadth of knowledge from multiple complementary areas. Have you considered taking a second major to increase your skills and experience?
Law and Society pairs well with these other majors:
- Philosophy: learn the foundations of critical thinking and making cogent arguments
- Political Science and International Relations: understand governments, political systems and public policy
Hear from our students
"The Law and Society major offers an insight into what law is all about. The units are engaging and interesting where tutors and lecturers give their first-hand experiences into their previous careers and the law profession.
I chose the Law and Society major as my first preference because I have always been interested in the justice system and from watching crime shows a lot as a child.
After completing my undergraduate degree, I hope to study the postgraduate Juris Doctor to attain the qualifications I need to become a lawyer."
--Marwat, Bachelor of Arts student
Your degree options
This major is offered as a degree-specific, or first, major for these degrees. It is also offered as a second major in our other bachelor's degrees.
4 skills you'll develop through Law and Society
2. Analytical skills: synthesise information quickly and accurately by looking at data and case studies, and drawing logical conclusions.
3. Teamwork skills: learn how to resolve differences of opinion and collaborate in diverse groups.
4. Communication skills: work on your persuasion, negotiation, assertiveness and tact; share information and propose ideas; learn to write for and speak to a range of audiences.
Major coordinator - Assistant Professor Theodore Bennett
Assistant Professor Theodore Bennett joined the UWA Law School full time in 2013 and is the coordinator of the Law and Society major.
His research is primarily concerned with the ways in which sociolegal systems conceptualise and regulate human bodies and identities. He is particularly interested in the ways in which these systems frame and position bodies, bodily activities and identities within broader models of understanding, and how marginal or subcultural bodies/identities are inequitably impacted by regulation and social attitudes.
He has researched and written on a number of issues around this, in relation to topics such as sadomasochism, healthy limb amputation, cosmetic surgery and sex and gender diversity.
Western Australia's premier Law School
The UWA Law School is ranked in the top 100 law schools in the world (QS 2021, THE WUR 2021). You will join and contribute to 90 years of excellence: we were the first law school established in WA and the fifth oldest in Australia.
Our graduates include a Prime Minister, a Governor of Western Australia, State Ministers, Justices of the Supreme Court of WA, a Young Australian of the Year, Rhodes Scholars, and more.
While we have a long and proud history, we're also a closely-knit, creative and progressive Law School, fostering critical thought, ethical scholarship and practice, a deep connection to our Indigenous past and present, and supportive student culture based upon wellbeing and inclusion.
Changing the world through international relations
Interested in leading diplomatic negotiations, developing foreign policy or tackling global crises? Find out more in Changing the world through international relations.