Law Council of Australia

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Consultation on practical legal training

Submission Date: 1 June 2026

The Law Council of Australia provided a submission to the Admissions Committee of the Legal Services Council and the Law Admissions Consultative Committee (together, the Committees) in response to the Review of Practical Legal Training (PLT) and accompanying Consultation Paper.

Australia’s PLT system has a documented problem. More than half of graduates are dissatisfied with their PLT experience; more than 70 per cent find it poor value for money.1 The Law Council supports substantive reform and welcomes this consultation as an important step toward it.

The Law Council acknowledges the extensive work that has been undertaken by the Committees, and before that by the NSW Legal Practitioners Admissions Board, developing a set of proposals for possible reform. This work has been invaluable in energising important discussions about the design, delivery and regulation of PLT and broader legal education.

The Law Council acknowledges that the views of the legal profession on the need for reform are varied. However, the national survey feedback demonstrates that:2

  1. many graduates and supervisors have expressed dissatisfaction with PLT—although there are differing views as to whether this lies in dissatisfaction with the broad design of the current PLT model or with failures in executing the delivery of that model;
  2. many graduates are dissatisfied with the cost of some PLT programs and consider that these programs are not providing sufficient value for money; and
  3. there are significantly variable experiences of PLT depending on which program is undertaken.

The Law Council supports reforms to practical training that improve quality, strengthen ethical competence, and better align with contemporary legal practice, while maintaining accessibility to admission and protecting consumers of legal services.

1 Urbis, for the Legal Services Council on behalf of the Admissions Committee and the Law Admissions Consultative Committee, National Practical Legal Training Research (Survey Research Report, March 2026).
2 Ibid.

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Last Updated on 02/06/2026

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