Business and Corporate Law

This subject is available as a postgraduate-level subject for students studying the Master of Professional Accounting at ICMS.

Subject Code:

LAW821A

Subject Type:

Core

Subject Level:

800

Credit Points:

4 credit points

Subject Rationale:

Professional accountants who seek to function well in the current dynamic commercial and corporate environment need to understand the legal implications of their commercial actions. The consequence of ignoring relevant laws and regulations could be serious, including severe government sanctions and penalties, legal action by contractors and competitors, loss of customer, shareholder or stakeholder trust.

This subject is designed to develop students’ knowledge of Australian business and corporate law, and to enhance their critical thinking and analytical skills in addressing legal issues in a commercial context.  The subject also covers the data protection and privacy regulation related to record keeping, auditing, reporting and disclosure of data and information.

Upon the completion of the subject, students will be able to identify and critically evaluate the legal rights and obligations and ethical responsibilities of businesses, shareholders, directors, and other stakeholders. Students will learn how to interpret contract law principles to effectively negotiate, draft and enforce business contracts and evaluate the legal requirements for establishing and managing a company.

Learning Outcomes:

a) Examine the ethical and legal principles and foundations of the Australian legal system, research and identify the sources of law applicable to various real-world scenarios.

b) Critically analyse essential elements required to create, manage and discharge a contract and assess the remedies available for a breach of a contract.

c) Apply the legal principles related to creation and operation of various business structures and critically evaluate their effectiveness in given scenarios.

d) Apply the provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and assess the legal implications and consequences of various corporate governance practices.

e) Interpret data protection and privacy regulation, statutory and administrative requirements related to record keeping, auditing, reporting and disclosure of data and information.

f) Demonstrate critical reasoning, employ legal skills and communicate likely legal outcomes in a range of business scenarios.

Assessment Information:

Learning outcomes for this subject are assessed using a range of assessment tasks as described in the table below.