MA506 - Business and Company Law

Credit Points: 15 credit points

Workload: 36 hours

Prerequisite: N/A

Co-requisite: N/A

Aims & Objectives

This is a Year 1, Core Unit in the Master of Professional Accounting. For Course Learning Outcomes and further information relating to Master of Professional Accounting program please visit our website:  http://www.mit.edu.au/study-with-us/programs/master-professional-accounting.

This unit combines essential elements of business law, contract law and the law impacting business transactions, and company law. Whether the student’s eventual destination is a career as a company manager, an accountant, or a finance manager, a strong knowledge of each of the three elements is vital if the student is to survive in the cut and thrust of commerce as an assertive, decisive operator without risking breaching the law and incurring the consequences thereof.

Students will be taught about key legal concepts and principles in conjunction with the main legislative provisions governing the three aspects of the course. Once armed with this information, students will apply their learning to solve relevant legal problems that reflect potential real world situations. Among other things, tutorials will involve consideration of problems that reflect major areas of law relevant to organizations. The development of problem solving skills is a key area to teaching in this unit.

Topics covered in this unit include the notion of contracts and their importance in business, competition law, the consequences of failure to comply with the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, nature of a company, the law governing the internal management of a company, director’s duties, corporate governance, rights of shareholders, financing companies and corporate insolvency. Students will be able to use the learning from this subject in the real world, a world that inevitably involves contracts, competition and companies.
Unit topics include:

  • The Australian legal system
  • Business Structures
  • Introduction to Contract Law
  • Offer and Acceptance and international sales contracts
  • The Law of Electronic Commerce
  • Consumer Protection
  • Credit Law
  • Company Law
  • Bankruptcy
  • Business Ethics
  • Employment Law

Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes

The Course learning outcomes applicable to this unit are listed on the Melbourne Institute of Technology’s website: https://www.mit.edu.au/study-with-us/programs/master-professional-accounting.  

Unit Learning Outcome

At the completion of this unit students should be able to:
a. Identify and describe business law themes and different business structures.
b. Recognise contract law requirement. 
c. Identify relevant corporate law compliance issues. 
d. Identify relevant case and statute law and apply that law to given problem scenarios.
e. Recognise general legal issues which might impact on commercial transactions.
f. Identify the benefits and disadvantages of different business entities and structures.
g. Work in groups or individually to produce work that properly integrates business law and/or company law requirements or concerns.
h. Compose written work and/or formulate strategies about commercial scenarios that demonstrate a practical knowledge of business and/or company law.
i. Effectively communicate business law principles to peers, clients and to legal advisers.

Assessment

Assessment Task Due Date A B Unit Learning Outcomes
1. Contribution and Participation Weeks 1-12 - 6% a-i
2. Formative Assessment Week 3 - 4% a
3. Assignment [Individual] Week 7 20% - a,b
4. Assignment [Group] Week 11 20% - g,h,i
5. Case Study Analysis [Individual] (3 hours) TBA - 50% a-i
TOTALS   40% 60% 100%

Task Type: Type A: unsupervised, Type B: supervised.

Contribution and Participation (6%)

This unit has class participation as an assessment. The assessment task and marking rubric will follow the Guidelines on Assessing Class Participation (https://www.mit.edu.au/about-us/governance/institute-rules-policies-and-plans/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Guidelines_on_Assessing_Class_Participation). Further details will be provided in the assessment specification on the type of assessment tasks and the marking rubrics.

Teaching Methods

NOTE: All School of Business units 3-hour workshops Flipped Classroom Mode.

Textbook and Reference Materials

Note: Students are required to purchase the prescribed textbook and have it available each week in class.

Copies of the textbook are available in the MIT Library.

Prescribed Text Book

  • Parker, D and Ward, L. (2020) Business and Law in Australia. ( 3rd  ed.). Sydney, NSW: Thomson Reuters. ISBN 9780455241814.

Other recommended references

  • Austin, R. and Ramsay, I. (2017). Ford's Principles of Corporations Law. (17th ed.). Sydney, NSW: LexisNexis Butterworths. 
  • Fitzpatrick, J. F., Symes, C. F., Veljanovski, A. and Parker, D. (2019). Business and Corporations Law (4th ed.). Sydney, NSW: LexisNexis Butterworths.
  • Graw, S., Parker, D., Whitford, K., Sangkuhi, E. and Do, C. (2019). Understanding Business Law (9th ed.). Sydney, NSW: LexisNexis Butterworths.
  • Hanrahan, P., Ramsey, I. and Stapledon, G. (2020). Commercial Applications of Company Law. (20th ed.). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. 
  • Jason, H., Anil, H., and Michael, A. (2017). Australian Corporate Law (6th ed.). Chatswood, NSW: LexisNexis Butterworths. 
  • Lipton, P., Herzberg, A. and Welsh, M. (2019). Understanding Company Law (20th ed.). Sydney, NSW: Thomson Reuters. 
  • Turner, C., Trone, J. and Gamble, R. (2019.). Concise Australian Commercial Law (5th ed.). Sydney, NSW: Thomson Reuters.
  • Turner, C. and Trone, J. (2019.). Australian Commercial Law (32nd ed.). Sydney, NSW: Thomson Reuters.

Check the unit Moodle page for additional recommended readings throughout the trimester.

The Referencing style for this unit is APA: See the MIT Library Referencing webpage: https://library.mit.edu.au/referencing/APA and the Unit Moodle page for additional referencing support material and weblinks.

Graduate Attributes

MIT is committed to ensure the course is current, practical and relevant so that graduates are “work ready” and equipped for life-long learning. In order to accomplish this, the MIT Graduate Attributes identify the required knowledge, skills and attributes that prepare students for the industry.
The level to which Graduate Attributes covered in this unit are as follows:

Ability to communicate Independent and Lifelong Learning Ethics Analytical and Problem Solving Cultural and Global Awareness Team work Specialist knowledge of a field of study

Legend

Levels of attainment Extent covered
The attribute is covered by theory and practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students always play an active role, e.g. workshops, lab submissions, assignments, demonstrations, tests, examinations.
The attribute is covered by theory or practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students mostly play an active role, e.g. discussions, reading, intepreting documents, tests, examinations.
The attribute is discussed in theory or practice; it is addressed by assessed activities in which the students may play an active role, e.g. lectures and discussions, reading, interpretation, workshops, presentations.
The attribute is presented as a side issue in theory or practice; it is not specifically assessed, but it is addressed by activities such as lectures or tutorials.
The attribute is not considered, there is no theory or practice or activities associated with this attribute.