LWS101 Ethics Law and Health Care
The Complete Exam Bible · S2 2026LWS101 Overview
- S2 2026
- Queensland University of Technology
- Level 1 unit
- Open book final exam
- Nursing ethics and law
What the unit is about
LWS101 Ethics Law and Health Care is the Queensland University of Technology unit that introduces nursing students to the rules that shape practice.
- Assessed by An individual problem-solving exercise in Week 8 and an in-person, open book exam with two compulsory questions.
- Hardest step Applying each Code element and legal rule to the facts, rather than listing it.
- How to prepare Answer every weekly tutorial question in the framework template and tab printed copies of both Codes.
How LWS101 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1: Problem Solving Exercise | 40% | Individual analysis of a scenario using the Ethical and Legal Decision-Making Framework; one Word document of no more than 1600 words, no 10% leeway; material from Topics 1 to 5; due 9 September 2026 (Week 8) |
| Assessment 2: Exam | 60% | In-person invigilated exam in the central examination period; open book with hard-copy materials only; two compulsory questions answered with the framework; all topics examinable |
| Optional multiple choice quiz | 0% | Formative; 20 questions on Modules 1 to 3; does not count toward the final grade |
The Semester 2, 2026 assessments overview lists Assessment 1 at 40% and Assessment 2 at 60%, totalling 100%. The optional quiz gives feedback only. The exam must be sat in person. The assessments overview says the main exam must be sat at Kelvin Grove for accreditation reasons and the deferred exam is held at Gardens Point; the exam details page names Kelvin Grove too, but its opening line also mentions approved external exam centres and says deferred exams are typically at Gardens Point. Check your exam timetable for the date, campus and room. Confirm any pass requirement in the unit outline.
Assessment structure
Current LWS101 dates
| Date | Item | Control |
|---|---|---|
| 14 August 2026 | Problem-solving exercise task sheet released | Friday of Week 4 |
| 9 September 2026 | Assessment 1: Problem Solving Exercise due | Wednesday of Week 8; 48-hour late submission period applies |
Dates are as published in the Semester 2, 2026 assessment details page. Confirm exact deadlines and submission settings in the live LMS.
What LWS101 covers
Eleven chapters follow the weekly schedule, from the Australian legal system to mental health and the care of older people, each applying the same five-step framework.
Ethics, Law and the Australian Legal System
Week 1: ethics and law compared, Acts and common law, precedent, Commonwealth and State powers, criminal, civil, disciplinary and coronial proceedingsTwo kinds of obligation
The first week separates what a nurse ought to do from what a nurse must do.
- Ethics Versus Law
- Acts, Cases and Common Law
- The Doctrine of Precedent
- Commonwealth and State Powers
- Criminal and Civil Proceedings
- Disciplinary and Coronial Proceedings
Bioethical Principles and the Decision-Making Framework
Week 2: autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice, the five-step ethical and legal framework, applying ICN elements, the assignment rubricThe four principles
Respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice are the principles the unit asks you to define, cite and apply under heading 2.1. Most scenarios turn on a clash between two of them, and naming that clash is what lifts an answer.
The framework that organises everything
The five steps of Identify, Evaluate, Action, Implementation and Assess outcomes structure every tutorial answer, the problem-solving exercise and both exam questions, so mastering the template early pays off in every later topic.
How the marks are distributed
The problem-solving exercise rubric spreads 40 marks across five criteria and gives the largest shares, twelve marks each, to applying ethical and professional principles and to applying the law.
- Respect for Autonomy
- Beneficence and Nonmaleficence
- Justice
- The Five-Step Framework
- Identify, Extract, Apply
- The Assignment Rubric
Nursing Practice: Registration, Reporting and Discipline
Week 3: accountability, registration duties, mandatory and voluntary notifications, professional boundaries, speaking up and whistleblowingAccountable in several directions
Nurses answer to patients, the public, the profession, regulators and employers.
- Registration and Continuing Competence
- Mandatory and Voluntary Notifications
- Fitness to Practise
- Professional Boundaries
- Speaking Up and Whistleblowing
Confidentiality, Privacy and Health Records
Week 4: the statutory duty of confidentiality and its exceptions, privacy compared, health records, social mediaA duty with defined exits
Confidentiality is a long-recognised legal and ethical duty.
- The Duty of Confidentiality
- Statutory Exceptions to Disclosure
- Confidentiality Versus Privacy
- Health Records and Access
- Social Media and Digital Tools
Adults: Consent and Refusal of Treatment
Week 5: consent and assault, valid consent, presumption of capacity, refusal, advance health directives, general and health care principlesConsent and autonomy
Treatment without consent or another lawful justification risks liability for assault.
