Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Behavioural Science

This is a five-year double degree that turns out graduates with two sets of skills: the analytical and advocacy training of a law degree, and the understanding of human behaviour you get from psychology and social science. You study both at once rather than one after the other, so the two halves inform each other. A criminal law unit sits alongside a unit on cognitive processes; a family law discussion draws on what you know about child development.

How the degree is structured

Australian bachelor degrees are built on units of study, each worth a set number of credit points, and you accumulate those points across standard semesters. Five years is the normal full-time load for a combined law degree like this one. Expect core law units covering the areas every Australian law graduate must know, contracts, torts, constitutional law, criminal law, property, equity, evidence, civil procedure and professional responsibility. Alongside those, the behavioural science side covers psychology, research methods, statistics, and social and developmental perspectives on how people act and why.

Most combined law degrees finish with a capstone: a research thesis, a major project, or a final-year unit that pulls the threads together. Law schools in Australia also require practical legal training or supervised workplace experience before you can be admitted to practise, and many build clinical or placement units into the degree so you spend time in a community legal centre, a law firm or an in-house legal team. The behavioural science side usually includes research units where you design a study, collect data and write it up.

What you actually learn

You learn to read a case closely and pull out the ratio. You learn to draft, to argue, and to interview a client who is distressed without making things worse. From the behavioural science units you pick up research design, basic statistics, and a working knowledge of how memory, bias and mental health shape the evidence people give and the decisions courts make. That combination is useful in family law, criminal law, child protection, disability advocacy and policy work, where legal problems and human problems are the same problem.

Who it suits

This degree suits someone who wants to practise law but keeps asking why people do what they do. It also suits people heading for policy, human rights, youth justice or community legal work, where a law degree alone can feel narrow. English proficiency matters here: law sits at the higher end of the university's English requirements, so check the exact score on the official course page before you apply. International students can work up to 48 hours per fortnight while studying, and graduates may be eligible for the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream. Confirm fees, intake dates and English requirements on the official University of Notre Dame Australia page and the CRICOS register.

• Solicitor or barrister, after completing practical legal training and admission to practise in an Australian state or territory
• Family lawyer, working with clients through separation, parenting arrangements and property disputes
• Criminal lawyer in legal aid, community legal centres or private practice
• Child protection or youth justice officer in a state department or non-government organisation
• Policy adviser in government, focusing on justice, mental health, disability or social services
• Human resources or workplace relations adviser, handling disputes, investigations and compliance
• Compliance, risk or investigations officer in banking, insurance or the public sector
• Researcher or advocate with a human rights, disability or community organisation