Legal Practitioners Act 1981

A natural person must not practise the profession of the law, or hold himself or herself out, or permit another to hold him or her out, as being entitled to practise the profession of the law unless the person—

is a local legal practitioner; or

is an interstate legal practitioner. Maximum penalty: $50 000.

Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), but subject to subsection (3), a person practises the profession of the law, if acting for fee or reward on behalf of some other person he or she—

prepares any will or other testamentary instrument;

prepares an instrument creating, transferring, assigning, modifying or extinguishing any estate or interest in real or personal property;

prepares any instrument relating to the formation of a body corporate, any amendment to the constitution, rules or regulations of a body corporate, any prospectus or take-over scheme relating to a body corporate, or any instrument affecting the rights of shareholders or debenture holders in a body corporate or any scheme of arrangement in respect of a body corporate;

prepares any other instrument creating, transferring, assigning, modifying or extinguishing any right, power or liability at law or in equity;

represents any party to proceedings in a court or tribunal.

This section does not prevent—

an employee whose employer is a party to an instrument or otherwise entitled to prepare an instrument and who is acting in the ordinary course of employment from preparing the instrument provided that no separate charge is made by the employer or the employee for the preparation of the instrument;

an unqualified person from charging a fee for the preparation of a bill of sale, stock mortgage or lien over wool or fruit to which the person is the party in whose favour the security is given or an instrument varying or discharging a bill of sale, stock mortgage or lien over wool or fruit to which the person is such a party; or

an unqualified person from charging a fee for the preparation of a mortgage over land to which the person is the party in whose favour the security is given, or an instrument varying or discharging a mortgage over land to which the person is such a party, provided that the mortgage or other instrument is prepared by a legal practitioner or conveyancer registered under the Conveyancers Act 1994;

an unqualified person from charging a fee for the preparation of an instrument provided that—

the instrument is prepared by a legal practitioner in the employment of that unqualified person; and

the legal practitioner has been in the employment of that unqualified person continuously since 1 July, 1980; or

an unqualified person from reproducing, or completing the standard variables of, a pro forma loan instrument for fee or reward for an ADI or other commercial lending institution provided that—

the substantive terms and conditions of the loan instrument are modified only by the parties or a legal practitioner or, where authorised by this or any other Act, by a conveyancer registered under the

the pro forma loan instrument is an approved Lands Titles Office document or has been prepared by a legal practitioner or, where authorised by this or any other Act, by a conveyancer registered under the

an agent who has been commissioned to sell goods or let them out on hire, or to contract for the performance of services from preparing a contract for the sale or hire of goods or the provision of services provided that the agent is remunerated only by salary or commission and no separate charge is made by the agent or the principal for the preparation of the contract;

an unqualified person from engrossing an instrument for fee or reward; or

an unqualified person from representing a party to proceedings in a court or tribunal for fee or reward, if the person is authorised by or under the Act by which the court or tribunal is constituted, or any other Act, to do so; or

an unqualified person who is an employee or officer of an association of employers or employees from representing the association or any of its members in proceedings brought pursuant to an Act relating to industrial conciliation or arbitration provided that the unqualified person (as distinct from the association of which the person is an employee or officer) makes no charge for providing the representation; or

an unqualified person who is an employee of a body corporate that is a party to proceedings brought pursuant to an Act relating to industrial conciliation or arbitration from representing the body corporate in the proceedings; or

an unqualified person who was on 2 March, 1981, carrying on the business of representing parties to proceedings brought pursuant to an Act relating to industrial conciliation and arbitration from continuing to carry on that business; or

an unqualified person from preparing, for fee or reward, any instrument relating to the transfer of shares or securities issued, or made available, by a body corporate; or

an agent registered under the Land Agents

an agent registered under the Land Agents

a tenancy agreement relating to residential premises—

under which a rental not exceeding a maximum prescribed for the purposes of this subparagraph is payable; or

in respect of which the agent has approved professional indemnity insurance; or

a tenancy agreement relating to non-residential premises arising from a transaction in respect of which the agent has acted as agent—

under which a rental not exceeding a maximum prescribed for the purposes of this subparagraph is payable; or

in respect of which the agent has approved professional indemnity insurance, provided that the instrument is prepared by the agent personally or by a sales representative lawfully employed by the agent; or

a conveyancer registered under the Conveyancers Act 1994 from preparing for fee or reward—

an instrument registrable under the Real Property Act 1886, the

an instrument that creates or records a bill of sale, stock mortgage or lien over wool or fruit; or

a conveyancer registered under the Conveyancers

a contract for the sale and purchase of land or a business;

a tenancy agreement;

an assignment of the benefit of a contract for the sale and purchase of land or a business or of a tenancy agreement;

an instrument that arises from, and is incidental to, a contract, agreement or assignment of the kind mentioned in subparagraph (i),

or

; or

an agent registered under the Land Agents

where—

the instrument is prepared by the legal practitioner or conveyancer; and

the agent is authorised by the Land and Business (Sale and Conveyancing) Act 1994 to charge a fee for the preparation by the legal practitioner or conveyancer of instruments registrable under the Real Property Act 1886;

a notary public admitted and enrolled under the

an officer or employee of a body corporate authorised by a special

an officer or employee of a trustee company from providing for fee or reward traditional trustee company services (within the meaning of

an unqualified person from serving any process for fee or reward where the person is authorised or permitted by statute to do so;

a clerk employed by a legal practitioner from serving any process for fee or reward; or

the preparation for fee or reward of an opinion on a question of law by a member of the faculty of law of a university provided that the opinion is prepared at the request of a legal practitioner, the Attorney-General of the

the preparation for fee or reward of any prescribed instrument or the performance for fee or reward of any prescribed service.

Subsection (1) does not apply to the practice of foreign law by an Australian-registered foreign lawyer in accordance with

For the purposes of this Act—

a person practises the profession of the law, or holds himself or herself out as entitled to practise the profession of the law, if the person does so personally, or through the agency or instrumentality of some other person;

a person acts for fee or reward if the person acts for, or in expectation of, a pecuniary benefit or material advantage;

a person prepares an instrument if the person takes instructions for the preparation of such an instrument;

a person represents a party to proceedings before a court or tribunal if the person—

prepares, on behalf of that party, any legal process relating to the proceedings; or

takes instructions from or gives advice to that party in relation to the conduct of the proceedings; or

takes, on behalf of that party, any other step in the proceedings;

an employed legal practitioner who provides legal advice, or legal services of a kind mentioned in subsection (2), for or on behalf of his or her employer or clients of his or her employer practises the profession of the law.

In proceedings for an offence against subsection (1), a certificate purporting to be signed by the Chief Executive and stating that a person is not a local legal practitioner or not an interstate legal practitioner is, in the absence of proof to the contrary, prima facie evidence of that fact.

In this section—

that has been approved by the Attorney-General; or

that is of a class or kind that has been approved by the