Competition and Consumer Law

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

120 hours

It is strongly recommended that students have completed at least 100 points of undergraduate study before enrolling in this subject. The subject level is an indicator as to the difficulty of the subject and expected workload.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Competition and Consumer Law will explore the statutory regulation of anti-competitive practices under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). The subject will also examine the key components of Australia's national consumer protection regime (the Australian Consumer Law). While it canvasses the policy objectives and challenges of competition and consumer protection regulation, the subject is applied in its orientation.

Topics will include:

1. Consumer protection policy;
2. Misleading conduct;
3. Unconscionable conduct;
4. Unfair contract terms;
5. Consumer guarantees;
6. Competition law policy;
7. Key economic concepts;
8. Market power and the regulation of its misuse;
9. Horizontal restraints (cartels);
10. Vertical restraints (exclusive dealing and resale price maintenance);
11. Merger regulation under competition law;
12. Enforcement and remedies.

On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

• Appreciate the relationship between the disciplines of law and economics in the context of competition and consumer law;
• Explain the policy objectives in legislating to control anti-competitive practices;
• Explain the policy objectives that underpin consumer protection legislation;
• Examine different forms of business behaviour with a view to identifying competition law and consumer protection law issues;
• Undertake statutory interpretation;
• Analyse and apply case law; and
• Construct and communicate a written legal argument based on understanding the facts, identifying the issues, analysing the applicable law and applying the law to the facts.

• 2,000 word answer to one complex hypothetical problem to be completed in student pairs (due in accordance with the assessment schedule) (30%);
• Final two-hour open-book examination (70%).

The due date of the above assessment will be available to enrolled students via the LMS.

1. Alex Bruce, Australian Competition Law (2nd ed, 2013) (LexisNexis)
2. Alex Bruce, Consumer Protection Law in Australia (2nd ed, 2013) (LexisNexis)

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Students studying Competition and Consumer Law will develop the following generic skills:

• The capacity for close reading and analysis of a range of sources;
• The capacity to communicate, both orally and in writing;
• The capacity to participate as a member of a team;
• The capacity to plan and manage time; and
• The capacity to solve problems, including through the collection and evaluation of information.

In addition, on completion of the subject, students should have developed the following skills specific to the discipline of law:

• Capacity to solve competition and consumer law problems by collecting and evaluating information from a variety of sources;
• Communicate solutions to competition and consumer law problems both orally and in writing;
• Ability to work in groups to solve competition and consumer law problems; and
• Critically analyse materials in a classroom setting.