Law Society NT

Mandatory Continuing Professional Development

Legal Profession Regulations 2007, Schedule 2, Continuing professional development scheme

Legal Practitioners are required to complete a minimum of 10 CPD points in a CPD year. The CPD year begins on 1 April and ends on 31 March the following year.

Legal practitioners have a continuing professional obligation including to the community to participate in professional development that improves their ability to engage in the practice of law, by extending their knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to their current and future practice needs. CPD allows legal practitioners to meet this obligation.

CPD points can be attained through a variety of methods. However, there are limits to the number of points that can be accrued for certain activities (further information at the bottom of this page).

A range of organisations host regular CPD seminars to allow practitioners to meet this obligation. Notifications received by the Society from organisations regarding upcoming CPDs will be published on the Society’s homepage and in The Practitioner e-newsletter.

CPD FORMS

Annual CPD Certificate – no later than 31 March

Legal practitioners are required to submit an Annual CPD Certificate to the Society no later than 31 March and must certify that they have complied with their mandatory obligations for the CPD year. If insufficient CPD points have been accrued by 31 March, practitioners are required to make up any shortfall by 30 June and also submit a Supplementary CPD Certificate by 30 June confirming the outstanding points have been completed.

All legal practitioners who have held a Practising Certificate for any part of the CPD year must submit an Annual CPD Certificate. See pro rata point accrual table below.

Supplementary CPD Certificate – no later than 30 June

Practitioners who have not accrued the required number of CPD points by 31 March must also submit a Supplementary CPD Certificate no later than 30 June to confirm that the outstanding CPD points have been accrued and that mandatory obligations for the CPD year have been complied with.

CPD Exemption Application – up to 31 March

If a legal practitioner cannot comply with their CPD obligations due to illness, leave (including maternity leave and long service leave, but not annual leave), or other circumstances provided for in the Regulations, the practitioner can apply to the Society for an exemption from all or part of their mandatory CPD obligation. Practitioners should complete an Application for Exemption Form and submit it to the Society.

FURTHER INFORMATION

CPD points and activities

There are a variety of ways in which practitioners can accrue their 10 CPD points annually:

A ‘single activity’ refers to a seminar, workshop or conference that may be conducted on a single day or over multiple consecutive days and is provided in whole by the same organisation or provider.

Note: CPD points cannot be claimed in respect of an article that deals with substantially the same content as a presentation for which CPD points have been claimed.

ACTIVITY TYPE ACCRUAL RATE MAX PER ACTIVITY MAX PER ANNUM
Preparing or giving a presentation
0.5 CPD points per 30 minutes of preparing or giving the presentation
5 CPD points
No limit
Attending a seminar
0.5 CPD points per 30 minutes of attendance
No limit
No limit
Private study using audio or visual material
0.5 CPD points per 20 minutes
No limit
5 CPD points
Preparing and giving a lecture
0.5 CPD points per 30 minutes of preparing or giving the lecture
5 CPD points
No limit
Writing an article
0.5 points per 500 words
No limit
5 CPD points
Refereeing or structural editing of an article
0.5 points per 500 words
No limit
5 CPD points
Committee participation
0.5 CPD points per 60 minutes of meeting attendance or other work
No limit
3 CPD points
Writing assignments or a thesis as part of post-graduate studies
0.5 points per 500 words
No limit
5 CPD points

Pro rata CPD point accrual

If you commence or recommence practice after the start of the CPD year, you are only required to complete points on a pro rata basis. Additionally the obligation to accrue points in the three core competencies is also pro-rated. The following table outlines the pro rata scheme for practitioners who do not hold a PC as at 1 April in a CPD year:

MONTH REQUIRED CPD POINTS CORE COMPETENCIES
April
10
4
May
9
4
June
8
3
July
7
2
August
6
2
September
5
2
October
4
1
November
3
1
December
2
1
January
1
o

Pro rata CPD point accrual by months engaged in legal practice

The Society has implementated a policy that applies to practitioners who do hold a Practising Certificate as at 1 April but do not hold a PC for the entire CPD year. The table below explains the application of this policy:

MONTHS ENGAGED IN LEGAL PRACTICE (commencing 1 April) REQUIRED CPD POINTS CORE COMPETENCIES
12 months
10
4
11 months
9
4
10 months
8
3
9 months
7
2
8 months
6
2
7 months
5
2
6 months
4
1
5 months
3
1
4 months
2
1
3 months
1*
o
2 months or less
o
o

* Unless the practitioner does not renew their PC from 1 July. If this is the case, they will not incur any CPD obligation.

CONTACTS

For certificate and exemption enquiries:
Licensing Officer
Wednesday to Friday, 8.30 am to 5.00 pm
lo@lawsocietynt.asn.au

  • Last Modified: September 30, 2024
  • 4:37 pm