Overview
This unit introduces the principles and practices relevant to the social licence to operate in the agricultural industry. You will explore how agricultural industries are dealing with the increase in global food and fibre demand while facing social and political scrutiny to cease or alter certain practices. In this unit you will examine how the agricultural industry can respond to these pressures to maintain their social licence to operate. You will use case studies to consider a range of current and emerging social licence challenges in agriculture such as animal husbandry practices, water use and contamination, environmental stewardship and the use of agri-chemicals. You will gain an understanding of the levels of the social licence to operate and the tools to measure this. You will also learn how to develop a plan for an agricultural business which will allow them to maintain their social licence to operate in a changing world.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Completion of at least 48 credit points.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2025
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from SUTE and Assessment 3, Part 2, Written Assessment component.
Students appreciated the inclusion of a guest facilitator of the third workshop.
While guest speaker inclusion is reflected heavily in the unit's podcast series, it appears that the inclusion of a guest as a facilitator of class activities was well-received, Future offerings should seek to include two or three guest speakers in the tutorial sessions.
Feedback from Unit Coordinator Reflections; workshop attendance
Return to weekly tutorial delivery mode rather than workshops.
Workshops were originally designed to increase the student attendance in class. However replacing tutorials with four workshops, each held on Saturday and each running for four hours, did not improve the level of attendance. Furthermore, this mode of delivery made the attendance of guest speakers a challenge. In the event of IT difficulties, which occurred on two occasions during these workshops, there were no technical staff on hand to resolve issues. Therefore, a return to weekly tutorials presents less complexity, and will allow any guest speakers to attend during more reasonable times.
Feedback from Student assessment, certification of grades meeting.
Adjustments to assessments are needed to better reflect the requirements of a third year unit.
The marking rubric of Assessment 1 should be adjusted to increase the relative weighting of the evidence based and communication criteria, with a reduction in the relative weighting of the 'adherence to assigned position' weighting. The composition of Assessment 3 should also be adjusted from a written assessment and presentation to presentation only. The weighting of these assessments should also be adjusted to reflect the relative volume of work required (Assessment 1 from 30% to 40%, Assessment 3 from 40% to 30%)
- Debate the social implications of contentious agricultural practices
- Explain the principles of a social licence to operate
- Evaluate the social obligations of individuals and businesses in the agricultural supply chain
- Apply the concepts and principles of a social licence to operate to a business case in agriculture
- Develop a plan for an agricultural business to maintain their social licence to operate.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Group Discussion - 40% | |||||
| 2 - Essay - 30% | |||||
| 3 - Presentation - 30% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||||
| 5 - Team Work | |||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Wordprocessing, spreadsheeting and powerpoint software; access to audio or video recording technology
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing styles below:
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.sinai@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction & History of the Social Licence to Operate in Agriculture
Chapter
Reading: How to Feed the World. Eise, J., Foster K. 2018. Washington: Island Press. Chapter 11. (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Module/Topic
The Urban Rural Divide in Social Licence
Chapter
Reading: Woodward (2017). "The Urban Rural Divide: How can the New Zealand Dairy Industry protect and better its social licence with New Zealand’s Urban Populations?" (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Module/Topic
Measuring the Social Licence to Operate
Chapter
Reading: Boutilier and Thomson (2011). “Modelling and measuring the social license to operate: Fruits of a dialogue between theory and practice.” (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Module/Topic
Climate Change and Agriculture
Chapter
Reading: Eckard and Clark (2018). "Potential solutions to the major greenhouse-gas issues facing Australasian dairy farming." (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Module/Topic
Biodiversity and Agri-Environment Schemes
Chapter
Reading: Introduction Chapter of Ansell, Gibson and Salt (2016). "Learning from agri-environment schemes in Australia: Investing in biodiversity and other ecosystem services on farms." (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Podcast Episode Background Note Due: Week 5 Friday (11 Apr 2025) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Water Use and Contamination
Chapter
Reading: Grafton (2019). "Policy review of water reform in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia: the “do's” and “do'nots”." (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Module/Topic
Land Use Conflict and Land Use Planning
Chapter
Reading: Erica Hellerstein and Ken Fine: "A million tons of feces and an unbearable stench: life near industrial pig farms" in The Guardian Newspaper, 2017. (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Module/Topic
Animal Welfare: Husbandry Practices
Chapter
Reading Cornish, Ashton, Raubenheimer and McGreevy. (2019). "Australian Consumers’ Knowledge and Concern for Animal Welfare in Food Production: Influences on Purchasing Intentions." (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Module/Topic
Animal Welfare: Processing
Chapter
Bastian B, Loughnan S. Resolving the Meat-Paradox: A Motivational Account of Morally Troublesome Behavior and Its Maintenance. Personality and Social Psychology Review. 2017;21(3):278-299. doi:10.1177/1088868316647562
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Module/Topic
Animal Welfare: Live Animal Export
Chapter
Reading: "Live Export - a chronology" - Parliament of Australia (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Module/Topic
Labour Conditions in Agriculture
Chapter
Reading: International Labour Organization (2019). "Activists welcome progress towards eradication of forced labour, child labour in Uzbekistan" (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Module/Topic
Human Health and Agriculture
Chapter
Reading: Portier, Armstrong, Baguley, et al (2016). "Differences in the carcinogenic evaluation of glyphosate between the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)" (Link to be provided via Moodle)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1: Participation in weekly discussion board
Assessment 3: Slides for Part A must be submitted at 11:45PM on Monday of Week 12. Presentations must be delivered live at an agreed day and time in Week 12 (see Moodle for more details). Part B will be completed at the end of the group presentation. Part C is due on Saturday of Week 12 at 11:45PM.
