Under Australia’s federal system of government, the legal profession is regulated at the State and Territory level. For some time the Australian Government has been concerned that, as a result, no uniformity exists across Australia in the rules affecting the business structures of legal practices and the professional requirements of lawyers.
The National Legal Profession Project was established to remove barriers to lawyers practising in different States and Territories, which ran the risk of impeding growth in the legal profession. Harmonised laws will assist lawyers to remain flexible and competitive in an increasingly borderless world.
The Australian, State and Territory governments have been working together for a number of years and have agreed to a set of model laws to form the basis for consistent regulation of the legal profession across all Australian jurisdictions. The States and Territories have undertaken to pass legislation based on the model laws and to maintain uniformity into the future.
To date, legislation based on the model laws has been implemented in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. This represents over 80% of the Australian legal services market. The remaining jurisdictions are expected to implement legislation by January 2008.
Ministers are assisted by a working party of officials from all jurisdictions and representatives of the Law Council of Australia, which monitors implementation of the model laws and brings forward proposals for amendments where necessary.
Consistent regulation will have a number of practical effects:
An Australian lawyer will only need one practising certificate to practise in any State or Territory.
The extent to which law firms that span more than one State or Territory will be forced to comply with different administrative requirements in each jurisdiction will be significantly reduced.
The potential for Australian lawyers to practise internationally will be maximised.
Foreign lawyers will find a hospitable regulatory environment in which to practise in Australia.
Foreign lawyers have a number of options for practice in Australia, including:
The ‘fly-in fly-out’ arrangements allow foreign lawyers to practice foreign law in Australia for a maximum of 90 days in any 12 month period without the need to register.
Registration as a foreign lawyer involves:
A copy of the National Legal Profession Model Bill and Regulations is available at the Law Council of Australia's web site.
