By Cat Woods -
In mid-September, the ABC published a story titled "Unpaid work experience a 'significant barrier' for some NSW law students." By early November, that same media organisation had posted an ad for "its highly popular work experience placements in 2026" in Ultimo. The six-week placement is unpaid. Lawyers spoke with LSJ Online about the disproportionate impact of unpaid PLT (practical legal training) work experience upon regional and rural practitioners, and students under financial stress.
Researcher and senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC), Regina Featherstone clarifies that her views for this story are independent of HRLC.
“I couldn’t afford to do unpaid PLT because I was a country kid who went to university in Sydney,” she says. “I was lucky to be paid for my PLT, first in a small suburban wills and estates firm and then in a migration law firm. I remember feeling that my choices were extremely limited because there was no question that I had to be paid. Despite my passion for the community legal sector, I was unable to consider this as an option.”
According to The Law Society of NSW guide to PLT, the training takes approximately three months full-time or eight months part-time. Workplace experience requires around 75 working days (15 weeks) of supervised experience in the delivery of legal services.
While some universities wrap PLT into the course requirements of their degree, this isn’t always the case. PLT providers include:
- Leo Cussen Centre of Law
- College of Law
- University of New South Wales
- University of Newcastle
- University of Technology Sydney
Lisa Coates is President of NSW Regional Women Lawyers, and says that one of the main challenges rural, regional and remote (RRR) law students and practitioners experience is access to quality placements and supervision in their communities.
She says, “RRR placements are disparate, and remote supervision is not always possible. Court appearances between towns can require up to 500 km round trips in a day, or site visits for rural based clients. Regarding the first challenge, a gradual timeline for reform would be practical as Australian law faculties undergo their reaccreditation and consider new modes of delivery.”
Coates adds, “RRR practitioners experience the effect of geographical isolation in addition to being frontline legal support during fire, floods and across NSW in the domestic violence crisis. This is compounded for RRR law students attempting unpaid training.”
Family law expert, Catherine Spain is a barrister at Waratah Chambers in Sydney. She completed her PLT at College of Law in 1993, and her law student daughter will soon have to make choices about her own PLT. Spain saw the recent ad for unpaid work experience at the ABC.
“My daughter is in her last year of studying law, and she works as a paralegal, though she would probably be interested in [the unpaid ABC work experience], but it’s different for her [than it was for me], because she lives at home and doesn’t pay rent.”
“… I think it favours kids whose parents can support them financially, or even kids who live in Sydney.”
Spain worked part-time as a waitress while she completed her PLT over six months at the College of Law, after graduating from the University of Sydney.
“College of Law was the only option at the time, and it wasn’t more expensive than HECS, so we didn’t have to pay $10,000 to $12,000 on top of the degree.”
She adds that during the period where she was completing her College of Law program, “I couldn’t do 2 weeks unpaid, let alone 6 weeks. I was living week-to-week. I grew up in the country, and my parents couldn’t afford to subsidise my university education. There was rent, food, bills, which is why I worked. That’s why I think it favours kids whose parents can support them financially, or even kids who live in Sydney. My daughter, who could live at home rent-free, could theoretically do it, although she wouldn’t like to not be paid for six weeks, but if you’re paying all those other costs yourself, it’s impossible.”
The ABC responded to a request for comment by LSJ Online. “The ABC, like many organisations in Australia, offers Practical Legal Training (PLT) placements to law students. PLT placements are in accordance with the Fair Work Act and are currently required for law students to qualify for admission.”
Spain recalls that College of Law was fun, but not a comprehensive learning experience.
“It was fun at College of Law, all these people from different universities coming together and it didn’t have the pressure of law school. Still, I didn’t learn a lot. The amount you’ve got to do isn’t sustainable for a lot of people. If you don’t want to make law elitist, you’ve got to have access for a broader range of people. Economically it makes more sense to apply for graduate roles than College of Law.”
In terms of unpaid work experience, Spain is unequivocal.
“These kids who this ad is targeting have done five years of university. They’re not kids, they’re good students so they should be paid.”
Featherstone laments that community legal centres are between a rock and a hard place.
“Increased funding to (community legal centres) which includes junior lawyer development funding would go to making sure that passionate people are kickstarting their career where their passion is needed most – in the community.”
“CLCs would love to pay dedicated PLT students but the reality for many of them is that they get-by on the resolve of overworked and underpaid lawyers. I know of some statewide legal services that work off no funding and pure hustle and grit of the CLC. Those CLCs simply cannot pay a PLT. Increased funding to CLCs which includes junior lawyer development funding would go to making sure that passionate people are kickstarting their career where their passion is needed most – in the community.”