- Consent and Assault
- Elements of Valid Consent
- Presumption of Capacity
- Refusal of Treatment
- Advance Health Directives
- General and Health Care Principles
Children: Consent and Child Protection
Week 6: parental consent and best interests, mature minors, mandatory reporting under the Child Protection Act 1999, reasonable suspicionWho decides for a child
Parents usually decide for their children and must act in the child's best interests, but a young person who is mature and intelligent enough can sometimes give consent alone.
Protecting children
Registered nurses are mandatory reporters under the Child Protection Act 1999. A reportable suspicion of significant harm from physical or sexual abuse, where the child may lack a protective parent, requires a written report, and reporters who act honestly and reasonably are protected.
Talking with a child and family
The Queensland Health module gives practical guidance that also suits an implementation heading.
- Parental Consent and Best Interests
- Mature Minors
- Mandatory Reporters
- The Reportable Suspicion
- Forming a Reasonable Suspicion
- Protections for Reporters
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Week 7: colonisation and health, individual and collective decision-making, cultural safety, interpreters, discrimination and racismHistory shapes health
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold a 60,000-year knowledge of healing that colonisation subsumed under Western bio-medicine, to the detriment of their health.
- Colonisation and Health
- Individual and Collective Decisions
- Cultural Safety
- Communication and Interpreters
- Discrimination and Racism
Negligence and Patient Safety
Week 8: negligence as a civil wrong, duty of care, breach and reasonableness, harm caused, open disclosureA civil wrong
Negligence is a civil action in tort that lets people harmed by careless acts or omissions be compensated.
- Negligence as a Civil Wrong
- Duty of Care
- Breach and Reasonableness
- Harm Caused by the Breach
- Open Disclosure
Voluntary Assisted Dying and Palliative Care
Week 9: palliative care and voluntary assisted dying compared with assisted suicide and homicide, pain relief, conscientious objectionFour categories
The Week 9 overview asks nurses to distinguish voluntary assisted dying and palliative care from taking active steps to end a life and from providing the means to do so.
- Palliative Care
- Voluntary Assisted Dying
- Assisted Suicide and Homicide
- Pain and Symptom Relief
- Conscientious Objection
Withholding or Withdrawing Treatment
Week 10: capable refusal, Bland's case, advance health directives, substitute decision-makers, the Tribunal, end-of-life nursing careWhen not treating is lawful
Health professionals can have a duty to provide life-sustaining treatment, yet in some circumstances withholding or withdrawing it is lawful.
- Duty to Provide Treatment
- Capable Refusal
- Bland's Case and Best Interests
- Advance Health Directives
- Substitute Decision-Makers and the Tribunal
- Nursing Care When Treatment Stops
Mental Health and Caring for Older People
Weeks 11 and 12: liberty and risk, least restrictive options, capacity in older adults, restraint, safeguarding against exploitationLiberty and risk
Mental health law can justify care that ordinary consent rules would not, including depriving a person of liberty when the danger is to that person alone, while giving patients important rights and regulating restricted treatments.
Older people
Older adults keep the presumption of capacity.
- Mental Health and Autonomy
- Deprivation of Liberty
- The Least Restrictive Option
- Capacity in Older Adults
- Restraint and Assault
- Safeguarding Against Exploitation
The unit welcome describes nursing as making decisions for, and with, others, and explains that those decisions must fit the nurse's public and professional responsibilities.
Law, ethics and professional values set the requirements, and the unit explores how they relate to each other and to everyday care.
How the semester runs
The Semester 2, 2026 schedule moves from an opening week on ethics, law and how Australia's legal system works, through the ethical and legal decision-making framework and nursing practice, to confidentiality, consent for adults and children, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and negligence.
The later weeks cover two end-of-life topics, mental health and caring for older people, before a final week devoted to exam preparation.
Lectures are recorded in short parts rather than delivered live, and tutorials begin in Week 2, where students practise the framework on a new scenario each week.
What the assessment rewards
Both summative tasks use the same five-step framework: identify the issue and parties, evaluate it against the bioethical principles, the ICN Code of Ethics and the law, decide on action using the NMBA Code of Conduct, then plan implementation and assess outcomes.
The problem-solving exercise is worth 40% and draws on Topics 1 to 5; the open book exam is worth 60% and covers every topic.
The marking guide for the assignment gives most of its marks to applying ethical, professional and legal principles to the facts, so this guide works every topic through the framework with original scenarios, comparison tables and practice questions.
