Overview
In this unit, you will explore the legal regulation of sports in Australia, including the concept of sports law and the contemporary legal issues in this dynamic field. You will delve into topics such as the definition and scope of sports law, the regulation of sports, the national sports law framework, governance in sports, integrity issues, collective bargaining, the intersection of sport and criminal law, dispute resolution, and international aspects of sports law. Sports administration is a growing profession in professional, elite, and community sports, and you will recognise the importance of integrity and leadership in this space. Through this unit, you will learn how sports law intersects with all aspects of modern sports. From governance and integrity to dispute resolution and the ever-changing regulatory landscape in Australian sport, you will gain the insights needed to navigate and respond effectively to these challenges as a sports administrator.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
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 2 - 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 Postgraduate 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.
- Evaluate the features of sports law in Australia
- Evaluate the role of sports law in modern community, elite and professional sport in Australia
- Apply the legal principles of regulation, governance, integrity, collective bargaining, criminal law and dispute resolution to Australian sport.
Not applicable
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 50% | |||
| 2 - Report - 50% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | |||
| 2 - Communication | |||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||
| 4 - Research | |||
| 5 - Self-management | |||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||
| 7 - Leadership | |||
| 8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||
Textbooks
Sports Law
Fourth Edition (2022)
Authors: David Thorpe, Antonio Buti, Paul Jonson, Jack Anderson
Oxford University Press
Docklands Docklands , VIC , Australia
ISBN: 9780190329860
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Web cam and microphone
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
m.nichol@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Lex sportiva or global sports law
Chapter
Thorpe et al 2022 Chapter 1
Catherine Ordway, Matt Nichol, Damien Parry and Joanna Wall Tweedie, ‘Human rights and inclusion policies for transgender women in elite sport: The case of Australian ‘Rules’ Football (AFL)’ (2023) Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 5-5.
Kenneth L Shropshire, ‘Sports Law’ (1998) 35(2) Sports Law 181-184.
Ken Foster, ‘Is There a Global Sports Law?’ (2003) 2(1) Entertainment Law 1-18.
Leonardo V P de Oliveira, ‘Lex sportiva as the contractual governing law’ (2017) 17 International Sports Law Journal 101-116.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
What is Regulation?
Regulatory Theory and Sport
National Sports Law Framework
Chapter
Matt Nichol, Globalisation, Labour Mobility and Sports Law: The Case of Professional Baseball in the United States and Japan (Edward Elgar Publishing: 2019) Chapter 4 pp. 36-39, 44-53.
Matt Nichol, ‘The Regulatory Space of Arbitration in Baseball’ in Greenhow and Wolohan (eds) Routledge Handbook of Sports Law and Governance (Routledge: 2025) 341, 343-346.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Concepts of governance
What is sports governance?
Chapter
Thorpe et al 2022 Chapter 2
Australian Sports Commission, Sport Governance Principles, March 2020.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Concepts of integrity and corruption
Integrity in sport
Chapter
Richard H McLaren, ‘Is Sport Losing its Integrity?’ (2011) 21(2) Marquette Sports Law Review 551-573.
Matt Nichol, Keiji Kawai and Catherine Ordway, ‘Comparing Integrity and Corruption in Professional Sport: Lessons from Japan, the United States and Australia’, Working Paper 2025.
Catherine Ordway and Hayden Opie, ‘Integrity and Corruption in Sport’ in Schulenkorf and Frawley (eds) Critical Issues in Global Sport Management (Routledge: 2016) 38-63.
Simon Gardiner, Jim Parry and Simon Robertson, ‘Integrity and the corruption debate in sport: where is the integrity?’ (2016) European Sport Management Quarterly 1-18.
Lisa A Kihl, James Skinner and Terry Engleberg, ‘Corruption in sport: understanding the complexity of corruption’ (2017) 17(1) European Sport Management Quarterly 1-5.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Doping in sport
The WADA Code 2021
Essendon Football Club supplements scandal
Chapter
Thorpe et al 2022 Chapter 8
WADA Code 2021
Matt Nichol and Mike Duffy, ‘Performance Enhancing Drugs, Sport and Corporate Governance – Lessons from an Australian Football Club’ (2017) 46(2) Common Law World Review 83-111.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Threats to integrity in sport
Integrity in sport and gambling
Integrity in sport and match-fixing
Corruption and sport
Chapter
Thorpe et al 2022 Chapter 7
Mike Huggins, ‘Match-Fixing: A Historical Perspective’ (2018) 35 (2-3) The International Journal of the History of Sport 123-140.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Domestic tribunals
Statutory tribunals
The National Sports Tribunal
Chapter
Thorpe et al 2022 Chapter 3 pp. 59-96, 117-168
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Domestic arbitration
Court of Arbitration for Sport
Arbitration in baseball
Chapter
Thorpe et al 2022 Chapter 3 pp. 97-116
Matt Nichol, ‘The Regulatory Space of Arbitration in Baseball’ in Greenhow and Wolohan (eds) Routledge Handbook of Sports Law and Governance (Routledge: 2025) 341-359.
Jack Anderson, ‘‘Taking Sports Out of the Courts’: Alternative Dispute Resolution and the International Court of Arbitration for Sport’ (2000) 10(2) Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport 123-128.
