Study area_
Continuing professional development
Meet your CPD requirements for law
Professional Plus+ is our home for Continuing Professional Development (CPD). We offer an extensive program of postgraduate study, lectures, conferences and seminars.
At Sydney Law School we have numerous options to meet your CPD requirements, from semester-length to intensive units of study, offshore courses, seminars and conferences.
Engage with a highly flexible and innovative program that caters to the legal profession, whether you plan to enrol in a postgraduate degree or simply want to meet your CPD requirements by taking a single unit of study or attending our CPD events.
Accreditation
Our offerings meet the CPD requirements for Australian-based solicitors and barristers, as well as some professional non-law groups and overseas-based professional accreditation societies.
In New South Wales all practising solicitors are required to complete 10 units of mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) each year. The MCLE year runs from 1 April to 31 March the following year.
All practising barristers in New South Wales are required to accrue 10 continuing professional education (CPD) points each practising certificate year. The period for accumulating CPD points commences on 1 July each year and ends on 30 June the following year.
How MCLE/CPD units are calculated
One unit/point is achieved for each hour of face-to-face contact in lectures or class participation. Both the Law Society of New South Wales and the New South Wales Bar Association will approve a small proportion of content accessed remotely (such as podcasts, webinars, etc.) as acceptable for part of the requirement.
Lawyers and barristers should check their individual organisational requirements in respect to this and other components.
Acceptable MCLE/CPD activity
Any educational activity which is relevant to the immediate or long-term needs of the individual practitioner – their professional development and practice of the law – will satisfy this requirement.
CPD courses do not lead to further qualifications. However, 'certificates of attendance' are issued to participants in some annual seminar series, including Employment Relations and the Law and the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law (ACCEL) Seminar Series.
Practitioners are advised to check with the CPD governing body in their jurisdiction for the most accurate and up-to-date information.
- Law Society of New South Wales
- ACT Law Society
- Law Institute of Victoria
- Queensland Law Society
- Legal Practice Board of Western Australia
- Law Society of South Australia
- Law Society of Tasmania
- New South Wales Bar Association
- Victorian Bar
- Queensland Bar Association
- Western Australian Bar Association
- South Australian Bar Association
The University of Sydney Law School is an accredited external provider for the purposes of the continuing professional development scheme by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in the United Kingdom. Unless otherwise stated, all unit offerings are accredited by the SRA and each unit of study may offer up to 22 CPD hours for solicitors practising in the United Kingdom.
Our Professional Plus+ program meets the needs of several professional non-law groups. More information is available about the requirements for CPD from the organisations below.
Events
Our extensive program of international and interstate visitors ensures a dynamic and broad program of lectures throughout each year. Many of our events are held in the evening and free to attend.
Visit Sydney Law School events for details of all our upcoming MCLE/CPD eligible events.
