With less than six months of the current CPD year remaining, it is timely to refresh your knowledge of your CPD obligations.
CPD is a statutory condition imposed on all Australian practising certificates, pursuant to section 52 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) (the Uniform Law). This statutory condition requires a certificate holder to comply with the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015 (the CPD rules). You will be asked at the time you renew your practising certificate to declare you have complied with this statutory condition (CPD rule 13).
Pursuant to section 54 of the Uniform Law, the holder of a practising certificate must comply with the conditions of their practising certificate, with the failure to do so attracting 100 penalty units.
How do I comply?
Amongst other requirements, you must:
- complete 10 CPD units each CPD year (1 April – 31 March the following year).
- ensure the CPD activity satisfies CPD rule 7.1.
- complete at least 1 unit in each of the following mandatory fields (CPD rule 6):
- Ethics and professional responsibility
- Practice management and business skills
- Professional skills
- Substantive law.
What kind of activities can I claim?
CPD is self-assessed by you. There are a variety of activities that can be undertaken to satisfy your CPD requirements including attendance at seminars, conferences, multimedia or web-based programs, preparation and editing of articles and preparation and presentation of seminars. The complete list of CPD activities can be found in CPD rule 8. A cap on certain activities claimed is set out at CPD rule 9.
Will I be audited?
Yes. Pursuant to CPD rule 14, the Law Society conducts an annual audit. The audit is currently underway and those selected for the audit have been contacted.
Where can I find more information about CPD?
Further information about your CPD obligations can be found on our dedicated website here:
