Bachelor of Information Technology/Bachelor of Laws

Overview

• Prepares you to practise law in complex environments that now require graduates with an information technology background.
• Complete 2 separate degrees in 5.5 years full-time.
• Study in a specialty area such as business process management, data warehousing, digital environments, enterprise systems, network systems, software engineering, or web technologies.
• Meets academic requirements for admission to legal practice in Australia.

Details

Why choose this course?

Combining law and information technology puts you at the cutting edge of the growth area of legal issues arising from the advances of information technology. Technology is increasingly becoming a part of everyday business; for example, political campaigns now use a wide range of technologies, including social networking, to deliver their message. Staff from both the information technology and law areas have contributed to the rapid developments in this area. 

This double degree will give you the ability to practise law in light of the complex information and technology environments generated by manufacturers, data processing consultancies and private and government organisations. Because more legal issues are arising from the Internet every day, the legal industry requires more graduates with an information technology background to help tackle these issues.

Alternatively, you can choose to practise as a computing professional specialising in legal applications, information systems or security. IT students receive a comprehensive, work-integrated curriculum, giving you the opportunity to explore a wide range of areas within IT and gain a deep understanding within your chosen specialty.

Cooperative Education Program

An optional six or 12-month period of paid work experience in an area of science and technology is available to eligible full-time students. The Cooperative Education Program, which is a joint venture between employers and the Science and Engineering Faculty, gives you the opportunity to better prepare for future employment. The program is available to Australian citizens and permanent residents only. For more information, see work experience opportunities in the Science and Engineering Faculty.

Career outcomes

Graduates may develop careers in cyberlaw, intellectual property and privacy, dealing with the legal regulation of the Internet including downloading music, mobile phone camera use or copyright issues. You may become a legal practitioner, barrister, in-house counsel, government lawyer, policy adviser or IT specialist or entrepreneur within the legal or justice fields. There is also increased demand for roles in edemocracy both in egovernment service delivery and political campaigning.

Professional recognition

The Bachelor of Information Technology is accredited by the Australian Computer Society. At the end of your law degree you will have completed the necessary units for admission to legal practice in Australia. If you want to become a practising lawyer you will need to complete further practical legal training (e.g. Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice) and then apply for admission. The Bachelor of Laws is also recognised for solicitor’s admission in East Malaysia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and in India and West Malaysia after completion of these countries’ qualifying examinations.

Units

Course structure

You will study a combination of information technology and law units in the first four years, with law units only in the final year. You will also have the opportunity to choose elective units relevant to your career interests.

Study Areas

You can choose to specialise in:

• Business Process Management
• Data Warehousing
• Digital Societies
• Enterprise Systems
• Information Management
• Network Systems
• Software Engineering
• Web Technologies.

Entry requirements

Minimum academic requirements

Did you complete secondary school in Australia?

Course fees

Your actual fees may vary depending on which units you choose. All fees are based on current fixed fee prices. We review fees annually.

Scholarships and financial support

You can apply for scholarships to help you with study and living costs.

These scholarships are available for this course:

View all scholarships