Sarah Withnall Howe

This presentation explores strategies to boost student engagement and critical thinking in the study of undergraduate Tort Law. Addressing the challenge of low student engagement in learning and its impact on competency, this presentation offers strategies to build learner confidence and lighten cognitive load to enable deeper learning. Examples from a first-year Australian Torts unit demonstrate practical applications, including workshops, problem-solving activities and the use of generative AI tools. These methods benefit students by providing a familiar learning environment and help educators maximize resources.

This paper examines the doctrine of jurisdictional error in Australian administrative law, focusing on its role in judicial review of executive decision-making. Jurisdictional error operates as a doctrinal mechanism for delineating the boundaries of lawful authority and determining the validity of administrative decisions. The paper explores three core dimensions of jurisdictional error: its function in establishing a ground of review, its necessity for the grant of judicial remedies, and its relevance to the interpretation and constitutional validity of privative clauses. Particular emphasis is placed on the High Court’s recent clarification of the materiality threshold in LPDT v Minister for Immigration [2024] HCA 12, which resolves longstanding uncertainty surrounding the meaning, proof, and consequences of material errors. The paper also considers inherently invalidating errors—such as legal unreasonableness, bias, and serious breaches of the hearing rule—and evaluates emerging judicial support for treating such errors as inherently material.

The following scene is probably all too familiar for law teachers: You are sitting at your desk surrounded by numerous exam scripts. To your right, a small pile of marked scripts; to your left, a daunting pile of unmarked ones (scattered in between are several empty coffee cups and various chocolate bar wrappers). With a sigh of exasperation, you throw your pen down, frustrated by how often you have written the same advice on your students’ scripts. And it’s too late to tell them that if they had actively engaged in the unit and its learning activities, they could have gained a better understanding of the law, and the skills needed to study and practice it (thereby minimising exam answer ‘mistakes’, which would have been immensely beneficial when it came time to produce sound exam answers)!

LexisNexis Study Guide: Administrative Law is designed to assist students in learning the foundations of administrative law for effective, systematic exam preparation and revision. Each chapter clearly identifies and explains the pertinent and often difficult topics within administrative law. Concise summaries of key cases and principles simplify exam study. Short and concise paragraphs and flow diagrams facilitate revision and consolidate understanding of the theoretical concepts.

This fully revised fourth edition includes discussion of recent key developments, including the test of materiality and easy to understand commentary on jurisdictional error. It also includes a new chapter on the Commonwealth Administrative Review Tribunal.

This presentation will provide guidance on effective strategies for use when teaching Torts. In particular, approaches designed to scaffold student learning and to engage students in learning environments will be examined. Specifically, this presentation will explore the author’s experiences in delivering torts lectures in a way that is more than just ‘information dumping’, but instead engages students and develops their critical thinking skills. Further, novel assessment practices, using interactive tools available in Echo360, which foster students’ ability to effectively time manage and become independent learners, will be discussed. It is hoped that attendees at this presentation will walk away with a few practical tips and tools that they can easily apply to their own teaching practices.