Course overview
The course provides students with the opportunity of undertaking a community service-learning project. Students will work in teams to solve real problems experienced by community organisations. They will engage with the organisation's core values to understand its needs and the problem situation, and help develop, test, and implement appropriate solutions. Students will complete tutorial tasks throughout the course reflecting on their experience from implementing the problem-solving process, their use of the knowledge and skills taught during their legal studies, and the relevance of the service-learning project experience to their future careers. Advanced skills development relevant to the problem-solving process, teamwork and the specific project topics will occur. The Community Justice Project course seeks to engage first-year law students with concepts of justice and community engagement. The course exposes students to a selection of topical 'real-world' issues and encourages students to engage with, and reflect upon, those issues from a legal, societal, and economic perspective.
Course learning outcomes
- Use the principles of community justice to assist community justice aspirations
- Write a project report to demonstrate the use of research skills to solve legal problems
- Develop communication skills through engagement in group activities, presentations, liaison with community organisations' core values and dissemination of findings
- Critique relevant professional and ethical responsibilities in a community justice context by reflecting on the social, professional and ethical issues
- Demonstrate the use of collaborative strategies to cater for indigenous, cultural or socio-economic differences