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University of Melbourne

  • 37% international / 63% domestic

Good Governance: Navigating Law for Public Managers - Melbourne MicroCert

  • Non-Award

Better understand how the rule of law shapes government's role and informs public policymaking. This course explores the legal and political environments public sector professionals must navigate to ensure effective governance and policy development.

Key details

Degree Type
Non-Award
Duration
6 weeks full-time
Study Mode
Online
International Fees
$1,990 per year

About this course

Good Governance: Navigating Law for Public Managers

Better understand how the rule of law shapes government's role and informs public policymaking.

Understanding the work of government requires a sharp understanding of how public policy is shaped by legal frameworks.

This Melbourne MicroCert explores the legal and political environments public sector professionals must navigate to ensure governments can respond effectively to the challenges communities face.

This course is ideal for public sector professionals, especially non-lawyers, who want to understand how rule of law standards shape policymaking, protect rights, and prevent arbitrary governance.

Entry requirements

There are no formal eligibility requirements to enrol in this course, but it is recommended you have either an undergraduate degree or at least three years of professional experience in a relevant field (such as policy design/development, program implementation, management, evaluation, or corporate services).

Study locations

Online

What you will learn

What you will learn

Gain contemporary skills and knowledge for your job now.

Understanding the work of government requires a sharp understanding of how public policy is shaped by legal frameworks.

This Melbourne MicroCert explores the legal and political environments public sector professionals must navigate to ensure governments can respond effectively to the challenges communities face.

This course is ideal for public sector professionals, especially non-lawyers, who want to understand how rule of law standards shape policymaking, protect rights, and prevent arbitrary governance.

Explore how rule of law standards impact public administration

Examine competing visions of the rule of law, which encompasses everything from procedural fairness to values such as human rights. Enhance your understanding of public policymaking and explore how law and broader rule of law standards both empower and constrain public servants when crafting policy.

Examine how the public service is central to governance in accordance with the rule of law

Discuss the many roles public servants play in supporting governance in accordance with the rule of law: as experts, holders of institutional memory, policy implementers, and guardians of rule of law standards.

Understand the challenges faced by public servants in upholding the rule of law

Explore how the rule of law has evolved over time and how contemporary trends are presenting difficult challenges, including the maintenance of basic legality in exercising government power and adequate oversight across service delivery.

Develop your practical skills

Connect rule of law theories to practice and public service values through interactive exercises. You'll become familiar with rule of law language, gain a greater understanding of your authorising environment, analyse key legal frameworks, and discover how law is the source of all government power.

Course structure

Course details

This Melbourne MicroCert runs over six weeks, including four weeks of delivery and two weeks for you to complete assessment tasks.

Your total time commitment is approximately 42 hours, which includes:

  • 4 x live 90-minute masterclasses (once each week for the first 4 weeks)
  • 2.5 hours of self-guided learning
  • 2 assessment tasks (details below).
Assessment:
  • Group discussion: Draw on course content to discuss the importance of key legal frameworks and theoretical concepts in public policy (30%)
  • Issue Paper: Reflect critically on a government mechanism that has been used, or could be used, to address an important public policy challenge (70%).