Ian Blackshaw, ‘The Court of Arbitration for Sport: An International Forum for Settling Disputes Effectively ‘Within the Family of Sport’’ (2003) 2(2) Entertainment Law 61-83.
Matthew J Mitten, ‘The Court of Arbitration for Sport and its Global Jurisprudence: International Legal Pluralism in a World Without National Boundaries’ (2014) 30(1) Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 1-44.
Johan Lindholm, ‘A legit supreme court of world sports? The CAS(e) for reform’ (2021) 21 The International Sports Law Journal 1-5.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Employment law and sport
Collective bargaining in sport
Sport, employment and the restraint of trade doctrine and cases
Chapter
Thorpe et al 2022 Chapter 9, Chapter 11 pp. 567-602
Matt Nichol, Globalisation, Labour Mobility and Sports Law: The Case of Professional Baseball in the United States and Japan (Edward Elgar Publishing: 2019) Chapter 4 pp. 39-44.
Brendan Schwab, ‘Collective Bargaining in Australian Professional Team Sports’ (1998) 29 Australian Society for Sports History Bulletin 19-29.
Matt Nichol and Keiji Kawai, ‘The Regulatory Space of Collective Labour Relations in Australian Team Sports’ (2021) 14 Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Journal 83-107.
Braham Dabscheck and Hayden Opie, ‘Legal Regulation of Sporting Labour Markets’ (2003) 16 Australian Journal of Labour Law 1-25.
Australian Football League and Australian Football League Players’ Association, The AFL and AFLW Collective Bargaining Agreement 2023-2027.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Violence in sport and criminal and civil liability
Chapter
Thorpe et al 2022 Chapter 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Discrimination legislation
Indigenous players in the Australian Football League
Transgender and intersex athletes
Chapter
Thorpe et al 2022 Chapter 16
Catherine Ordway, Matt Nichol, Damien Parry and Joanna Wall Tweedie, ‘Human rights and inclusion policies for transgender women in elite sport: The case of Australian ‘Rules’ Football (AFL)’ (2023) Sport, Ethics and Philosophy.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Negligence
Brain injuries
Class actions in the Australian Football League
Chapter
Thorpe et al 2022 Chapters 5 and 6
David Thorpe, ‘Proof in vivo of Actual Harm in the Form of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE): The Question of ‘Individual Agency’’ (2024) 17(1) Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Journal 1-49.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Assessment Task 1 requires students to write a research essay on integrity in sport. This assessment task covers content in Weeks 1 to 6.
This assessment requires students to adhere to the guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence tools as specified in the Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale (AIAS). Any misuse or lack of disclosure regarding the use of AI tools will be considered a breach of academic integrity. This assessment task is AIAS Level 1 - No Artificial Intelligence is permitted.
Week 6 Friday (29 Aug 2025) 11:00 pm AEST
Submitted online via Moodle
Week 8 Friday (12 Sept 2025)
Assessment results and feedback will be released via Moodle
The assessment task will be assessed according to the following criteria:
Problem solving: students must demonstrate problem solving skills by identifying and applying relevant legal rules and principles.
Critical thinking: students must demonstrate critical thinking by analysing, applying and evaluating facts and law in a problem solving context.
Information literacy: students must demonstrate information literacy by identifying, understanding and applying legal rules and principles.
Writing and presentation: students must submit answers with a clear writing style that uses appropriate grammar and expression. Ideas and arguments must be presented using a logical structure and order.
Referencing: students must appropriately cite relevant references when using legislation, cases and secondary materials.
- Evaluate the features of sports law in Australia
- Evaluate the role of sports law in modern community, elite and professional sport in Australia
- Apply the legal principles of regulation, governance, integrity, collective bargaining, criminal law and dispute resolution to Australian sport.
2 Report
Assessment Task 2 requires students to write a research essay on the content in Weeks 7 to 12. Students must select a research essay topic based on content covered in Weeks 7 to 12.
This assessment requires students to adhere to the guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence tools as specified in the Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale (AIAS). Any misuse or lack of disclosure regarding the use of AI tools will be considered a breach of academic integrity. This assessment task is AIAS Level 1 - No Artificial Intelligence is permitted.
Week 12 Friday (10 Oct 2025) 11:00 pm AEST
Submitted online via Moodle
Week 12 Friday (10 Oct 2025)
Online via Moodle after certification of grades
The assessment task will be assessed according to the following criteria:
Problem solving: students must demonstrate problem solving skills by identifying and applying relevant legal rules and principles.
Critical thinking: students must demonstrate critical thinking by analysing, applying and evaluating facts and law in a problem solving context.
Information literacy: students must demonstrate information literacy by identifying, understanding and applying legal rules and principles.
Writing and presentation: students must submit answers with a clear writing style that uses appropriate grammar and expression. Ideas and arguments must be presented using a logical structure and order.
Referencing: students must appropriately cite relevant references when using legislation, cases and secondary materials.
- Evaluate the features of sports law in Australia
- Evaluate the role of sports law in modern community, elite and professional sport in Australia
- Apply the legal principles of regulation, governance, integrity, collective bargaining, criminal law and dispute resolution to Australian sport.
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?
