GSQ006 Business Law & Governance
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | GSQ006 |
|---|---|
| Antirequisite(s): | GSN412, GSN473, AYN456 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
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| CSP student contribution | $2,174 |
| Pre-2021 CSP student contribution | $1,703 The pre-2021 commonwealth supported place (CSP) contribution amount only applies to students enrolled in a course prior to 2021. To learn more, visit our Understanding your fees page. |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $4,992 |
Unit Outline: Session 4 2026, QUT Online, Online
| Unit code: | GSQ006 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Anti-requisite: | GSN412 |
| Anti-requisite: | GSN473 |
| Anti-requisite: | AYN456 |
Overview
This unit is designed to provide you, as a manager or business leader, a fundamental understanding of the legal context in which business operates for purposes of ensuring rights are protected, transactional problems in business dealings are avoided, and legal expertise, if needed, is properly and cost effectively positioned. Although the unit is not designed to turn you into legal experts, it will prepare you to conduct business within the Australian legal environment, positioning regulatory requirements and legal reasoning skills within the societal context in which commerce operates.
In working through application of legal principles to common commercial scenarios, students will develop a framework for navigating the regulatory and ethical dynamics effective business decision making requires.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Demonstrate and apply knowledge of the sources of law, legal nature of entities, commercial transactions and consumer rights. KS 1.1, SEC 5.1
- Critically reflect and analyse your own personal leadership approach and link to relevant governance theories and your understanding of board activities. SL 4.1
- Demonstrate holistic thinking to show the connections between governance theories, ethics, concepts and frameworks, including Indigenous perspectives. KS1.1, HO2.1, SEC5.1, SEC 5.2
- Provide evidence of higher order thinking, interpret and apply relevant legal provisions to commercial problems and recommend a course of action. KS1.1, HO2.1, HO2.2
- Research and navigate through basic legal information environments to locate and communicate information to assist in commercial decision making. KS1.1, KS1.2, PC3.1
Content
In this course you will cover a range of legal topics that impact organisational operations, leadership, and stake holder accountabilities. These include
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Law and the Legal System – Introduction to Australia's legal framework is explored along with its sources of law, and the legal reasoning process that underpins Australia's business environment.
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Negligence & Liability Management – Accidents and injuries, whether physical or economic, inevitably arise in business operations. Understanding the legal standards around negligence actions and resulting consequences is foundational to doing business. Topics covered include duty of care, damages, legal defences and risk management implications..
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Contracts: Formation & Enforcement – Principles of legally binding agreements and misconceptions around contracts are explored with particular reference to the legal standards case law has established for forming valid contracts. Foundation requirements (offer & acceptance, consideration, intention to be legally bound and surrounding pre-requisites) are analysed.
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Contract Terms & Consumer Protection – Finding and / or clarifying the terms of a deal commonly involves reference to external standards. Express and implied contract terms, legal interpretation rules, and protections under Australian Consumer Law (ACL), as a case study of implied legislative terms in business transactions, are explored
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Ending Contracts & Dispute Resolution – Legal considerations around contract termination, breach, remedies, and risk management are considered, including discussion of how damages for breach are standardly calculated and alternative dispute resolution processes are used as alternatives to litigation.
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Business Structures & Legal Considerations – Dynamics and legal requirements around sole traders, partnerships, trusts, and agency law are examined along with the accompanying benefits and risks each type of legal structure encompasses.
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Company Law & Running Companies - corporate governance, limits and liabilities or the corporate form and the challenges inherent in 'artificial person' status that companies legally hold are explored along with relevant sections of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
- Directors Duties, Accountabilities, Issues: obligations Boards hold in leading organisations are set out under legislation and case law but clear lines between how stakeholder interests need to be balanced against each other are not fully defined. This unit explores these competing tensions.
- Indigenous perspectives and knowledges are integrated into the unit
Course Learning Outcomes (Postgraduate - Executive)
The Graduate School of Business has established the Assurance of Learning (AoL) Goals to meet contemporary industry needs and standards. Achieving these learning outcomes will assist you to meet the desired graduate outcomes set at QUT - aligned with other internationally renowned business schools. Students will develop the following Business capabilities relevant to a contemporary global and sustainable business environment:
Knowledge and Technological Skills (KS)
1.1 Demonstrate and apply integrated and advanced theoretical and practical knowledge (including systems thinking approaches, multidisciplinary frameworks, and knowledge of research principles and methods) that incorporate recent development in business disciplines, professional practice, and digital innovation.
