‘Any changes must improve quality, strengthen ethical competence’: Tania Wolff
While acknowledging the need for reform in the design, delivery, and regulation of practical legal training (PLT), Australia’s Law Council emphasised the complexity of this work and the importance of carefully considering potential changes.
The Admission Committee and the Law Admissions Consultative Committee of the Legal Services Council (LSC) are spearheading an ongoing review of PLT amid concerns about its cost, length, and ability to get graduates ready for legal practice.
“Any changes must improve quality, strengthen ethical competence and better align training with contemporary legal practice — while preserving accessibility to admission and protecting consumers of legal services,” said Tania Wolff, the Law Council’s president. “It is not an easy balance to strike.”
As a matter of principle, the Law Council expressed support for the following changes being considered, among others:
“The overarching goal must be to produce competent, skilled lawyers who are ready to represent their clients— and to serve the community with the judgment and integrity our profession demands,” Wolff said in a recent message.
The Law Council reiterated five principles, first identified in a submission in June, to help guide the PLT review:
The Law Council shared that it nominated some legal professionals to six working groups that will address certain policy issues and potential reforms in the lead-up to the national PLT consultation conference in November.
Organised by the LSC committees, the planned conference will unite representatives from the legal profession, law schools, PLT providers, admitting authorities, and regulators.
The LSC-led working groups, two of which include Wolff as a member, will focus on:
“We are working closely with our Constituent bodies to further develop the views of the legal profession and ensure they are heard throughout this process,” Wolff said in the president’s message.
Here are some other recent news stories on the Law Council of Australia.
In late June, the council published a report that examined market access barriers and priorities for Australian lawyers and law firms operating across Southeast Asia.
In early May, the council warned that using offshore processing and resettlement arrangements would not absolve the federal government of its human rights obligations.
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