Introduction
Pursuant to section 15 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1981, if you have completed the requirements for admission prescribed in Part 2 of the Rules of the Legal Practitioners and Admissions Council (2018 LPEAC Rules) and Part 7 of the Uniform Civil Rules 2020, and have satisfied the Court that you are a fit and proper person to practise the profession of the law, you are entitled to be admitted and enrolled as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia.
Admission Process and Forms
The admission process is prescribed in Part 7 of the Uniform Civil Rules 2020 and in the Prescribed Forms.
Rule 257.2 provides that if you have not previously been admitted as a lawyer in Australia or New Zealand your application for admission must be instituted by filing an Originating Application in accordance with rule 82.1 (Form 7A) and an affidavit in accordance with rule 82.1(2) (Form 12A) and Form 14 Exhibit front sheet to affidavit or Statutory Declaration.
It is important that you ensure that the form and content of the documents you will be filing with CourtSA comply with the requirements detailed below. Documents that do not comply in every respect with the requirements will not be able to be filed and will not be referred to the Board of Examiners. You must complete the Admission Application Checklist and submit it to the Society with your documents as part of the pre-filing check process.
Exhibits
The exhibits required in accordance with your affidavit (Form 12A) are as follows:
- An Official Academic Transcript stating completion or conferral of the Bachelor of Laws . (Awards or parchments are not acceptable for this purpose)
- Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (GDLP) or Practical Legal Training Completion (PLT) Letter. (If you completed your GDLP with the College of Law South Australia you must use the Completion Letter that states that you have completed your GDLP in South Australia.
- Identification (please provide a legible colour copy);
- Driver Licence, or;
- Birth Certificate, or;
- Passport.
If you have completed your Bachelor of Laws and Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (GDLP) or Practical Legal Training Completion (PLT) with Flinders University you can exhibit the Official Academic Transcript for both the academic and practical requirements as exhibit A.
You cannot apply for admission without your Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (GDLP) or Practical Legal Training Completion (PLT) Letter. The application cut off date is a strict deadline and further documents cannot be tabled on the Board of Examiners agenda after it.
Interstate Law Degree
If you have completed your Law Degree interstate before you can apply for admission you need first to apply to the Board of Examiners for a determination that your interstate Law Degree satisfies the academic requirements for admission in South Australia. For more information please scroll down on this page and review the information under the heading Interstate Bachelor of Laws – Local Admission.
Disclosure
As part of your affidavit you need to disclose matters that are relevant to your fitness to practice. For information about what you need to address here go to the LACC Disclosure Guidelines for Applicants for Admission to the Legal Profession at Appendix D of the current LPEAC Rules.
Clause 3(e) of the LACC Guidelines provides as follows:
3 Your Admitting Authority will apply the following principles when determining you fitness for admission:
(e) Any disclosure you make that may be relevant to whether you are currently able to carry out the inherent requirements of practice is confidential.
Applicants are directed to the decision of the Full Court of the Supreme Court in In the Matter of Lisa Jane Barrett (No 2) [2021] SASCFC 38 (2021 SASCFC 38.pdf) that contains a discussion about the confidentiality of disclosures made pursuant to Part 7 of the Uniform Civil Rules 2020.
Form 12A clause 8 provides that, “Full details must be given in relation to each offence or alleged offence in a separate statement, which is to be exhibited to the affidavit in a sealed envelope”. If you have disclosures to make pursuant to clause 8 of Form 12A, you will need to refer to the exhibit in the usual manner in the Affidavit but not include it with the documents you file via CourtSA. Instead, you will need to place the exhibit in a sealed envelope addressed to “The Secretary Board of Examiners” and marked with your name and contact details and cause it to be delivered to the Society at Level 10, 178 North Terrace Adelaide by the applicable cut-off date for applications to the Board of Examiners (see above). The exhibit will be viewed only by the Secretary and Administrative Assistant to the Board of Examiners and the members of the Board of Examiners.
Where disclosure documents are more than 50 pages applicants need to provide the Society with an indexed Book of Documents by which the documents are presented in a logical and easy to use manner as follows:
- The first documents will always be the Originating Application Ex Parte (Form 7A) and Supporting Affidavit (Form 12A) (together with the exhibits that were filed with the Court).
