Unit Outline

In this unit participants develop and clarify their awareness and thinking around ethical and practice dilemmas within professional counselling practice. Emphasis will be placed on the development of personal standards of practice and on the acquisition and application of decision-making processes. Contemporary counselling practice obligations and issues such as the demands of maintaining competence and quality assurance; working as a counsellor within diverse settings and with diverse populations and the provision of consultancy will be addressed. Ethical thinking, codes of practice for counsellors and rehabilitation counsellors and approaches to applying these codes to actual practice dilemmas will be explored, with particular attention paid to current and developing areas of ethical challenge.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Apply ethical principles and professional obligations involved in contemporary counselling practice.
2	Integrate relevant ethical codes, guidelines and/or principles to inform evidence-based opinions and decision-making processes to address professionally relevant ethical dilemmas.
3	Reflect on the professional and personal requirements for the maintenance of ethical practice and develop strategies to sustain this.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Concurrent Pre-requisite	KHA501

Alterations as a result of student feedback

As always, the teaching team will greatly appreciate your feedback both informally during the delivery of the unit in 2025, and formally through the University of Tasmania’s Unit Survey following your completion of the unit.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Ethics presentation	Week 7	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Topic Paper	Week 9	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Discussion posts (online)	Week 12	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 4:	Practice Skills log sheet	Week 14	0 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Ethics presentation

Task Description:

This task involves selecting an ethical dilemma faced by a counsellor. You will deliver a 15-20 minute presentation including a role play.

Task Length:

15 - 20 minutes

Due Date:

Week 7

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Clear articulation of presenting problems and challenges	LO1
2	Knowledge of appropriate Codes and Guidelines and how they apply to the case	LO1, LO2
3	Detailed description and rationale of the decision-making process	LO1, LO2
4	Ability to address the ethical dilemma in practice as demonstrated through the role play	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Topic Paper

Task Description:

Use an ethical decision-making model to determine a course of action in response to common ethical and professional dilemmas encountered by counsellors.

Task Length:

2000 words (max) (excluding references)

Due Date:

Week 9

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Demonstrate a clear understanding of the ethical principles involved in the chosen area, including the complexity of situations faced by counsellors	LO1
2	Application of appropriate ethical principles, codes, and guidelines	LO2, LO3
3	Application of appropriate literature, including research. Level of breadth and critical engagement with literature achieved.	LO1
4	Demonstrate professional communication through the development of a coherent logical argument and clear structure of the paper	LO1, LO2, LO3
5	Cognisance and articulation of personal and professional strategies	LO3

Assessment Task 3: Discussion posts (online)

Task Description:

Online participation in discussions on MyLO. There will be discussion questions released on MyLO on five occasions throughout the semester. You will need to contribute at least three posts of at least 100 words to the discussion.

Task Length:

3 posts of at least 100 words for each post (total of at least 300 words)

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Demonstrates a clear understanding of ethical principles and decision making, including referring to the relevant ethical codes, guidelines, or principles.	LO1
2	Demonstrates an understanding of the professional obligations involved in contemporary counselling practice	LO1, LO2
3	Discusses ways to handle ethical dilemmas in practice, including acknowledging the complexity of situations faced in counselling practice	LO3
4	Discusses professional and personal strategies for the maintenance of ethical practice	LO1, LO3

Assessment Task 4: Practice Skills log sheet

Task Description:

During semester you are required to participate in practical skills workshops and other interactive tasks. You are required to keep a log sheet of your active skills hours for each unit. Participation in active skills hours is an important part of the requirements for an accredited counselling course.
Further information regarding how to log your active hours and what task you may include in your log sheet will be provided via MyLO at the beginning of semester.
Completed log sheets will be submitted at the end of semester for each unit you complete.

This task is a HURDLE task which you must pass in order to pass the unit.

Task Length:

Approximately 10 hours of practice logged with a minimum 250-word reflection per activity entry

Due Date:

Week 14

Weight:

0 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Engagement and demonstration of practical skills	LO1, LO2, LO3

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.