Year 10 Independent Study

Title

Introduction

 Background on topic/issue (set the context)

 Include your stance (hypothesis)
 Include a summary of what you will discuss throughout (issues/+/-
/stakeholders/recommendations)
Over the last three years, Domestic Violence has been at the forefront of most media platforms. The
increase in Family and Domestic Violence in Australia has significantly risen, with the high profile
cases such as Allison Baden-Clay, Tara Brown, and Karina Lock occurring in the space of weeks. The
public has been outraged with these fatalities, especially when facts show that these women tried
on numerous occasions to seek help from various authorities to no prevail. These recent media
publications raise concerns whether Queensland’s Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012
adequately protects victims of domestic violence.

Body

Knowing and Understanding the Law

 Provide a brief timeline/history relating to your

topic/Hypothesis and the development of laws, key cases and
social issues.
 Define and describe the laws and various organisations/legal
instruments that govern your topic/issue
 Explain the purpose/intention of these laws / legal instruments

Investigating Legal Issues

 Identify issues pertaining to your topic OR discuss how

effective the relevant laws are (identify strengths/weaknesses
of current laws)
 Examine why these are key legal issues using stakeholder
perspectives (how do these issues effect various
stakeholders?) OR why the laws are so effective
 Analyse the issues (positives, negatives, controversies
according to who…)
 Support your investigation of the legal issues with relevant
stakeholder perspectives (cases, quotes, articles etc)
Despite the implementation of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and
the various supporting legal instruments in place, many issues still arise
in relation to the law’s application. Racial discrimination is a very complex and sensitive issue
and many stakeholders have differing views about the law’s response.

Sentence Starters ( analysing stakeholder perspectives):

Recently, the issue of……….(identify the issue) has………..caused much controversy

because…..(explain the issue). While there have been calls from stakeholders such as……..(name
stakeholders) to repeal/modify/abolish/change the law pertaining to this issue, other
stakeholders such as (name opposing stakeholders) believe the issue/law should remain
unchanged. Stakeholder 1 argues that……..because……….Similarly, stakeholder 2 believes ……..
because. Alternatively, Stakeholder 3 states that…..because. It is apparent that the diverse
viewpoints underpin…..in relation to the issue. Regardless of this, ………concluding sentence that
summarise issue and your findings
 Responding to the Law

 Make recommendations regarding how the law could be more

suitable in relation to the issues and stakeholder responses
you have raised
 Discuss the implications/effects of your recommendations
 Justify your recommendations and implications with relevant
evidence (quotes, cases, articles, statistics..etc)

Conclusion

 Summarise the points you have made

 Reinforce your evaluation of the topic/issue in support of your hypothesis

Analysing Stakeholder Perspectives

Analysing Perspectives is the process of identifying multiple perspectives on an

issue and examining the reasons or logic behind each. This is helpful when
completing requirements for the investigation and evaluation criteria.

The process:

1. Firstly, identify and clearly articulate the perspective of the first stakeholder you have
chosen.

2. Once you have identified their perspective, try to determine the reasons or logic
behind it.

3. Provide evidence of their reasoning through research. This can be quotes,

interviews, statistics etc.

4. Next, identify and clearly articulate a perspective from a second stakeholder.

5. Try to describe the reasons or logic behind this stakeholder’s perspective. Again this
will entail support from research.

6. Continue with the same process for stakeholder 3. This process can be repeated for
numerous stakeholders.

The goal of analysing perspectives is to fully understand the reason or logic for another
person’s/groups position on the issue.
The table on the next page will assist you in analysing the perspectives of the stakeholders.
 The issue Their perspective Supporting evidence
and reason for
(quote, statistic, case,
the perspective
article)

Stakeholder
one:

Stakeholder
two:

Stakeholder
three:

Stakeholder
four:
 Sentence/paragraph structure is the key to concise,
meaningful writing!
Use PEEL!
Point:
This is your topic sentence – tell the reader what your paragraph is
about.
Explain:
Give the reader more information about the topic.
Evidence:
Provide evidence so that you can prove your point to the reader.
Link:
Summarise what you have said and link your ideas to your next paragraph so that your
writing flows.

Below is an example of how you could discuss the

disadvantages of the law using PEEL:
There are many disadvantages with the current law (state the Act). The Act stipulates that
……. (choose a part of the Act that has negative attributes). This is a significant issue because
…… (explain the negative things that are occurring because of this). The case/quote/statistic
clearly highlights this issue because…..(describe what happened….make sure it is
highlighting the issue/disadvantage you described previously). It is clearly evidence that
that …..or it is apparent that…..(state how the law contributes to the issue you just
explained).

One significant issue pertaining to gender selection in Australia is that there is no legislation
preventing the process. While there are two national bodies (ART and NH) that produce guidelines
that inform the states and territories of what is legal, these bodies do not enforce legal
consequences when citizens go off shore for gender selection processes. This is an issue because a
number of Australian citizens are choosing to seek gender selection processes overseas.
Furthermore, families are utilising these processes off shore and able to return back to Australia
without any legal consequences or punishments for breaking the nation’s guidelines. Andrew and
Johanne McMahon are an Australian family that decided to travel to America for gender selection
processes. Their reason was to ‘balance their family’ as they already had seven boys and were
desperately seeking a girl. Johanne stated that “we know we are breaking the guidelines, but
Australia doesn’t offer us what we need for our family” (Courier Mail, 2012). The lack of laws and
punishments is sending the message to Australian citizens that it is ok to ignore or break the
guidelines. If the Australian Government is prepared to allow people to practice gender selection
processes off shore, and then return home without consequence, it signifies the need for the current
guidelines to legalise the process.
 Sentence Starters

Investigating Legal Issues

Despite the implementation of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and the various
supporting legal instruments in place, many issues still arise in relation to the law’s
application. Racial discrimination is a very complex and sensitive issue and many
stakeholders have differing views about the law’s response.

Recently, the issue of……….(identify the issue) has………..caused much controversy

because…..(explain the issue). While there have been calls from stakeholders such
as……..(name stakeholders) to repeal/modify/abolish/change the law pertaining to this
issue, other stakeholders such as (name opposing stakeholders) believe the issue/law
should remain unchanged. Stakeholder 1 argues that……..because……….Similarly,
stakeholder 2 believes …….. because. Alternatively, Stakeholder 3 states that…..because. It is
apparent that the diverse viewpoints underpin…..in relation to the issue. Regardless of this,
………concluding sentence that summarise issue and your findings.

Another aspect of the RDA which has raised much controversy is…………(identify and explain
another issue)

You should have 2-3 issues or 2-3 strengths/weaknesses with the law/topic

Responding to the Law

Despite the criticisms/weaknesses of the RDA, it is apparent that the law is suitable. While
there are some weaknesses with the RDA such as…..(comes from issues and stakeholders), it
is clearly evident that the strengths with the law prevail. According to ……one of the greatest
strengths is……….Moreover, such and such highlights another strength………….
Or
Despite the strengths of the RDA, it is apparent that weaknesses prevail therefore making
the law unsuitable. While there are some positive aspects with the RDA such as…..(comes
from issues and stakeholders), it is clearly evident that the negative aspects with the law are
more prevalent. Significant flaws with the law include………..

Based on the assessment of the RDA, it is recommended that …….(make a

recommendation/solution to an issue). While this recommendation will
strengthen/improve………..(a certain aspect of the law or issue), it will have significant
positive/negative implications for………(discuss the implications/effects/impacts it will have
on stakeholders/society – both positive and/or negative).
You should have 2-3 reforms. Discuss their implications. Reforms should relate to the
issues/weaknesses you have discussed throughout.