Unit Synopsis
In this unit you will examine the justice systems and practices of Indigenous Australian communities and their relationships with Western justice institutions. Indigenous Australian understandings of Western law and justice will also be compared to the situations and principles of international Indigenous communities. You will discuss and evaluate community justice innovations that seek to respond to Indigenous interests and to embrace Indigenous perspectives and voices. Through analysis of these innovations you will demonstrate the importance of empowering communities to find solutions to their problems. You will develop skills to identify the position of Indigenous people within the Western criminal justice system and you will develop your Indigenous cultural competency to a higher level.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 4 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the 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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 40% |
| 2. Research Assignment | 30% |
| 3. Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books | 30% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 50.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 12.5% response rate.
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.
Source: Student feedback
Integration of First Nations voices in workshops
The representation of First Nations perspectives could be enhanced through the introduction of Indigenous guest speakers during the workshops who can share their lived experience with students directly.
In Progress
Source: Educator observation
Alternate engagement and peer interaction opportunities aside from the weekly workshops
The weekly workshops, while valuable for student learning, consistently yield low attendance. Additional opportunities for engagement and interaction, such as peer learning groups or forums should be explored, providing students with a diversity of ways to interact with one another and the unit.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Compare and contrast the key features of Indigenous justice and differences from the Western justice system
- Critically express the importance of listening to and empowering communities
- Discuss the effectiveness of Indigenous justice projects in Australia and overseas
- Evaluate innovations and programs in the Indigenous justice field
- Explore best practice for the development and implementation of Indigenous cultural competency at a professional level.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Research Assignment | • | ||||
| 3 - Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books | • | • | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | ||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | • | • | • | |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | • | ||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | • | • | • | • | • |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |