Legal Profession Act 2007

It is a statutory condition of a local practising certificate that the holder must engage in supervised legal practice only, until the holder has completed – if the holder completed practical legal training principally under the supervision of an Australian lawyer, whether involving articles of clerkship or otherwise, to qualify for admission to the legal profession in this or another jurisdiction, a period or periods equivalent to 18 months’ supervised legal practice, worked out under relevant regulations, after the day the holder’s first local practising certificate was granted; or if the holder completed other practical legal training to qualify for admission to the legal profession in this or another jurisdiction, a period or periods equivalent to 2 years’ supervised legal practice, worked out under the relevant regulations, after the day the holder’s first local practising certificate was granted.

Subsection (1) has effect subject to any other conditions that relate to engaging in supervised legal practice after a period or periods referred to in that subsection.

The prescribed authority may exempt a person or class of persons from the requirement for supervised legal practice under subsection (1) or may reduce a period referred to in that subsection for a person or class of persons, if satisfied that the person or class of persons do not need to be supervised or need to be supervised only for a shorter period, having regard to – the length and nature of any legal practice previously engaged in by the person or class of persons; and the length and nature of any legal practice engaged in by the supervisors (if any) who previously supervised the legal practice engaged in by the person or class of persons.

An exemption under subsection (3) may be given unconditionally or subject to such conditions as the prescribed authority thinks appropriate.

The prescribed authority may exempt a person from the requirement for supervised legal practice under subsection (1) if the person has satisfied any requirements relating to training or qualifications prescribed by the regulations as a precondition to becoming a barrister.