Law and Society

• 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).

The UWA Law School is certified by the Australian Law School Standards.

• 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.

• 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. 

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

"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

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.

The UWA Law School is ranked in the top 150 law schools in the world for Law and Legal Studies (QS 2023). 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.

Interested in leading diplomatic negotiations, developing foreign policy or tackling global crises? Find out more in Changing the world through international relations.