1.2 Apply advanced technical and technological knowledge and skills from a range of business disciplines to critically reflect on, evaluate and contribute to developments that enhance innovative, sustainable, effective, and transformational business performance in local, national, global, and virtual business environments.
Higher Order Thinking (HO)
2.1 Provide evidence of effective analysis, interpretation, evaluation and synthesis of complex data, theories, ideas, issues, situations, and trends across multiple contexts and demonstrate knowledge of how research and inquiry can be used to interpret, contribute to and create theoretical and practical knowledge.
2.2 Provide evidence of higher order thinking including creativity, judgement, cognitive flexibility and critical reflection in designing, planning and implementing transdisciplinary digital strategies and solutions for effective performance in complex digital business environments.
Professional Communication (PC)
3.1 Demonstrate advanced use of language and argumentation in written communication, including digital communication, to frame strategic and influential responses to engage, persuade, negotiate, collaborate, lead, and transform in diverse and complex contexts (both physical and digital) and for diverse audiences.
3.2 Demonstrate advanced use of language and argumentation in oral communication, including digital communication, to frame strategic and influential responses to engage, persuade, negotiate, collaborate and lead across diverse and complex contexts (both physical and digital) and for diverse audiences.
Self and Leadership (SL)
4.1 Demonstrate adaptive personal leadership and accountability, including self-awareness, reflective practice, and foresight in adapting and applying knowledge and skills to inform and influence effective, responsible, innovative and agile practice in contemporary complex digital environments.
4.2 Lead, manage and foster the development of collaborative teams that value and leverage the diverse knowledge and skills of others to contribute to the development of adaptable, transformative, and sustainable courses of action in complex contemporary environments.
Social, Ethical and Cultural Understanding (SEC)
5.1 Demonstrate and apply knowledge of ethical and legal principles and practices of business, to contribute to responsible organisational governance and citizenship in local, national, global, and virtual business environments.
5.2 Apply knowledge and skills to demonstrate, interpret and critically reflect on, appropriate culturally, socially and ecologically inclusive and responsible decisions and actions across complex, diverse social and cultural contexts.
Learning Approaches
In this fully online unit, asynchronous delivery will offer flexible, on-demand learning that supports diverse student needs, particularly those balancing study with professional or personal commitments.
Key components include pre-recorded mini-lectures or explainer videos on core topics such as leadership frameworks or financial analysis, discussion board activities that promote dialogue on curated themes, and self-paced case study analyses that encourage independent thinking and application of concepts. This approach allows students to engage deeply with materials at their own pace, revisit complex ideas as needed, and develop critical reflection skills. While learning is self-directed, students are supported through regular tutor interactions, opportunities for formative feedback, and ongoing engagement in discussion forums. This blend of flexibility and support fosters both academic development and a strong connection to the learning community.
Students are expected to work independently through carefully prepared curated resources in the form of asynchronous modules. These activities in these modules may include:
- Online discussions
- Readings
- Learning activities
- Digital practices for creating professional resources.
You are responsible for your academic progression through this unit. Unit staff will provide a learning environment designed to maximise your learning experience. To realise your full potential, it is strongly recommended that you actively participate in all the learning activities offered in this unit. You should expect to spend on average 15 hours per week, attending scheduled classes, working through asynchronous modules, preparing for and completing assessment tasks as well as in independent study to consolidate your learning.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback in various forms through out the course which may include:
- informal: worked examples, such as verbal feedback in sessions, personal consults and dialogue with coordinators, academics and support people
- formal: in writing, such as checklists (e.g., criteria sheets), written commentary
- direction: to individual students, either in written form or in consultation
- indirect: to the whole class, and through multiple practice and self assessment examples and sample responses.
