LLAW3255 Legal Aspects of Housing and Homelessness

2016

4.5

1 x 2-hour lecture weekly

1 Admission into BLAWLP-Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice
1a Admission into BLAWLPG-Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (Graduate Entry)
1b Admission into BLAWLPR-Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice
1c Admission into BLAWLPRG-Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (Graduate Entry)
1d Admission into BLAWLPRH-Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (Honours)
1e Admission into BLAWLPRGH-Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (Graduate Entry) (Honours)
2 27 units of first year LLAW topics
3 LLAW2221 - The Constitution and the Australian People [Indigenous / Social Justice I]
Must Satisfy: ((1 or 1a or 1b or 1c or 1d or 1e) and 2 and 3)

LLAW3039 has been successfully completed

This topic critically explores the legal regulation of a range of housing environments, including ownership, mortgaging, shared ownership, shared equity, community title, renting, rooming houses, retirement villages and caravan/residential parks, and the interaction of the law with homeless persons. It considers alternative patterns of regulation, drawing on interstate and international comparisons, identifies opportunities for law reform in Australia, particularly South Australia, and offers participants the option of working with community housing and homelessness organisations to develop a deeper understanding of the practical impact of the law and the need for effective legal information.

This topic aims to:

• introduce students to the legal regulation of a range of housing environments, (including ownership, mortgaging, shared ownership, shared equity, community title, renting, rooming houses and caravan/residential parks) so that they can recognise and advise on legal issues arising
• help students build an understanding of the potential of Australian and international human rights jurisprudence in the context of Australian housing and homelessness litigation
• help students identify and analyse the principal legal risks experienced by homeless persons
• foster students' understanding of the relationship between policy and law in the context of housing provision and homelessness management and the impact of imbalances of power and injustice in these areas of contemporary Australian life
• encourage students to analyse and evaluate the legal regulation of housing tenures and homelessness, drawing on Australian and international models
• provide opportunities for students to explore community needs for legal information and methods of effectively delivering it to specific client groups by working in conjunction with a range of housing and homelessness organisations in the preparation of their assessed work, if they so choose
• facilitate the development of students' skills in research, oral and written communication, group work and project management
• encourage students to identify law reform opportunities in the fields of housing and homelessness and to offer reasoned recommendations for reform

Students who successfully complete this topic will be able to

• recognise legal issues arising in hypothetical scenarios involving a range of tenures and homelessness
• accurately use relevant legal principles and authorities to provide reasoned advice as required in hypothetical scenarios
• explain the contribution human rights jurisprudence can make to housing and homelessness litigation
• critically analyse the legal risks associated with homelessness
• explain the drivers of contemporary housing and homelessness policy and regulation in Australia, and the degree to which they acknowledge, reflect or address power imbalances and injustice in contemporary Australian society
• critique the law as it affects housing tenure and homelessness, comparing a range of strategies and regulatory approaches from Australian States and Territories and from overseas jurisdictions
• understand how to identify community legal information needs and assess how they can be effectively met to suit the relevant audience or client group
• identify law reform opportunities in the fields of housing and homelessness and offer reasoned recommendations for reform