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Group Discussion
Assessment 1 (40%) is based on weekly discussions with your peers. In weeks 1 - 3 you will participate in whole-of-unit discussions on introductory topics related to the social licence to operate. In weeks 4 - 12 you will be placed into small discussion groups to participate in debates based on statements relating to the relevant week's topic. You will be assigned a position (for or against) the statement and must argue for your assigned position, even if you personally disagree with it. This assessment will allow you to gain a variety of perspectives on contentious agricultural issues. You must participate in the discussion boards by posting at least one 300 - 500 word post in each week's discussion thread. You may post more than once in order to advance the debate and discussion with your peers.
Use of Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI)
Please refer to the Generative AI Permission document available on your Moodle site for guidelines on the acceptable and unacceptable use of generative AI in this unit.
Due Weekly
Students will receive progressive feedback in weeks 3, 7 and 10
In this assessment you will be marked on:
- Effective representation of your assigned position with respect to the statement
- The quality of your written communication, including maintaining a respectful dialogue with your peers
- Use of evidence to support your statements (which must be referenced appropriately)
- Debate the social implications of contentious agricultural practices
2 Essay
Assessment 2 is a written assessment in the form of a Background Note for a new episode in the AGRI13001 Social Licence to Operate Podcast. This Background Note is a paper outlining the key information required to produce a podcast episode for AGRI13001 on one of a list of prominent social licence issues facing Australian agriculture (the list will be provided to you in Moodle). The Background Note on your selected issue should be thoroughly researched and structured to cover the following areas:
1. Key Concepts and Definitions
2. Recent Developments and Trends
3. Debates and Controversies
4. Key People and Organisations and their perspectives
5. Relevant Data and Statistics
Here, you will need to draw on evidence from a variety of reputable sources. You should especially explore the social obligations of farmers and agricultural industries, making note of the range of current societal perspectives on your selected issue, even if these perspectives do not align with your own viewpoint.
Over the course of the term, you will become familiar with the podcast structure and tone which will assist you in framing your Background Note.
Your paper should follow the following format, with suggested word counts in parentheses (note that references, figure legends and tables are not included in the word count of 2500 words in total):
1. Introduction: Outlining the Background Note and defining the concept of a Social Licence to Operate (~500 words)
2. Main Body: responding to the five points above (~2000 words)
3. References
Include at least 10 references (References can be peer-reviewed journal articles, government reports, industry papers, media publications and other reputable sources).
The word limit does not include headings, tables, figure legends and references. The word count of your essay should remain within 10% of the word limit (2250 to 2750 words) .
Please note that as an optional additional step, students will be invited to appear as podcast guests in new episodes based on the issues associated with this assessment.
Use of Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI)
Please refer to the Generative AI Permission document available on your Moodle site for guidelines on the acceptable and unacceptable use of generative AI in this unit.
Week 5 Friday (11 Apr 2025) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 6 Friday (25 Apr 2025)
You will be marked on:
- Clear and professional written communication
- Ability to define the social licence to operate
- Analysis of the social/cultural/economic/environmental dimensions of the selected issues
- Analysis of the social obligation of farmers and agricultural industries
- Analysis of societal perspectives on the issue
- Ability to formulate and present your argument
- Formatting and Referencing
A marking rubric will be available to you on Moodle
- Explain the principles of a social licence to operate
- Evaluate the social obligations of individuals and businesses in the agricultural supply chain
3 Presentation
Task Description
Assessment 3 is based on one of a selection of three scenarios. Each scenario contains details of a proposed agribusiness. You will be provided with all of the specifications of the business (size, stock numbers, foreign ownership composition, location etc.) and a brief summary of the demographics and socioeconomic situation of the local community in the scenario as well as the results of a survey investigating the community’s views on relevant farming practices.
