Students should ensure they review the Course Structure information provided on the Course Details page for their Bachelor’s Degree. It is essential that students complete any Foundation units identified in that information at the earliest available opportunity in their studies. For those degrees which do not identify any Foundation Units, the necessary fundamental knowledge is incorporated within each degree specific major in your course. Where Foundation units are identified, they are essential and are chosen to provide fundamental knowledge which will assist you throughout the remainder of your studies. In some cases these foundation units are also essential prerequisites to enable you to undertake required units within your chosen majors, so these units should always be completed as early as possible in your course.
Students can access specific major pages through the handbook search function.
Course overview
- Description
Human rights have come to be the dominant language in which contentious social and political questions are debated. Activists appeal to human rights in attempting to advance the interests of the oppressed. States appeal to human rights in justifying policy interventions, on both domestic and international scales. A complex set of legal and political institutions has evolved, centred around the idea of human rights. And a flourishing field of academic inquiry is now devoted to understanding, and debating, human rights issues.
The University of Western Australia's Bachelor of Human Rights is a unique, interdisciplinary programme of study that equips students with the knowledge and skills to engage with real-world issues in human rights and related areas such as social justice and inequality. Students will study human rights issues from a wide variety of perspectives – legal, historical, political, and philosophical. They will also have the opportunity to gain invaluable real-world experience through opportunities for internships, and a specialised unit dedicated to human rights research.
- Award abbreviation
- BHumR
- Course type
- Bachelor's course
- Status
- Current / 2025
- Intake periods
- Beginning of year and mid-year
- Administered by
- Humanities
- CRICOS code
- 111640M
Course details
- Structure
- 144 points comprising 24 six-point units. Students normally take eight units each year, four in each semester.
- Available to international students
- Yes. For information on international student fees see 'Student Procedures: Fees'. (Enquiries: https://www.uwa.edu.au/askuwa)
- Attendance type
- Full- or part-time
- Delivery mode
- Internal
- Locations offered
- UWA (Perth)
- Domestic fee type
- Commonwealth supported and/or HECS-HELP; or postgraduate fee-paying/FEE-HELP
- Majors available
MJD-HMRDM Human Rights
- Fees
- Visit the fees calculator.
Example Study Plan
See study plans for more information.
Course structure
Key to availability of units:
- S1
- Semester 1
- SS
- summer teaching period
All units have a value of six points unless otherwise stated.
Take all units (6 points):
Note: Given the subject-matter of the degree, it is essential that students be equipped with the tools necessary to offer high-quality argumentation, and critically assess and analyse arguments offered by others. Critical thinking skills, then, are foundational to the entire degree programme.
| Availability | Unit code | Unitname | Unit requirements | Contact hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1, SS | PHIL1002 | Introduction to Critical Thinking |
| lectures and workshops: up to 3 hours per week |
Rules
Title
1. These rules are the Bachelor of Human Rights (Specialised) degree Course Rules.
Terms Used
2. The Glossary provides an explanation of the terms used in these rules.
Applicability of the Student Rules, policies and procedures
3.(1) The Student Rules apply to students in this course.
(2) The policy, policy statements and guidance documents and student procedures apply, except as otherwise indicated in the rules for this course.
Academic Conduct Essentials, Communication and Research Skills And Indigenous Studies Essentials module
4.(1) Except as stated in (2), a student who enrols in an undergraduate degree course of the University for the first time irrespective of whether they have previously been enrolled in another course of the University, must undertake the Academic Conduct Essentials module (the ACE module), Communication and Research Skills (the CARS module) and Indigenous Studies Essentials (the ISE module) in the teaching period in which they are first enrolled.
(2) A student must successfully complete the ACE module within the first teaching period of their enrolment. Failure to complete the module within this timeframe will result in the student's unit results from this teaching period being withheld. These results will continue to be withheld until students avail themselves of a subsequent opportunity to achieve a passing grade in the ACE module. In the event that students complete units in subsequent teaching periods without completing the ACE module, these results will similarly be withheld. Students will not be permitted to submit late review or appeal applications regarding results which have been withheld for this reason and which they were unable to access in the normally permitted review period.
(3) A student who has previously achieved a result of Ungraded Pass (UP) for the CARS module or the ISE module is not required to repeat the relevant module.
English Language competency requirements
5. To be considered eligible for consideration for admission to this course an applicant must satisfy the University's English language competence requirement as set out in the University Policy on Admission: Coursework.
Admission requirements
6.(1) To be considered for admission to this course an applicant must have—
(a) achieved an ATAR of at least 85, or equivalent as recognised by UWA;
or
(b) an assured pathway offer;
or
(c) a place in a relevant UWA access program.
Admission ranking and selection
7. Where relevant, admission will be awarded to the highest ranked applicants or applicants selected based on the relevant requirements.
Transfer Requirements
8.(1) A student enrolled in an undergraduate degree course at UWA may apply to transfer into this course if they satisfy the following conditions:
(a) the student has not commenced their final semester of enrolment;
and
(b) the course transfer is undertaken within the two transfer windows in each academic year;
and
(c) there are no quotas preventing the student from enrolling in a major or unit in which the student seeks to enrol; and
(2) (a) have completed a minimum of 24 points of study in their current course and achieved a WAM of at least 60; and
(b) have met any subject prerequisites for their intended majors.
Course structure
9.(1) The Undergraduate Bachelor's degree consists of:
(a) 144 credit points (normally 24 units), which will include:
(i) a degree-specific major chosen from the list below:
MJD-HMRDM Human Rights
and
(ii) no more than 72 credit points (normally 12 units) of Level 1 units; and
(iii) at least 72 credit points (normally 12 units) of Level 2 or Level 3 units, including at least 36 credit points (normaly 6 units) of Level 3 units; and
(iv) any relevant foundation units.
and(2) Students may choose to undertake a minor, provided the student will be able to complete all nominated majors and minors within 144 credit points.
Satisfactory progress
10.(1) To make satisfactory progress a student must pass units to a point value greater than half the total value of units in which they remain enrolled after the final date for withdrawal without academic penalty.
(2) A student who has not achieved a result of Ungraded Pass (UP) for the CARS module or the ISE module when their progress status is assessed will not have made satisfactory progress.
(3) A student who fails a unit twice is not permitted to enrol again in that unit unless the relevant board approves otherwise.
Progress status
11.(1) A student who makes satisfactory progress is assigned the status of 'Good Standing'.
(2) Unless the relevant board determines otherwise because of exceptional circumstances —
(a) a student who does not make satisfactory progress for the first time under Rule 10(1) is assigned a progress status of 'On Probation';
(b) a student who does not make satisfactory progress for the second time under Rule 10(1) is assigned a progress status of 'Suspended';
(c) a student who does not make satisfactory progress for the third time under Rule 10(1) is assigned a progress status of 'Excluded';
(d) a student who does not make satisfactory progress under Rule 10(2) is assigned a progress status of 'On Probation' unless they have been assigned a progress status of 'Suspended' or 'Excluded' for failure to make satisfactory progress under Rule 10(1).
Deferrals
12. Applicants awarded admission to the course are entitled to a deferral of up to 12 months, as per the University Policy on: Admissions (Coursework).