Chief Justice Andrew Bell calls for reforms
But this may be due to change, with a call from the Chief Justice of NSW, Andrew Bell, to review and reform the system of PLT. On 28 August, Bell gave a speech at the Specialist Accreditation Conference in Sydney.
It was the second significant occasion that the Chief Justice had addressed the inequalities inherent in PLT as it presently exists. At the Opening of Law Term dinner in early February, he gave a speech that addressed the obstacle to entry to the legal profession imposed by the costs of PLT, and the disproportionate barriers to those who wanted to gain work experience in the public sector. He also initiated a survey on PLT, the results of which were released on 14 April to The Law Society of NSW, PLT providers, and the Deans of NSW law schools.
Less than half of the 2,500 respondents considered PLT assignments “practical and career-relevant”, and 13 per cent considered the course to be reasonably priced. The cost of PLT programs as of September 2025 ranged from $9,200 to over $13,000 for international students with additional amounts being payable for those electing to take a reduced work experience component. Most respondents (64 per cent of recent graduates) undertook unpaid placements, and nearly half said their placement did not lead to employment.
There was a distinct difference in how respondents viewed PLT that was integrated into their undergraduate degrees to the alternative, with a much greater satisfaction in the integrated option.
Bell acknowledged that along with “no less than 146 separate performance criteria,” which he labelled unrealistic and not reflective of what a program can achieve within a limited time frame, “PLT must be of at least 900 hours’ duration comprising at least 450 hours of programmed training and at least 15 days’ workplace experience. 75 days is not legislatively prescribed but is a practical way by which PLT providers can satisfy the 900 hours requirement.”
In his August presentation, Bell said, “For a host of reasons, it is far from ideal that young lawyers start their careers with six figure higher education debts.”
He also referred to “anecdotal but regular accounts of dissatisfaction with the quality of PLT being provided by some providers, especially in view of the money being charged for it.”
The Discussion Paper, released on 30 September, suggested that “work experience requirements for PLT should be 15 days. Furthermore, prohibitions on advanced standing for work experience completed prior to completion of law degrees should be removed.”
Timeline for change
It proposed many options, including abolishing PLT, amending the current system, revising the number and complexity of assignments, refreshing the curriculum, establishing funding options for students who face additional travel or accommodation costs related to in-person requirements, and enabling greater integration between undergraduate degrees and current PLT requirements. The report also proposed that specialist components could be incorporated into post-admission professional development requirements. Reforms were proposed over a three year timeline, with full implementation of a new PLT model by 2028. The Law Society of NSW was optimistic about the proposals, saying they offered “a long-overdue recalibration of PLT toward practical, affordable, and ethical training.”
Dean of the Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney, Andrew Lynch says, “One of the areas left open by the NSW consultation is identifying the essential lawyering skills to be contained within a shorter, more focused PLT course and perhaps embedded in law degrees. Legal practice is, of course, undergoing great change and while many of the traditional skills obviously remain important, it is imperative to ensure this question is approached with the future firmly in mind. At UNSW, our Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession was established both to generate research and also facilitate conversations between practitioners, judges and academics on this and other challenges.”
Reform would stretch beyond NSW, too. 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.
Samantha Lee, Assistance Principal Solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre, says, “I welcome the proposed reforms in New South Wales. The cost of living in NSW can be overwhelming for many young people. In addition to increasing university fees, all students have had to endure 75 days of unpaid practical legal training.”
Lee completed her PLT at Legal Aid NSW, “and while I loved the experience, the weight of the financial burden was always heavy.”
“I am always surprised and touched by the fact that many students want to complete their PLT at Redfern Legal Centre, even though they know it is unpaid.”
She says, “Redfern Legal Centre takes on many PLTs, who can provide incredible assistance to our stretched practices. As an organisation, we would love to be able to pay students undertaking their PLT, but it is simply not financially possible. I am always surprised and touched by the fact that many students want to complete their PLT at Redfern Legal Centre, even though they know it is unpaid. As one student said to me, “I just want to be part of a legal centre that does such purposeful work. If only meaningful work could also be financially sustainable.”
Featherstone adds, “There are so many barriers to equality in the law. Chief Justice Bell’s comments on potential proposals are welcomed as part of a long overdue conversation on how we can make sure people from all backgrounds and walks of life can enter the profession”.
