ESSAY QUESTION: Does applying the same laws to all people in the same manner ensure that all Australians get equal access to justice? The essay question has been intentionally drafted to be broad enough for you to pursue research in areas of your choosing. Your task will be to narrow the topic to a manageable thesis that will ensure research depth and originality in arguments. . In conducting further research and developing your own thesis you may wish to consider one or more of the following areas: • Academic literature discussing different philosophical approaches to defining equality under law; • Academic literature on access to justice and poverty; • Academic literature on access to justice in rural and remote communities; • Academic literature on the problems facing Indigenous people and access to justice; • Elderly people and access to justice; • The concentration of financial resources in large corporations and its impact on access to justice; • The stratification of legal practice; • Access to justice and gender; • Access to justice and minority groups; • The capacity of community legal services to remedy access to justice problems; • Academic literature discussing the differences between formal and substantive equality, and/or formal and substantive justice; • Academic literature on core liberal elements of Australia’s legal system like the separation of powers and democratic law making; • Academic literature on any other area you view as relevant to the essay question. Essay requirements 1. Your assignment must have a thesis. A thesis is a central argument that you develop throughout your assignment and support with academic and legal sources. For some examples of a thesis please refer to the Essay Writing Guide in the Assessment section of Blackboard. 2. Your assignment should be written in essay format, with introduction, conclusion, and the body divided into sections with sub headings. It should be thoroughly proof read. There should be no dot points. 3. Your assignment must be typed with 1.5 spacing 4. Please submit your assignment in word format (not PDF) 5. Pay particular attention to correct use of grammar, punctuation (especially use of semi-colons) and spelling. 6. Footnotes must appear at the bottom of the page of the text to which they relate, rather than as endnotes. 7. References and authorities should be correctly cited. Use the guidelines for referencing set out in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th ed. 8. You must add a reference list (not included in word count) listing materials that you have cited in your paper. Word limit The word limit is 1,500 words, not counting footnotes and reference list, plus or minus 10%.

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