Australian Politics, Inequality and Wellbeing
UndergraduateMAQ-POIX20102025
Previously MAQ-POIX201
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
Consider the politics of fairness in modern Australia. Dig into the treatment of Indigenous Australians and new arrivals. Question if men and women receive equal opportunities. Explore the politics of same sex relationships. See connections and consequences.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 20 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Price from
- $2,160
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Australian Politics, Inequality and Wellbeing
About this subject
On successful completion of this subject, you will be able to:
- Have the ability to peer below the surface feature of Australian politics and its discourse to identify the underlying inequalities at play
- Understand and identify linkages between, for example, class and race and Australian nationhood
- Critically analyse Australian politics and assess the degree to which it reinforces and normalises inequality
- Demonstrate capacity to assess the extent that the media and new economic technologies impact – if at all – on the reproduction of existing social relations
- Demonstrate critical understanding of the interplay between discourse, ideology, structures and agency in shaping the makeup of Australian society in terms of race, nation, class and gender
- A week-by-week guide to the topics you will explore in this subject will be provided in your study materials.
When asked why they are involved in politics, many Australian politicians will answer that they want to make the country a better place, that they want to improve people’s welfare and wellbeing, that they want to make a difference. We don’t have to look far, however, to observe entrenched inequality, social division, unmet human needs and unfulfilled lives. This tension between the promise of politics and the lack of responsiveness of the political system to a large portion of the Australian population, and its consequences for inequality and human wellbeing, is the focus of this unit. Students explore these inequalities, and their political causes and consequences, through the lenses of race, nation, class and gender.
- Take-Home Exam (30%)
- Major essay (50%)
- Online Participation (20%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 10
Entry requirements
Prior study
You must have successfully completed the following subject(s) before starting this subject:
Equivalent subjects
You should not enrol in this subject if you have successfully completed any of the following subject(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:
MAQ-PLT210 (Not currently available)
MAQ-POIX201 (Not currently available)
Others
NCCW (pre-2020 units) PLT210, POL201, POL250, POIX201
Pre-requisite: 40cp at 1000 level or above OR (10cp in POL or POIR or POIX units)
NCCW (2020 and onwards) POIR2010 Contemporary Issues in Australian Politics: Race, Nation, Class and Gender
Additional requirements
- Other requirements - Students who have an Academic Standing of Suspension or Exclusion under Macquarie University's Academic Progression Policy are not permitted to enrol in OUA units offered by Macquarie University. Students with an Academic Standing of Suspension or Exclusion who have enrolled in units through OUA will be withdrawn.
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
UndergraduateMAQ-ART-DEG
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