LWS101 cheatsheet for the final exam
AskSia publishes a free LWS101 cheatsheet for the final exam, a cheat sheet that follows the official permitted-materials rule for this assessment and condenses the topics in this guide.
Worked example · free
Is a nurse required to report a suspicious injury in a child?
- 1Identify the status: the Child Protection Act 1999 makes every registered nurse a mandatory reporter (s13E(1)).
- 1Test the reportable suspicion: a burn in a place a child is unlikely to reach, an explanation that does not fit and older injuries can ground a reasonable suspicion of significant harm from physical abuse.
- 1Consider the protective parent limb: if the parent may be the cause, there may be no parent both able and willing to keep the child safe.
- 1Conclude: the nurse must give a written report stating the basis of the suspicion, and is protected from liability when reporting honestly and reasonably.
Key terms
- Bioethical Principles
- The four principles the unit uses to analyse ethical issues: respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice.
- Decision-Making Framework
- The five-step structure of Identify, Evaluate, Action, Implementation and Assess outcomes that every tutorial, assignment and exam answer follows.
- ICN Code of Ethics
- The International Council of Nurses' statement of ethical values and responsibilities, revised in 2021, organised into four numbered elements.
- NMBA Code of Conduct
- The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia's code of the professional conduct expected of registered nurses, organised into numbered principles.
- Doctrine of Precedent
- The rule that a lower court must follow a precedent set by a higher court in the same hierarchy, with every Australian court bound by the High Court.
- Common Law
- Rules made by judges as they decide cases, which is why it is also known as case law.
- Informed Consent
- A person's free agreement to care, given with an understanding of what the treatment offers and what it risks.
- Presumption of Capacity
- The starting point that every adult can make a decision about a matter until it is shown otherwise.
- Advance Health Directive
- A document completed while a person has capacity that can refuse treatment, including life-sustaining treatment, after capacity is lost.
- Substitute Decision-Maker
- A person authorised to make health decisions for an adult who has lost capacity and has no directive covering the decision.
- Reportable Suspicion
- A reasonable suspicion that a child has suffered or is at unacceptable risk of significant harm from physical or sexual abuse and may lack a protective parent.
- Duty of Care
- The legal obligation to take reasonable care for a person in a close enough relationship, owed by nurses to their patients.
- Cultural Safety
- Care that the person and their family judge to be respectful of their culture, free of bias and racism.
LWS101 FAQ
How is the unit assessed and what are the weights?
Two summative tasks make up the grade. Assessment 1, the problem-solving exercise, is worth 40% and asks you to apply the decision-making framework to a scenario drawn from Topics 1 to 5 in no more than 1600 words. Assessment 2 is an in-person, open book exam worth 60%. An optional multiple choice quiz in Week 4 gives feedback but does not count.
What does the final exam look like?
The exam details page describes two compulsory questions, each answered with the Ethical and Legal Decision-Making Framework used all semester. Every topic is examinable. You include in-text references, as in tutorials, but no reference list. The main exam is held at Kelvin Grove during the central examination period, and you need to check your own exam timetable for the date.
What can I bring into the open book exam?
The exam is open book, but any materials you rely on must be hard copy. That makes printed, tabbed copies of both Codes, plus concise topic summaries, the most useful things to carry. Plan to rely on paper, and organise your folder before revision ends.
Why does every answer use the same five headings?
The unit teaches one framework and uses it for tutorials, the assignment and both exam questions. Identify sets out the issue and parties; Evaluate covers ethical principles, the ICN Code and the law; Action covers the Code of Conduct and options; Implementation and Assess outcomes finish the answer. Markers read your analysis through those headings.
Do I need to research cases and legislation for the assignment?
No. The assignment FAQ says it is not a research task. The relevant Queensland law and ethical principles are taught in the lectures, tutorials and textbook, and the details page tells you not to use resources outside what the unit teaches. Your effort should go into applying that material precisely to the scenario.
Which parts of the Codes should I cite?
Cite the specific numbered element of the ICN ethics code, or principle of the NMBA conduct code, that helps resolve the issue, quote or paraphrase only the relevant part, and explain how it applies. The rubric rewards specific subsections that fit the scenario and marks down principles that are not relevant.
Is this unit hard?
The unit materials describe difficulty through facts rather than a rating: a 60% exam with two compulsory questions on any topic, and a rubric that awards most marks for applying principles rather than naming them. The unit itself calls practising answers to tutorial questions in this format critical preparation for both assessments.
Questions students ask in each LWS101 chapter
- Why does the unit separate ethics from law?
