The College of Law (Australia)

For the university previously known as the College of Law, see University of Law.

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School in New South Wales, Australia

The College of Law

The College's Headquarters in George St, Sydney.

Address

570 George St Sydney NSW 2000

Sydney

New South Wales

2000

Australia

Coordinates| 33°52′27″S 151°12′26″E﻿ / ﻿33.874040°S 151.207280°E﻿ / -33.874040; 151.207280
Information
Funding type| Private, not-for-profit
Established| 1974
Founder| Law Society of New South Wales
Oversight|

* Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency
* New Zealand Qualifications Authority

Chairman| Joseph Catanzariti AM
Principal| Neville Carter AM
Staff| 400
Number of students| 7,000
Campuses|

* Sydney
* Melbourne
* Brisbane
* Perth
* Adelaide
* Auckland

Alumni| 100,000
Website| collaw.edu.au

The College of Law is the school of professional practice for lawyers in Australia and New Zealand. They are also the largest provider of practice-focused legal education in Australasia.

Since commencing operations in New South Wales in 1974,[1] the organisation has grown to become largest provider of practical legal training (PLT) in Australia and New Zealand. The College claims more than 100,000 graduates, with more than 50,000 of these in New South Wales. In 2016, annual enrolments in the College's award programs in Australia exceeded 5,000.[2]

## Courses[edit]

In addition to the PLT Program (which is the prerequisite program for practising law in Australia or New Zealand), the College offers the LLM (Applied Law) and other post graduate applied law programs, as well as Continuing Professional Development short courses for lawyers, in the following specialisations:[3]

* Business law
* Commercial litigation
* Commercial transactions
* Family law
* Government and public sector law
* In-house practice
* Legal practice management
* Mediation and dispute resolution
* Property law
* Wills, estates and estate planning.

## Structure[edit]

A public company limited by guarantee, the College of Law Limited is regulated by the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission.[4] In Australia, the College is a Self-Accrediting Authority recognised by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).[5] In New Zealand, the College is accredited by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, which rated the College "Highly Confident" in its educational performance.[6]

The chief executive officer and principal is Neville Carter AM. The chair of the College of Law Limited is Joseph Catanzariti AM,[7] who is also vice-president of the Fair Work Commission.

## History[edit]

The College of Law was founded as a subsidiary of the Law Society of New South Wales in 1974.[8] Established as a charitable trust for educational purposes, the College was to provide practical legal training (PLT) to qualify law graduates for admission as lawyers (replacing the former articles of clerkship), as well as continuing legal education for the needs of legal practitioners in New South Wales.

From 1977 to 1995, the College operated as a school within the aegis of the Ku-ring-gai College of Advanced Education,[9] and then as part of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). At the end of 1995, the College became an autonomous education provider within the evolving higher education regulatory regime of New South Wales.

In 2002, the College was registered as a Higher Education Provider (HEP) and the Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice (PLT Program) was accredited. In 2005, College was approved as a Higher Education Provider (HEP) for Fee-Help purposes under the Higher Educations Support Act (HESA) 2003.[10]

Branches in Australian state capitals and New Zealand were opened progressively from 2005 onwards.

In 2006, the College introduced the Graduate Diploma of In-house Legal Practice, which was developed in partnership with the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association[11] (now part of the Association of Corporate Counsel[12]). In 2007, the College had its first master's degree accredited – the Master of Applied Law (Family Law). The Master of Applied Law (Commercial Litigation) was accredited in 2008, and further master's degrees in Wills & Estates, and In-house Practice were added in 2010. The Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution was accredited in 2014.

In 2009, the College separated from the Law Society to become a stand-alone, not-for-profit entity.[13] In December 2015 the College was awarded Self Accrediting Authority (SAA) by the Tertiary Education Quality & Standards Agency (TEQSA).[14]

In 2016, the College established its own research centre, the Centre for Legal Innovation (CLI).[15]

Also in 2016, the College established an office in Kuala Lumpur as its Asia headquarters. In November 2017, the College signed an agreement with the Inter-Pacific Bar Association to establish a co-branded master's program.[16] The Master of Laws (Applied Law) in ASEAN+6 Legal Practice commenced in February 2018.[17]

## Publications[edit]

The College produces a series of textbooks to support its PLT training, known as the Practice Papers,[18] which are self-published. Covering a number of core practice areas, the Practice Papers also serve as practical guides for lawyers in their early years of practice. From 1983 to 1998, the College published The Journal of Professional Legal Education on behalf of the Australian Professional Legal Education Conference.[19]

## Notable people[edit]

Honorary fellows of the College include Federal Court court justice John Dowsett and former Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs.

## References[edit]

1. ^ Blunden, A (June 1987). "A New Course at the New South Wales College of Law". Journal of Professional Legal Education. Issue 1 – June 1987: 42–54 - via Heinonline.
2. ^ "2016 Appendix 6 – Private Universities (Table C) and Non-University Higher Education Institutions". Australian Government Department of Education and Training. 11 September 2017.
3. ^ "Postgraduate applied law programs". The College of Law. 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
4. ^ "The College of Law Limited". Australian Charities and Not for Profit Commission. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
5. ^ "The College of Law Limited (formerly TCOL Limited)". teqsa.gov.au. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
6. ^ "Organisations >> NZQA – College of Law New Zealand Limited". New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
7. ^ Kempster, Eleanor (3 May 2017). "Joseph Catanzariti". Retrieved 27 November 2017.
8. ^ "History of The Law Society of New South Wales". The Law Society of New South Wales. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
9. ^ "Farewell Kuring-gai – Issue 13 – Tower – UTS Alumni – Stay Connected". alumni.uts.edu.au. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
10. ^ "Higher Education Support Act 2003". www.legislation.gov.au. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
11. ^ "Our History – ACC Australia". acla.acc.com. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
12. ^ Staff Reporter (4 December 2014). "ACLA to join global network". Retrieved 27 November 2017.
13. ^ "About the College of Law". The College of Law. 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
14. ^ "The College of Law Awarded Self Accrediting Authority by TEQSA". collaw.edu.au. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
15. ^ Woodhill, Samantha. "College of Law launches innovation hub". Australasian Lawyer. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
16. ^ "Eye on IPBA | 2017 Eye on IPBA | November 2017 :: The Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA)". ipba.org. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
17. ^ "LLM ASEAN+6". collaw.com. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
18. ^ "LexisNexis Australia – Products". store.lexisnexis.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
19. ^ "The journal of professional legal education. – Version details". Trove. Retrieved 27 November 2017.