Practical Legal Training in New South Wales Is “No Longer Fit for Purpose”

Practical legal training (PLT) is the final step before a person who has successfully completed an accredited law degree or diploma can become eligible for admission as a lawyer in New South Wales.

The component is administered by the Legal Profession Admission Board (LPAB) and typically involves completed a six-month Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (GDLP) and includes 75 days of unpaid placement in a law firm.

“Not fit for purpose”

Undertaken by the LPAB and released on 30 September 2025, a 179-page review of the PLT scheme – titled ‘Discussion Paper on PLT Reform” – has found that, in its current form, PLT is “no longer fit for purpose” as it is too expensive, too long, of limited practical relevance and administered by the wrong organisations.

In terms of expense, the LPAB found that a GDLP costs anywhere between $9,000 and $15,000 which is a significant sum for those who are already burdened with student debts and have not yet embarked on their legal careers.

The review noted that the largest service provider of the GDLP is the College of Law, which has accumulated a staggering $180 million for administering the diploma.

The review found that requiring law graduates to additionally work 75 days for free represents an additional financial burden and is not necessary for progression to paid employment.

Some of the review’s key recommendations are removing the university accreditation requirement for administering PLT, shifting responsibility for administration to the Law Society of New South Wales, creating a shorter, skills focused program led by lawyers which consists of online learning and reducing the compulsory work component to 15 days.

The proposed reforms are designed to make entry to the legal profession more affordable and accessible, reduce duplication of learning given the PLT currently includes components that are already covered in law degrees and diplomas, and ensure the provided training is actually useful in so far as it focuses on preparing aspiring lawyers for the practical, day-to-day demands of working in a law firm.

Earlier survey

The review comes on the back of a survey conducted by Urbis on behalf of the LPAB in early 2025 which involved over 4,500 respondents, comprising around 2,500 recent graduates and 2,000 supervisors, which reported widespread dissatisfaction with the existing program.

The survey found that:

• 57% of graduates said PLT was “not relevant to their current work.”
• Only 43% found course assignments practical or helpful.
• Just 13% believed PLT fees were reasonably priced.
• 64% of graduates completed unpaid placements, and nearly half said their placement did not lead to employment.
• Supervisors overwhelmingly rated on-the-job training after admission as far more valuable than PLT itself.

The results of the survey are consistent with the Opening of Law Term Address 2025 given by the Chief Justice of New South Wales, Andrew Bell,  in which he expressed concern that PLT fees had become a “barrier to entry for capable graduates already burdened by FEE-HELP debt”.

Suggested reforms in greater detail

1. Reduce duration of compulsory placement

The LPAB recommends reducing mandatory workplace experience to 15 days, aligning with the minimum required under Schedule 2, clause 5(a)(ii) of the Legal Profession Uniform Admission Rules 2015 (NSW).

The current 75-day model, the LPAB report notes, evolved not from law but from Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) teaching hour requirements — “a case of the tail wagging the dog”.

Work experience could be:

• Completed during a law degree (e.g., clerkships, internships),
• Undertaken after graduation, or
• Supervised by approved employers, including community legal centres, government departments, or firms.

This change would reduce upfront costs and time spent in unpaid positions – a significant relief for students juggling work and study.

In 2024, 49% of NSW solicitors were based in Sydney’s CBD, but 11% practised in regional or rural areas. The LPAB believes the shorter model could help regional graduates enter the workforce sooner and support local legal practices struggling to attract juniors.

2. Introduce short course led by lawyers

The LPAB proposes replacing the GDLP with a two-to-three-week “Capstone PLT Course”, taught in person and run by practising or retired lawyers with at least five years’ post-admission experience, ensuring that graduates are equipped with practical, job-ready skills.

The course would focus on practical, job-ready skills, including:

• Client interviewing and communication;
• Drafting, negotiation, and file management;
• Advocacy and courtroom etiquette;
• Trust and office accounting;
• Ethics and professional responsibility.

Courses could be offered directly by the Law Society of NSW, regional law societies, or approved law firms and government agencies, ensuring consistency and accessibility statewide.

The LPAB expects course fees to fall to $2,000–$3,000, compared with current averages of $10,000–$15,000, potentially reducing the total cost of entry to legal practice by up to 80%.

3. Remove university accreditation and TEQSA oversight

At present, PLT is classified as an AQF Level 8 postgraduate qualification, regulated by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).

This requires PLT providers to employ academic staff, maintain graduate-level assessments, and meet minimum contact hours — all of which drive up costs without improving professional outcomes.

The LPAB proposes that PLT no longer be tied to AQF accreditation, freeing the course from university bureaucracy.

“As a very practical program, PLT need not be taught as a formal AQF qualification. It is the AQF requirements that make PLT unnecessarily long and expensive,” the report concludes (LPAB, p. 9).

4. Shift specialisation to post-admission continuing professional development

The LPAB also recommends moving the current “optional practice areas” — such as family law, criminal law, and wills and estates — out of PLT and into post-admission Continuing Professional Development (CPD), ensuring that new lawyers can focus on their chosen area of practice and receive structured mentoring and assessment by supervisors.

Under this proposal, new lawyers would complete an extra 15 hours of CPD per year for their first two years, in addition to the 10 hours already required under the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015.

The CPD courses would be delivered or approved by the Law Society and focus on a lawyer’s chosen area of practice — for instance, family, corporate, or criminal law — with structured mentoring and assessment by supervisors.

This would mirror medical and accounting professional development frameworks, spreading training costs over time and ensuring ongoing skill growth after admission.

5. Implement more supervision and ethical oversight

To improve professional standards and workplace learning, employers supervising early-career lawyers would be required to:

• Submit structured training plans and annual supervision reports;
• Conduct formal performance assessments; and
• Participate in Law Society-approved mentorship programs.

The LPAB likens this to the “internship” model used in health professions, where competence develops progressively under guided supervision.

Implementation timeline

The LPAB’s proposed implementation schedule is ambitious but phased to ensure minimal disruption:

The Legal Services Council and Law Admissions Consultative Committee (LACC) will consider national adoption for all Uniform Law jurisdictions — currently NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.

Stakeholder reactions

• Law Society of NSW has welcomed the proposals, describing them as “a long-overdue recalibration of PLT toward practical, affordable, and ethical training” 
• University law schools have raised concerns that removing AQF status could affect access to fee-help, potentially disadvantaging lower-income students — though the LPAB argues that lower fees will offset this.
• The College of Law, which reportedly held $180 million in reserves in 2024 (LPAB, p. 4), has indicated it will participate in pilot programs.

According to the Law Society’s 2024 Solicitors Profile, there are now 41,304 practising solicitors in NSW — a 3% year-on-year increase — with nearly two-thirds under 40 years old and 55% women. The LPAB believes that reforming PLT is crucial to supporting this next generation of lawyers and addressing workforce shortages in regional areas.

Looking ahead

Submissions on the LPAB’s proposed reforms close on 30 November 2025, after which a final report will be provided to the NSW Attorney General and the Legal Services Council in early 2026.

“The preparation of lawyers for the profession can and must be better. The future of the profession depends on it,” the LPAB concluded.

If adopted, the NSW model could become a national benchmark — transforming PLT from a costly academic exercise into a streamlined, profession-led gateway to practice.