The program offers multi-skilling and highly marketable career paths in criminology and law. It equips students with professional legal skills and knowledge which are required by the Legal Profession Admission Board (LPAB) for admission to legal practice, solve non-legal problems and undertake specialised study in topical local and international law. Applied study of crime and criminal justice focusses on social and cultural definitions of criminality and reactions to it. Topics include criminology as a discipline; types and cultural depictions of crime; victimisation; crime prevention strategies and debates; law enforcement and surveillance; adult and juvenile justice; institutions and practices.
Five years full-time or ten years part-time. Criminology subjects are offered at Liverpool and Penrith campuses and Law subjects are offered at Campbelltown and Parramatta campuses. Students are required to travel between campuses in order to complete their subjects.
Graduates from this program are eligible to apply to the Legal Profession Admission Board for admission to legal practice in NSW after undertaking prescribed practical legal training.
Inherent Requirements
There are inherent requirements for this program that you must meet in order to complete your program and graduate. Make sure you read and understand the requirements for this program online.
Western Sydney University seeks to enhance student learning experiences by enabling students to engage in the culture, expectations and practices of their profession or discipline. This program includes a placement or other community-based unpaid practical experience.
There is an optional work component available in this program. Please contact the Program Advisor listed above for information.
International students should be aware that if an elective is a requirement of the program but the work itself was not registered with CRICOS, students can still complete these electives but it would be counted towards the work limitation. For more details, refer to the 'Work Integrated Learning (WIL) for international students' website.
Recommended studies: HSC English standard (2 units) or equivalent.
Applications from Australian and New Zealand citizens and holders of permanent resident visas may be made via the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) or directly through the Western Portal. Use the links below to apply via UAC or Western Sydney University. Applications made directly to Western Sydney do not have an application fee.
Applicants who have undertaken studies overseas may have to provide proof of proficiency in English. Local applicants who are applying through the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) will find details of minimum English proficiency requirements and acceptable proof on the UAC website. Local applicants applying directly to the University should also use the information provided on the UAC website.
International students currently completing an Australian Year 12 in or outside Australia, an International Baccalaureate in Australia or a New Zealand National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 3 must apply via UAC International.
All other International applicants must apply directly to the University via the International Office.
International students applying to the University through the International Office can find details of minimum English proficiency requirements and acceptable proof on their website.
Overseas qualifications must be deemed by the Australian Education International - National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (AEI-NOOSR) to be equivalent to Australian qualifications in order to be considered by UAC and Western Sydney University.
Special Requirements Prerequisites
Students enrolling in these subjects may need to have a National Police Certificate and consent or prohibited employment declarations as they may be conducting their placement in circumstances where they work with minors. This would be managed on an as needs basis:
LAWS 3078 Legal, Economic and Social Transformation in Taiwan
Program Structure
Qualification for a double degree in law requires the successful completion of 400 credit points consisting of the subjects listed in the recommended sequence.
Early exit - Students are eligible to graduate in the Bachelor of Criminology on completion of 16 specified criminology subjects plus the eight law subjects specified in the first three years of the program sequence.
Students enrolled in the 2766 Bachelor of Criminology/Bachelor of Laws will only be eligible to graduate from their Bachelor of Laws degree upon completion of the entire 400 credit point program. Students enrolled in this program who wish to graduate with a standalone law degree prior to completion of the entire Bachelor of Criminology component must transfer to program 2502 Bachelor of Laws (Non-Graduate Entry) which requires the completion of 320 credit points (inclusive of 80 credit points of non-LLB study).
Students may early exit with the Diploma in Laws on completion of 80 credit points, comprising 20 credit points of specified Law core subjects and 60 credit points of Law core or alternate subjects, as provided in the program structure. Please refer to the links above for details.
Planning study - It may be possible to vary the sequence of subjects so that students study a greater concentration of either law or criminology each semester, to minimise travel between campuses, and to overcome timetabling problems. Students should speak to their Academic Program Advisor as needed.
Please note that the availability of Bachelor of Laws Alternate Subjects may vary from session to session. New subjects may become available and some discontinued. The School of Law will publish information on which subjects are available in a session.
Equivalent Subjects
The equivalent subjects listed below count towards the completion of this program for students who passed these subjects in 2019 or earlier.
JUST 2002 - Bioethics, replaced by LAWS 2014 Bioethics
The equivalent subjects listed below count towards the completion of this program for students who passed these subjects in 2020 or earlier.
CULT 1020 - Working with Communities, replaced by equivalent subject HUMN 1060 Introduction to Indigenous Australia: Peoples, Places and Philosophies.
HUMN 2049 - Social Research Methods, replaced by equivalent subject HUMN 2066 Investigating and Communicating Social Problems.
The equivalent subjects listed below count towards completion of this program for students who passed these subjects in 2021 or earlier.
LAWS 3008 - Civil Procedure and Arbitration (200813), replaced by LAWS 4013 Civil Procedure and Arbitration
LAWS 3064 - Remedies (200756), replaced by LAWS 4014 Remedies
LAWS 2002 - Constitutional Law (200009), replaced by LAWS 4015 Constitutional Law
LAWS 4001 - Administrative Law (200013), replaced by LAWS 3081 Administrative Law
LAWS 2011 - Property Law (200012), replaced by LAWS 3082 Property Law
LAWS 3059 - Professional Responsibility and Legal Ethics (200020), replaced by LAWS 2015 Professional Responsibility and Legal Ethics
The subjects listed below count towards completion of the program for students who may have passed subjects in the list in 2022 or earlier.
JUST 4001 Clinical Legal Placement, replaced by LAWS 4017 Access to Justice Clinic
Replaced Subjects
The subjects listed below count towards completion of this program for students who passed these subjects in 2021 or earlier.
LAWS 3043 - Land Transactions Law (200021)
LAWS 3035 - International Moot Court (200663)
LAWS 4002 - Advanced Constitutional Law (200755)
LAWS 4009 - Transaction Law (200758)
LAWS 3066 - Revenue Law Industry Placement (201007)
LAWS 3073 - Elder Law Industry Placement (201020)
JUST 2009 - Law Economics and Business Ethics (200296)
LAWS 4011 - Law Honours Dissertation (200700)