Assessment
Overview
You will be asked to undertake two pieces of assessment for this course. The first is designed to give you hands on experience in spotting legal issues, identifying the relevant law for their resolution, explaining application of this law to these facts, reaching conclusions as to what legal outcome would be reached and then, using your commercial judgement, what the most strategic commercial way forward should be.
The second is an exam that is administered through QUT Online and is due in Assignment week. It is comprised of several short answer questions and one problem solving longer scenario. All are similar to the types of hypothetical problems you will have practice resolving in your weekly modules as well as leveraging off your learning around assessment piece one.
Both pieces of assessment are designed to reflect the types of issues you may face in commercial contexts as well as testing your capacity to synthesize and apply legal reasoning.
Gen AI tools may be used ethically and responsibly. Students may use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools to prepare for, generate and refine content for this assessment task. AI-generated content may be inaccurate, unreliable, or biased. It is each student's responsibility to critically evaluate any information used.Students must clearly acknowledge and appropriately reference any AI-generated content following the guidance in Cite | Write
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Case Study: Commercial Disputes
Written response analysing issues arising around a given commercial dispute for purposes of reaching a ‘best’ outcome recommendation. Requires demonstrating capacity to find and apply law, analyse facts in line with legal reasoning & authority, reach legal outcome probabilities and, against this, assess to reach pragmatic commercial recommendations. Written in either essay or a memorandum format with appropriate referencing to relevant case and legislative authority. (Consider ILAC/IRAC form).
Postgraduate (AoL goals): KS 1.1, 1.2, HO 2.1, 2.2, PC 3.1, SL 4.1, SEC 5.1
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Exam
Examination covering weeks 5-8 and drawing indirectly on learning from weeks 1-4. Covering governance, leadership and commercial structures as legal standards pertain to their operation in the form of short case study problems, multiple choice and an applied essay around a case study with commercial recommendations requirements and analysis of legal rights.
Postgraduate (AoL goals): KS 1.1, HO 2.1, 2.2, SL 4.1, SEC 5.1
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Requirements to Study
Costs
There are no out-of-the ordinary costs associated with this unit.
Resources
Resources to support your learning including contemporary industry and academic journal articles, podcasts, and videos will be provided.
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Business and company Law, 3rd edition, James, N; Chapple, E.
Other
CANVAS reading list and module content covers prescribed reading for this module.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with lectures or tutorials in this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.GQ51 Master of Business Administration
- Demonstrate and apply integrated and advanced theoretical and practical knowledge (including systems thinking approaches, multidisciplinary frameworks, and knowledge of research principles and methods) that incorporate recent development in business disciplines, professional practice, and digital innovation.
Relates to: Case Study: Commercial Disputes, Exam - Apply advanced technical and technological knowledge and skills from a range of business disciplines to critically reflect on, evaluate and contribute to developments that enhance innovative, sustainable, effective, and transformational business performance in local, national, global, and virtual business environments.
Relates to: Case Study: Commercial Disputes - Provide evidence of effective analysis, interpretation, evaluation and synthesis of complex data, theories, ideas, issues, situations, and trends across multiple contexts and demonstrate knowledge of how research and inquiry can be used to interpret, contribute to and create theoretical and practical knowledge.
Relates to: Case Study: Commercial Disputes, Exam - Provide evidence of higher order thinking including creativity, judgement, cognitive flexibility and critical reflection in designing, planning and implementing transdisciplinary digital strategies and solutions for effective performance in complex digital business environments.
Relates to: Case Study: Commercial Disputes, Exam - Demonstrate advanced use of language and argumentation in written communication, including digital communication, to frame strategic and influential responses to engage, persuade, negotiate, collaborate, lead, and transform in diverse and complex contexts (both physical and digital) and for diverse audiences.
Relates to: Case Study: Commercial Disputes - Demonstrate adaptive personal leadership and accountability, including self-awareness, reflective practice, and foresight in adapting and applying knowledge and skills to inform and influence effective, responsible, innovative, and agile practice in contemporary complex digital environments.
Relates to: Case Study: Commercial Disputes, Exam - Demonstrate and apply knowledge of ethical and legal principles and practices of business, to contribute to responsible organisational governance and citizenship in local, national, global, and virtual business environments.
Relates to: Case Study: Commercial Disputes, Exam