Outline

Overview

This unit deals with patients’ rights to information in the modern health care system. The unit will focus on consent to treatment and will include discussion of capacity the duty of health professionals to disclose the risks of treatment refusal of treatment and emergency health care. The unit will also examine duties of confidentiality in health care ownership of and access to medical records and information rights in medical research.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Law
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	LAWS3452 or LAWS5152
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Belinda Reeve, belinda.reeve@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Presentation	Class presentation Class presentation	5%	Multiple weeks	15 min
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Essay Essay	15%	Week 10 Due date: 11 Oct 2021 at 16:00	1500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Participation	Online participation Online participation	10%	Week 11 Due date: 29 Oct 2021 at 16:00	Ongoing
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Assignment Assignment	70%	Week 13 Due date: 08 Nov 2021 at 16:00	3000wd essay and 2000wd problem question
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Class presentation (5%): Students must give a presentation on a topic provided by the lecturer. The list of presentation topics will be released on Monday, 9 August 2021 at 9am. Presentations must be no longer than 15 minutes and will be recorded and uploaded to the unit website. The due date of the presentation will depend on the topic, with some due on Friday 3 September and others due on Friday 1 October 2021.

Online participation (10%): Students must post two responses on the discussion board to questions related to the course content and one comment on another student’s presentation. The discussion board will be opened for posting from Monday, 2 August 2021 and this component of the assessment must be completed by 4pm on Friday 29 October 2021.

1500 word essay (15%): Students must write a short essay on the topic they presented on, due at 4pm on Monday 11 October 2021.

Final assignment (70%): The final assignment consists of a compulsory problem-based question and a compulsory essay-based question, with a 3,000 word limit for the essay question and a 2,000 word limit for the problem question. The final assignment will be released on Friday, 15 October 2021 and due at 4pm on Monday, 8 November, 2021.

Assessment requirement to pass a unit of study

A student must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks set out in this Unit of Study in order to obtain a Pass mark and grade (or above); otherwise an Absent Fail grade will be recorded as the student’s result for this Unit of Study.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	• Completely answers the question. • Contains striking originality of approach or analysis. • Demonstrates exhaustive or innovative research (where independent research required). • Exceptionally well written, structured and expressed. • Is otherwise exceptional in some way.
Distinction	75 - 84	• Completely answers the question. • Achieves a critical and evaluative approach to the issues. • Content and structure is well organised in support of the argument. • Demonstrates extensive research and analysis to support a well-documented argument. • Generally well expressed and free from errors. • Has a clear structure and is well articulated.
Credit	65 - 74	• Covers main issues fairly well in answering the question. • Contains no significant errors • Demonstrates an attempted critical approach to the issues. • Demonstrates reasonably sound research and analysis in addressing the key issues. • Has a clear structure and reasonably clear expression.
Pass	50 - 64	• Identifies the key issues, but does not follow through with a reasoned argument. • Contains some significant errors. • Displays satisfactory engagement with the key issues. • Offers descriptive summary of material relevant to the question. • Superficial use of material, and may display a tendency to paraphrase. • Demonstrates little evidence of in-depth research or analysis. • Adequate expression. • Overall, demonstrates the minimum level of competence in the assessment and satisfies the requirements to proceed to higher-level studies in the degree or subject area.
Fail	0 - 49	• Does not answer the question. • Contains significant or numerous errors. • Few or no identifiable arguments. • Content that is inappropriate or irrelevant. • Lack of research or analysis. • Difficult or impossible to understand through poor grammar, expression or structure. • Overall, does not demonstrate the minimum level of competence in the assessment.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

The late submission of a piece of assessment, which has not been granted an extension, will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment per calendar day or part thereof.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Ongoing	Topic 1: Confidentiality	Block teaching (3 hr)
	Topic 2: Privacy and health information	Block teaching (3 hr)
	Topic 3: Accessing health information	Block teaching (2 hr)
	Topic 4: Consent to medical treatment and competency to consent to medical treatment	Block teaching (3 hr)
	Topic 5: Refusal of medical treatment	Block teaching (3 hr)
	Topic 6: Information about risks	Block teaching (3 hr)
	Topic 7: Information rights in medical research	Block teaching (2.5 hr)
	Pre-recorded lecturers will cover topics 1-4	Independent study (3.5 hr)
	Pre-recorded lecturers will cover topics 5-7	Independent study (3 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: All students are required to attend 100% of classes (or as otherwise specified by the Unit Coordinator) to satisfy the pass requirements for each unit of study. Attendance requirements may be satisfied by online attendance as specified by the Unit Coordinator. Failure to meet this requirement may result in a student being precluded from sitting the final assessment. For postgraduate intensives only: For units offered in Intensive mode, participation in all scheduled sessions may be expected by a Unit Coordinator in order to satisfy the requirements of the unit.

Word count penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count for essay and other written assessments will exclude bibliography; footnote numbers; footnote citation; cover page and include body text; headings and sub-headings; quotations; anything other than numbers and citations in footnotes.

Referencing: The Sydney Law School expects you to use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th edition, 2018) for your footnoting style, although you should confirm this with your lecturer, and a link to the library website where this is set out comprehensively is available at https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/c.php?g=508212&p=3476376

Additional information: There will be three Zoom days, one on Thursday 9 September, one on Friday 10 September and one on Friday 8 October. On the first Zoom day, Topics 1-2 of the course will be covered via discussion, exercises, and guest lectures. On the second Zoom day, Topics 3-4 will be covered via exercises and discussion. Pre-recorded lectures for topics 1-4 will be made available before Thursday 9 September and students are expected to listen to the lectures before the first Zoom day. On Friday 8 October, Topics 5-7 will be covered via discussion, exercises, and guest lectures. Pre-recorded lectures for these topics will be released prior to this date and students are expected to listen to them before the third Zoom day.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Ian Kerridge, Michael Lowe, Cameron Stewart, Ethics and Law for the Health Professions (Federation Press, 4th ed, 2013)

The required readings will be provided on Canvas site under ‘Reading List’.

Where legislation is listing in the reading guide as required reading students are expected to access the legislation prior to class. Legislation may be accessed from www.austlii.edu.au

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Understand and participate in the legal and ethical debates concerning confidentiality, information privacy, and consent in healthcare.
LO2. Understand and analyse cases and status that are relevant to the information dynamic between healthcare professionals and patients; the implications of digital technology for patient privacy; and the impact of changing models of healthcare delivery upon information flows.
LO3. Critically evaluate current laws, debates, and proposals for reform relevant to confidentiality, health information privacy, and consent.
LO4. Clearly and effectively communicate ideas on confidentiality, health information privacy, and consent in both oral and written form.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

I have changed the way in which student presentations are integrated into the course, and provided students with a greater number of opportunities for discussion and engaging with the material.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

LAWS6058: Information Rights in Health Care

Intensive October, 2021 [Block mode] - Remote

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect