National Practice

Download the Model Bill (version as at 6/2/07)

 

The National Profession project is one of the most significant projects in which the Law Council is involved with Government.

Legal practice in Australia was established in each of the nation's colonies well before federation in 1901.

As a result, the regulation of lawyers remained the responsibility of state and territory governments, courts and the local legal profession.

Decades down the track, the legal systems in each Australian state and territory still reflected the varied histories and realities of legal, economic and social life in each jurisdiction.

In recent times, though, there has been profound change. Public policy has embraced the concepts of open markets, competition policy and mutual recognition of state and territory systems of qualifications and operations by each other state and territory.

The legal profession has responded to these changes by recognising that the practice of law needed also to change.

The first seeds for a national legal profession were sown in 1994 when the Law Council adopted the Blueprint for the Structure of the Legal Profession.

This landmark document has guided the Council, its Constituent Bodies and governments since then.

In March 2002, the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) commenced a further phase of examining the regulation of laws through the National Practice Model Laws Project.

The project has involved the Law Council working closely with SCAG to develop a Model Bill which will remove barriers to the practice of law across Australian State and Territory borders, harmonise standards that regulate the legal profession and enhance consumer protection.

The outcome will be a more effective national legal services market that benefits legal practitioners and consumers of legal services.

More than a decade in the making, the project has reached the stage where all but one Australian jurisdiction have incorporated the complete Model Bill into their respective Legal Profession Acts.

The Law Council hopes that lawyers in all states and territories will soon be operating under the new reforms.

This project also facilitates the ability of foreign lawyers to practise foreign law in all Australian jurisdictions, and it will undoubtedly assist Australian lawyers to practise Australian law in other jurisdictions.