Bachelor of Laws (Honours)/Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)

This six-year double degree gives you the flexibility to combine a law qualification with psychology. You'll gain a global and social justice perspective and an understanding of human behaviour, motivation, relationships, communication and cognitive processes.

You'll examine how the mind works alongside developing broad legal knowledge and analytical skills.

Honours in Law and Psychology will further enhance your core understanding of the psychology and legal fields, and help ensure you are prepared for a career in a variety of work settings. This course positions you well for jobs where there is an interaction between the law, psychology and mental health. You'll also be on the pathway to work as a lawyer or psychologist.

We are the only university in Victoria that offers the Bachelor of Laws (Honours)/ Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) as a double degree.

Upon graduation from the Bachelor of Laws (Honours)/Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), you'll meet the academic requirements as required by the Victorian Legal Admissions Board. Admission as an Australian lawyer can be obtained after successful completion of the Practical Legal Training requirements.

This course also provides a pathway towards a profession in psychology, in fields such as clinical psychology, clinical neuropsychology or organisational psychology. You'll be eligible to apply for Provisional Registration as a psychologist by the Psychology Board of Australia.

With this double degree you'll be able to pursue careers in law, justice and the courts. You could also work in legal community centres, community services or human resource management, or other fields where there is an interaction between the law, psychology and mental health.

Example job titles are:

• human resources consultant
• mediator
• industrial relations adviser
• legal practitioner (barrister or solicitor)
• talent management executive
• in-house legal counsel
• psychologist
• social researcher.

Find average salaries for various law/psychology professions in Australia, via Labour Market Insights.

To attain the Bachelor of Laws (Honours)/Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) will be required to complete 576 credit points in total consisting of:

• 96 credit points of First Year Core units;
• 192 credit points of Professional Core Law units;
• 264 credit points of Professional Core Psychology units;
• 24 credit points of Psychology elective units.

To be awarded a Bachelor of Laws with Honours:
Students who enrolled in the Bachelor of Laws prior to 31 Dec 2014 may apply to undertake the unit Advanced Legal Research Dissertation in their later years in this degree based on the aggregate of points attributed to the top two thirds of units so listed shall then be calculated and a grade point average determined. Students will be further assessed on an outline of a proposed thesis topic and availability of a college based or college affiliated supervisor. Students will be awarded a Bachelor of Laws with Honours (Class H1, H2A, H2B or H3) based on their aggregate of points and overall mark in Advanced Legal Research Dissertation.

To be awarded a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (For students enrolled post 1 January 2015):
Students in any Bachelor of Laws course may apply to transfer into any Bachelor of Laws (Honours) course if the selection criteria is met.
In order to be eligible to advance to the Psychology Honours year of the course, students must achieve the stringent academic admission criteria that are required for Honours programs in Psychology. Academic admission standards are based on the average grade across all core second and third year psychology units. Students who have successfully completed the first five years of study but have not met the academic admission requirements for the Honours year will be eligible to apply to graduate with a Bachelor of Laws/ Bachelor of Psychological Studies degree. In the Psychology Honours year of study students must complete an additional six units of study (96 credit points).

Use our credit calculator to find out how much credit you could get towards your course, based on your previous study.

If you have completed study with another university or institution and believe you are eligible to receive credit for skills and past study, you can apply for advanced standing.

Applications for advanced standing can be made after a discussion with your course chair or academic adviser.

Before applying, you should consider whether you also want to apply for:

• Special admission programs: Depending on your life circumstances you may be eligible for special consideration of your application.
• Advanced standing: If you have significant experience or studies elsewhere you may be eligible for credit for some units of your course and not have to undertake them.

Find out more about applying for our courses.