Assessment 3 (30%) is comprised of three components: live presentation (group task: 20/30), response to questions (individual task: 5/30) and a self and peer assessment (individual task: 5/30). Only one member of the group should submit the presentation, but all students will need to be involved in the delivery of the live presentation. All students will need to submit their individual written report and self and peer assessment (SPA).
Part A: Group Presentation
Part A is worth 20 out of the total 30 marks available for this assessment.
Based on the selected scenario, you are to work in small groups (3-4 people) to develop a 20-minute presentation outlining the steps that a proposed agribusiness should take to ensure it is granted and maintains a social licence to operate from the community. You will be provided with all of the specifications of the farm (size, stock numbers, foreign ownership composition, location etc.) and a brief summary of the demographics and socioeconomic situation of the local community as well as the results of a survey into the community’s views on relevant farming practices.
In the scenario provided, the corporation you are to prepare the presentation for takes social licence very seriously and recognises that gaining a social licence is a vital part of their obligations to the community. As such, that corporation’s leadership team are willing to implement all of the measures that you and your team recommend in order to ensure that a social licence is granted. They have issued you with a budget of $250 000 over the next 12 months, and an ongoing budget of $150 000 per year, to achieve this. They have asked your team to prepare a 20-minute presentation that must be presented in the following format:
1. Title.
2. Introduction:
a. An Acknowledgement of Country (or Welcome to Country if one of your group members is a traditional owner from the cultural group on whose land the event took place) appropriate to the scenario location.
b. A suggested name for the farm.
c. Summary of the farm.
d. Explaining the concept of a social licence.
3. Identify key stakeholders and their relationship with the proposed farm.
4. Identification of at least three social licence issues and how they apply to the proposed farm.
5. Strategy for measuring the social licence to operate in the relevant communities.
6. Suggestions on how the corporation will respond to community expectations around each of these issues to maintain a social licence to operate, including any innovative strategies. Keep in mind that some issues will only be relevant to local community residents whilst others might also call for gaining a broader (state, national) social licence to operate.
7. A budget for achieving what you have outlined
8. Conclusion.
9. References.
10. Statement of Contribution (Here you must outline the contributions of each group member to the presentation).
You will base your recommendations for social licence-gaining activities on a range of sources as well as the scenario information (farm specifications, a brief summary of the demographics and socioeconomic situation of the community, and the results of a survey into the community’s views on relevant farming practices). You may reference information from a variety of sources including peer-reviewed journal articles, survey data (gathered by others), government reports, consultant reports, media sources and other reliable sources. You must include at least 10 references.
You may present your presentation in first person plural (i.e. “we” “us”) or in third person. You must remain within 1 minute of the time limit (19 to 21 minutes).
Your presentation will be delivered live during the workshop on Saturday of Week 12, and will be recorded for marking and review purposes. All group members must be present during the presentation and each must contribute to the delivery of the presentation.
Part B: Individual Assessment, Response to Questions
Part B of Assessment 3 is an individual task based on the presentation. Each member of the group will be required to respond to at least two questions after the conclusion of the presentation. The questions may relate to any aspect of the presentation.
Part B is worth 5 out of the total 30 marks available for this assessment
Part C: Self and Peer Assessment
You will also be required to submit a Self and Peer Assessment for this assessment (Details on conducting the Self and Peer Assessment will be provided on Moodle). Part C is due on Saturday of Week 12 at 11:45PM.
Part C is worth 5 out of the total 30 marks available for this assessment.
Use of Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI)
Please refer to the Generative AI Permission document available on your Moodle site for guidelines on the acceptable and unacceptable use of generative AI in this unit.
Assessment 3: Slides for Part A must be submitted at 11:45PM on Monday of Week 12. Presentations must be delivered live at an agreed day and time in Week 12 (see Moodle for more details). Part B will be completed at the end of the group presentation. Part C is due on Saturday of Week 12 at 11:45PM.
Exam Week Friday (20 June 2025)
Marking Rubrics will be available via Moodle.
For the presentation (Part A) you will be marked on:
- Clear, professional and appropriate oral communication
- Ability to define the social licence to operate
- Identification and discussion of relevant social licence to operate issues
- Effective explanation and justification of your farm's activities
- The quality of the various proposed community-related strategies
- Appropriate and clear budgeting
- Formatting and Presentation
For the individual task (Part B) you will be marked on:
-
Your ability to insightfully and clearly answer the questions
-
Clear and professional communication
-
The use of references to support your claims where necessary
- Explain the principles of a social licence to operate
- Evaluate the social obligations of individuals and businesses in the agricultural supply chain
- Apply the concepts and principles of a social licence to operate to a business case in agriculture
- Develop a plan for an agricultural business to maintain their social licence to operate.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
