School: Business and Law

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Principles of Contract and Corporate Law in Business
  • Unit Code

    LAW6501
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    20
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Mostafa NASER

Description

Australian corporate law has experienced many challenges and significant changes in recent decades. Not the least of these changes has involved regulatory requirements of arguably increasing severity on the decision makers of companies, especially directors. It has been said that business participants who ignore (or are ignorant of) their rights, responsibilities, risks and the law, generally do so at their own peril. Accordingly, with these important issues in mind, this unit aims first to provide postgraduate business students with a general knowledge of key principles of the Australian legal framework and commercial law environment, including an introduction to the law of contract and the law of business organisations generally. The unit then examines the Australian corporate law framework in some detail, with particular attention to the nature and application of the key statutory and general law principles relating to companies and corporate governance within the context of the business environment in Australia, and the risks, responsibilities and regulation of corporate participants. The unit concludes with an introductory study of the principles of corporate insolvency and liquidation law.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Critically appraise key legal principles, theories and issues related to corporate environments.
  2. Analyse corporate law principles and theories within contemporary business environments.
  3. Interpret and apply corporate law knowledge to minimise legal risks within contemporary business environments.
  4. Formulate decisions addressing ethical and social issues in complex business environments.

Unit Content

  1. The Australian legal framework and business environment, and the data protection and privacy regulation.
  2. Principles of the common law of Contract, and an introduction to statutory initiatives in contract law.
  3. Organisations of business and the Australian corporate law framework, with particular reference to proprietary companies.
  4. Principles of Incorporation: features, effects and procedures of incorporation.
  5. The corporate constitution and corporate meetings: features, internal regulation and procedures.
  6. Principles of corporate governance and responsibility.
  7. Directors: their duties, risks and responsibilities.
  8. Members: their powers, rights and remedies.
  9. Corporate share capital and its variation.
  10. First principles of corporate insolvency and an introduction to liquidation law.

Learning Experience

ON-CAMPUS

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 113 x 2 hour lectureNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 113 x 1 hour tutorialNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 213 x 2 hour lectureNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 213 x 1 hour tutorialNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

ONLINE

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
Reflective PracticeReflective Practice10%
AssignmentMajor Assignment30%
ExaminationFinal Examination60%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
Reflective PracticeReflective Practice10%
AssignmentMajor Assignment30%
ExaminationFinal Examination60%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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