Complete the renewal of your practising certificate

To many, this seems like a routine process. However, it is an important cog in the regulatory system through which the integrity of the legal profession is maintained. It is an annual process through which your ongoing fitness to hold a practising certificate is considered and your regulatory information updated. Section 45 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) (Uniform Law) says that the Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (Council) must not grant or renew a practising certificate, amongst other things, if it considers that a solicitor is not a fit and proper person to hold a certificate.

This article addresses some of the things you need to consider when renewing your practising certificate.

Renew your practising certificate in time

Pursuant to the legal profession legislation the Law Society cannot accept any applications submitted after 30 June 2026.  If you do not renew your practising certificate by 30 June 2026, you will not be authorised to engage in legal practice from 1 July 2026.

If you submit an application to renew your practising certificate and pay in full all associated fees prior to 1 July, and you have professional indemnity insurance (where applicable), but do not receive a practising certificate by that date, you can rely on your previous practising certificate as entitlement to practise law until the earlier of the following:

• Council renews or refuses to renew the certificate, or
• you withdraw your application for renewal,

unless the practising certificate is earlier suspended, cancelled or surrendered (the “rollover provisions”).^[1]

If you do not renew by 30 June 2026, you will need to make a fresh application for the grant of a practising certificate. This may take some time to consider, and you are not entitled to engage in legal practice whilst your fresh application is being considered.  In some cases, Council may need to appoint a manager to take over your practice at your expense whilst your fresh application is being considered.

Further, there can be serious consequences if you consistently fail to renew your practising certificate before 30 June each year. If you continue to engage in legal practice after your practising certificate has expired, then you will be in breach of s 10 of the Uniform Law which may attract penalties up to 250 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both. It is also conduct that is capable of being unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct under the Uniform Law.

Think about what you need to disclose

When you renew your practising certificate, you will be asked to declare the accuracy of your application including certain events or information. This is required by ss 86 and 87 of the Uniform Law and r 12 of the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015, which contemplates all the matters referred to in r 13.  The question you need to ask yourself is – Is there anything which has occurred in the last 12 months that might be relevant to your fitness to practice? You should refer to r 13 for the types of matters that should be disclosed.

You will be asked to declare any information you provide is true and correct.

It is important to turn your mind to this question and think carefully before you answer.  A failure to disclose information can have significant consequences, including refusal to issue your practising certificate or disciplinary action for professional misconduct – see for example, Tangsilsat v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales [2019] NSWCA 144

Update your details

It is important to keep your practice and contact details up to date. Importantly, we use your nominated communication email address to remind you to renew your practising certificate. It is very important you ensure this is up to date.

You are required to notify the Registry of any changes to your particulars since your last application for renewal within 7 days after a change occurs (see reg 61 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Regulation 2025).

If your details change, and you have not notified us of that change, the Law Society may be unable to contact you if a regulatory matter arises during the year and this could have consequences for how the matter is handled. If you need to update your details, you can do this in your renewal application. If you have already submitted your renewal application and need to notify of a further change, visit the Law Society’s forms directory and complete the relevant form.

Haven’t received any email communication inviting you to renew? You can log in using your LawID or email address here to submit your renewal application. If you are facing any difficulties with logging in or accessing your renewal, please email: customerservice@lawsociety.com.au.

Complete your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements

It is a statutory condition of your practising certificate that you comply with the applicable requirements of the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015 (CPD rules) (s 52 of the Uniform Law). You will be required to confirm whether you have complied with your CPD requirements when you renew your practising certificate (rule 13 of the CPD rules).

The  2025/26 CPD year that you are required to declare compliance with ended on 31 March 2026.

If you did not comply with your CPD requirements by 31 March 2026, you will need to either:

1. Apply for an exemption from your CPD requirements; or
2. Submit a rectification of non-compliance CPD plan.

If you are eligible for an exemption from your CPD requirements pursuant to r 16 of the CPD Rules, you can apply for an exemption in your renewal application. You should ensure all required information is provided in the renewal to allow for processing of that exemption. If you are required to rectify non-compliance, you must submit a rectification of non-compliance CPD plan within 21 days of submitting your renewal application.

What if I am a principal?

There are two additional requirements if you are a principal.

First, every principal must ensure that they have professional indemnity insurance in place for their practice. This is a pre-requisite for the issuance of your practising certificate (s 45(1)(b) of the Uniform Law).

If this has not been arranged, Council may be left with no option but to refuse to issue your practising certificate. Council has previously refused to issue a practising certificate because of a failure to have insurance in place.

Second, every principal must complete various trust account declarations in relation to handling trust money.

The first of these, the Part A declaration, was due on 30 April 2026. You must declare whether or not you have held trust money for the year ending 31 March 2026 (r 54(1)(a) of the General Rules).

If you answer yes, you must then complete a Part B declaration by 31 May 2026 and have an External Examiner appointed to your practice to prepare an External Examiners Report which must be lodged with the Trust Account Department by the same date (r 54(1)(b) of the General Rules and s 155(1) of the Uniform Law).  Click here for more information.

The External Examination process is critical to ensuring that the integrity and reputation of the legal profession is maintained when handling trust money. Accordingly, a failure to submit either the Part A or the Part B declaration, or the External Examiners Report, are viewed very seriously by Council.

Council has previously refused to issue a practising certificate where a solicitor failed to comply with their trust account obligations or failed to respond to correspondence from the Law Society.

Helpful tips

Legal practice can get busy, so don’t leave it to the last minute to renew your practising certificate! The Law Society encourages you to:

• Let us know as soon as possible and within 7 days if your email address changes. We use email communication to remind you to renew your practising certificate, so it’s important you update your contact details with us.  You can notify us of changes to your contact details by submitting a ‘Change in personal details’ form, available on our forms directory.
• Have a system set up to remind you to apply – put a reminder in your diary and outlook calendar. If you add an outlook reminder, make it a reoccurring reminder for each year.
• Check your spam folder for reminders from the Law Society about renewing your practising certificate.
• Check your compliance with your CPD requirements for the CPD year which ended on 31 March 2026.
• If you are a principal, you should check that current and new employees have been issued a practising certificate before they commence or continue in their role.
• If you are a principal, you should also ensure that you have professional indemnity insurance in place for the 2026/27 financial year.

Smooth sailing

Each year the Law Society processes more than 44,000 practising certificates.

The Law Society encourages you to consider the matters above to ensure your application is dealt with as quickly and as smoothly as possible. Any questions? We are here to help!

[1] Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015, section 17(2).