- The subsequent documents will be the Exhibit to the supporting affidavit disclosure documents filed with the Society and should commence with the covering letter or document which details all of the matters being disclosed and references the documents being provided by you (which will follow).
- The documents must be paginated.
- There must be a covering Index which refers to the Applicant’s name which references the documents in the usual manner. Click here to access the suggested template.
- Documents covering a number of different disclosure issues such as Medical, Financial and Criminal, should be arranged in groups in the book and under separate subheadings in the Index (see template).
- The paginated and Indexed Book of Documents should then be emailed to the Society as a single PDF document.
- Books of Documents which do not comply with the requirements will be returned for correction before being placed before the Board.
Execution of the Affidavit
You must have your affidavit sworn or affirmed in accordance with Division 2, s31.9 of the Uniform Civil Rules 2020 as follows;
31.9—Attesting witness
(1) The following persons are authorised to take an affidavit or statutory declaration (authorised witnesses):
(a) the Registrar of the Court;
(b) a justice of the peace;
(c) a notary public;
(d) a Commissioner for taking affidavits; and
(e) any other person authorised by law to take affidavits or statutory declarations respectively.
(2) An affidavit or statutory declaration may not be made before the party or an employee or agent of the party filing it unless—
(a) the attesting witness is a lawyer acting for the party; or
(b) the party is the Crown.
Submission of Documents for Checking
Before filing your documents with the Court, you will need to submit them to the Society for pre-assessment via the Admissions Portal
Generally applicants are responded to within 1-2 business days after an application is received for pre-assessment. It is recommended that you submit your application for the pre-assessment as soon as practical to ensure you do not miss the application cut off date in the event changes are required to your application. Applications received on the cut-off date for pre-assessment are processed with high priority, however there is no guarantee that applications received in this day will considered by the Board of Examiners at the next relevant meeting.
We are unable to provide you with a time frame in which the pre-assessment will be completed. This process is dependent on if your application is correct or if it requires you to make changes and resubmit.
Follow up phone calls or emails made just after submitting your application for pre-assessment can cause delays in assessing your and other applications. We appreciate that this may be a stressful time and ask for your patience, upon your submission we will endeavor to get back to you as soon as possible.
The Society will contact you to make payment of the $27.50 notification fee when your documents are approved for filing. Once the Society has approved your forms you can file your application via CourtSA and pay the admission fee to the Court. This process must be completed prior to the application cut-off date in order for your application to be considered by the Board of Examiners at the next relevant meeting. If you require assistance in lodging your application please go to the CourtSA Help Centre for information about using CourtSA.
Board of Examiners and Hearing
Pursuant to Rule 257.5 the Society will refer your filed application and affidavit to the Board of Examiners for its report and recommendation.
Pursuant to Rule 257.8, where the Board has provided a report recommending admission, the Court will list the application for hearing. The Registrar of the Supreme Court will provide you with notice of the hearing and information on the process. You must attend the hearing in person unless exempted by the Court. If you wish to apply for exemption from attending the hearing you must file a request to the Registrar in accordance with Rule 13.2(5) (Form 76) at least 14 days before the hearing or on the Court’s own initiative.
Signing the Roll
If the Court orders that an applicant be admitted, the applicant will be enrolled as a solicitor and barrister of the Court upon signing the Roll of Practitioners. If you are present at the admission hearing you will sign the Roll then. Otherwise, you will be sent a Supplementary Roll of Practitioners sheet for swearing and execution and return to the Court.
Contact a Volunteer to Move your Admission
For assistance when accessing counsel to move your admission you may like to contact a member of the Society's Young Lawyers' Support Group by clicking here, or do a barrister search of the SA Bar Association website at https://sabar.org.au/.
Who can move your Admission
A practitioner admitted anywhere in Australia can move your admission, they do not need to hold a current practising certificate to do so.
Robe Hire
To hire robes for the person moving your admission please email reception@lawsocietysa.asn.au
Practising Certificate
When the order for admission is made and the Roll signed you are a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia but before you can engage in legal practice in South Australia you need to hold a South Australian practising certificate. Click here for information about how to apply to the Society for a practising certificate.