The Legal Services Council (LSC) is pleased to announce the launch of a new Register that consumers can use to easily check the details of legal practitioners in NSW and Victoria. The Australian Legal Profession Register is now available via the Legal Services Council website.
The Australian Legal Profession Register is a first contact point for information on solicitors or barristers in the Uniform Law States of Victoria and New South Wales and from 2020, Western Australia. Other States and Territories will be added as they join the Uniform Law scheme.
Chair of the LSC, Michael Black, said that the development of the Australian Legal Profession Register is of great benefit to the legal profession and also provides greater protection to consumers. “We are pleased to be able to provide an easy search function for consumers so they can check that a legal practitioner holds a valid practising certificate and is lawfully able to provide legal services,” he said.
The Australian Legal Profession Register brings together information that is currently held by the legal regulators in NSW and Victoria and allows it to be accessed from one location. This information is updated weekly. The Register webpage also contains links to the NSW and Victorian Legal Services Commissioners’ Registers of Disciplinary Action that list legal practitioners against whom disciplinary action has been taken by the State regulators.
“The Register allows searches for legal practitioners by name and State or Territory and, for further details such as phone number and address, the consumer is guided to the appropriate local regulators website which holds more detailed information. As more States and Territories join the Uniform Law scheme, they will also be added to the Register,” Mr Black said.
The LSC acknowledges the valuable input of the Law Society of NSW which developed the database and provides on-going technical assistance and support, and the NSW Department of Communities and Justice for its IT oversight. The LSC is also grateful to the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner, the NSW Bar Association and the Law Society of NSW for providing and updating the data for the Register on an on-going basis.
To search the Australian Legal Profession Register: www.legalservicescouncil.org.au/alpr
Legal Services Council Media Release: 05/12/19