- The Week 2 tutorial asks students to recognise that law does not always reflect what is morally right and does not make every harmful act unlawful. Keeping the two apart lets you reach a separate conclusion on each under the Evaluate heading, which is exactly how the framework template is laid out. Chapter 01 · Ethics, Law and the Australian Legal System
- How do I apply a bioethical principle rather than just define it?
- Give a one-sentence definition with a citation, then explain why the principle matters on these particular facts and what it suggests the nurse should do. The checklist asks you to apply each principle in your own voice, and better answers acknowledge the competing principle, such as autonomy against beneficence when a patient refuses care. Chapter 02 · Bioethical Principles and the Decision-Making Framework
- When must a nurse report a colleague?
- Principle 7.1 of the Code of Conduct expects a nurse to act, and that can mean a required or a voluntary notification to Ahpra, when they know or reasonably suspect that a colleague has a health condition or impairment that could affect safe practice. Principle 1.1 points to the National Law sections and the NMBA guidelines that set the mandatory threshold. Chapter 03 · Nursing Practice: Registration, Reporting and Discipline
- Is it a breach to post an image of a patient if their name is hidden?
- Yes. Principle 3.5 of the Code of Conduct says nurses must not post a person's information or images, even when the person is not named or identified, without written and informed consent. ICN element 1.5 adds that confidentiality applies in all media, including social media. Chapter 04 · Confidentiality, Privacy and Health Records
- Can a competent adult refuse life-saving treatment?
- Yes. The withholding-treatment overview states that adults with capacity may refuse any treatment, even when it is needed to keep them alive, and that autonomy overrides the sanctity of life in that situation. Treating them against a capable refusal risks liability for assault. Chapter 05 · Adults: Consent and Refusal of Treatment
- Does a nurse need proof before reporting suspected abuse?
- No. The Queensland Health module says it is not the health professional's job to prove abuse or identify who caused it; investigation belongs to Child Safety and police. A report rests on a reasonable suspicion built from signs, disclosures, injuries, symptoms and behaviours. Chapter 06 · Children: Consent and Child Protection
- Who decides whether care is culturally safe?
- Principle 3.2 of the Code of Conduct is direct: only the person and their family can determine whether care is culturally safe and respectful. A nurse cannot certify their own practice as culturally safe, so the practical step is to ask, listen and adapt care accordingly. Chapter 07 · Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
- Can a nurse be negligent if no harm resulted?
- Not in a negligence claim, because harm caused by the breach is one of the required elements. An error without injury can still raise workplace or disciplinary issues and must be reported, but it will not ground a civil claim for compensation. Chapter 08 · Negligence and Patient Safety
- Can a nurse refuse to take part in voluntary assisted dying?
- ICN element 2.8 allows nurses to conscientiously object to participating in particular procedures, provided they facilitate respectful and timely action so the person still receives care. Principle 4.4 adds that the nurse must inform the person, the employer and colleagues and make sure alternative care is available. Chapter 09 · Voluntary Assisted Dying and Palliative Care
- Can a substitute decision-maker refuse life-sustaining treatment?
- Yes, in certain circumstances. The Week 10 overview explains that the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 and the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 permit withdrawal where an adult lacks capacity, and the decision-maker must apply the guardianship principles, including what the adult would likely have wanted. Chapter 10 · Withholding or Withdrawing Treatment
- Why is mental health law different from ordinary consent law?
- The Week 11 overview notes that mental health law can justify detaining a person when the danger is to that person alone, which runs against the usual rule that capable adults decide for themselves. The same law gives patients important rights and regulates restricted treatments. Chapter 11 · Mental Health and Caring for Older People
How to study for the exam
Treat the framework as the skill and the topics as content to pour into it. Each week, write a full answer to the tutorial question under the five headings before the tutorial, then use the tutorial to correct it. Keep two printed Codes and tab every element and principle you use, noting the topic beside the tab. For each topic, build a one-page sheet listing the key law, three to five Code references and one common trap.
After the problem-solving exercise is returned, list every comment from your feedback and the general class feedback, and turn each into a rule you will follow in the exam. In the final fortnight, time yourself answering two mixed-topic scenarios back to back, so that switching between topics under pressure feels familiar.
Your AI Law tutor for LWS101
Stuck on a hard LWS101 question? Sia is AskSia’s AI Law tutor — ask any LWS101 Ethics Law and Health Care question and get a clear, step-by-step explanation grounded in how the course is actually taught and assessed. Read this whole study guide free, then take your hardest questions to Sia.
