Renewal of Practising Certificates
Legal practitioners can renew their practising certificate online this year via an application developed by the Legal Services Board called LSB Online. LSB Online was piloted amongst some solicitors and barristers during last year's renewal cycle. You are encouraged to use LSB Online this year to renew your practising certificate or if you do not wish to renew online, simply download the blank paper form from the LIV website.
In the past, the LSB has provided each practitioner with a paper copy of the renewal form with the practitioner's details pre-printed on the form. Following the introduction of LSB Online, the LSB will no longer distribute the pre-printed paper form to practitioners. This information will now be available through LSB Online. All you are required to do is login, review your details and make any required amendments before submitting your form for processing.
To renew your practising certificate online, either go to the LSB website or the LIV website after 26 March and follow the prompts.
If you have any queries about the online renewal process, for example, if you have problems with viewing or submitting the form online, please contact LSB Online Support on 03 9679 8111. Any enquiries about practising certificate renewals, for example, suitability matters or supervised legal practice issues should be directed to the LIV on 03 9607 9508.
Who must renew?
A practising certificate is only valid from the day it is issued until the end of the financial year in which it is issued. Anyone holding a current local practising certificate as of 30 June 2012, who intends to practise law at any point during July, August or September 2012, must take appropriate steps to renew their practising certificate.
Lodgment deadlines
-
Practitioners holding a current practising certificate on 30 April 2012 should lodge their completed renewal application by 30 April 2012.
-
Practitioners who commence/recommence practice between 1 May and 30 June 2012 should lodge their completed renewal application by 30 June 2012.
Surcharges may apply to applications lodged after the deadline.
Lodgment deadlines and surcharges are set by the Legal Profession Act 2004 (Vic).
If you do not lodge a correctly completed renewal application form by 30 June 2012, your practising certificate will expire on 30 June. Penalties apply for engaging in legal practice without a current practising certificate.
Renewal Information
The LSB will send a letter to your nominated preferred mailing address notifying you of your requirement to renew your practising certificate by 30 April 2012. Your username and a temporary password for LSB Online will be enclosed in this letter. You will be prompted to change your password upon your initial login.
For security reasons, login details will not be sent to practitioners who renewed online last year. These practitioners will be required to login using the details that they used last year. If you cannot remember your login details, go to LSB Online and click on the Forgot My Password link on the Logon page. If you have any problems with resetting your password, please contact LSB Online support on 03 9679 8111.
Incomplete forms
The LSB has identified a number of questions on the renewal form that must be answered by all applicants. These questions are marked on the form as being 'mandatory'. Incomplete forms or incomplete payments prevent processing. Until processed, your renewal record remains incomplete and lateness can expose you to a surcharge. For this reason, it is extremely important that you double check your form for errors and omissions prior to lodgement. Fortunately, LSB online is designed to alert you to incomplete questions before submitting. Final responsibility for lodgement of a correctly completed online or paper form lies with the applicant.
Late lodgment surcharges
The following surcharges apply to applications received after the lodgement deadline:
-
1-31 May – 25 per cent surcharge;
-
1-30 June – 50 per cent surcharge.
The 25% and 50% surcharges only apply if you held a local practising certificate on 30 April 2012.
In addition, a 200% surcharge may apply if you fail to renew you practising certificate by 30 June 2012 and then subsequently apply to commence a new practising certificate at any point during July, August or September 2012. See question 20 on the Application for Practising Certificate form for further details.
Surcharges are set by the Legal Profession Act 2004 (Vic).
The Legal Profession Act 2004 (Vic) does not grant the Law Institute of Victoria or the Legal Services Board the power to waive late lodgment surcharges, however surcharges may be refunded if either the Law Institute of Victoria or the Legal Services Board deems that ‘special circumstances’ apply.
Refund of surcharges
To request a refund, you must:
-
First pay the surcharge, and;
-
Then submit a request for a refund, in writing, to the Law Institute of Victoria Ltd, stating the ‘special circumstances’ that you believe make you eligible for a refund
Amending incorrect details
It is important that you amend any incorrect information that is pre-printed on the practising certificate renewal form. In particular, check that your address for service is correct, and that the form correctly specifies the practising certificate type and trust authorisation that you wish to hold from 1 July 2012.
Varying your certificate type at renewals time
You can use your renewal form to vary your practising certificate type as of 1 July 2012. If you vary your practising certificate type, make sure that you also adjust your payment of practising certificate fees and fidelity fund contributions accordingly. The various fees and contributions are recorded on the last page of the renewals form notes pages. Please note that fidelity fund contribution amounts relate to the trust account audit year ending 31 October 2011.
If you are varying your practising certificate to be authorised to receive trust money, and have not previously been authorised to receive trust money, you must complete an LSB approved trust account seminar prior to 1 July. At present, only the trust account seminar run by the LIV has been approved, and places are limited. Please book early. Bookings can be made by contacting Dianne Murray on (03) 9607 9514.
If you wish to vary your practising certificate type at any time other than from 1 July, you will need to lodge a separate application to vary practising certificate type.
Trust requirements
Practitioners authorised to receive trust money must satisfy all trust account audit requirements of the Legal Profession Act 2004 prior to lodging their renewals application.
The Trust Account area of this site contains information on the administration of Trust Accounts.
New and recommencing practitioners
If you apply for a practising certificate that commences prior to 1 July 2012, your practising certificate will only be valid until 30 June 2012. If you wish to continue practising from 1 July 2012 onwards, you must renew your practising certificate by lodging a Practising Certificate Renewal form in addition to your original Application for Practising Certificate form. Note that these are two different forms. You can only apply for a renewed certificate using the Practising Certificate Renewal form if you have also applied for an initial certificate using the Application for Practising Certificate form. These application forms may be lodged either together or separately.
Supervised legal practice
If your current practising certificate is subject to the supervised legal practice condition, your renewed practising certificate will also be subject to the condition unless you successfully apply to have the condition removed. If you believe you have completed your period of supervised legal practice, download and complete the Application to Remove Supervised Practice Condition (word). You can either lodge this application with your renewal form, or lodge it separately with the LIV.
Professional indemnity insurance
All law practices must obtain professional indemnity insurance from the Legal Practitioners Liability Committee (LPLC) by 31 May 2012, unless exempted from this requirement by the Legal Services Board.
The Law Institute of Victoria is not able to grant principal, employee, or volunteer practising certificates unless it receives one of the following by 31 May:
-
Confirmation from the LPLC that the applicant has obtained professional indemnity insurance from them; or
-
Notification from the Legal Services Board that the applicant is covered by an exemption from the requirement to obtain professional indemnity insurance.
Your practising certificate will not take effect on 1 July if you are not covered by the required level of professional indemnity insurance.
Overseas practitioners
Practitioners who hold a local practising certificate, but who are working outside of Australia, must lodge their completed application for renewal of practising certificate by the lodgment deadline. Applications can be lodged either by LSB Online, email, fax, or postal mail.
In addition to lodging your renewal form, you must also ensure that you lodge a professional insurance undertaking with the LSB (not the LIV) by 31 May 2012. Undertakings must be renewed each year. Your practising certificate will not issue until the LSB receives and processes your undertaking.
For further information about the undertaking, please read the Overseas based practitioner information sheet on the LSB website, or contact the LSB on ph 03 9679 8000.
Continuing Professional Development
Practitioners are required to state on their practising certificate renewal form whether they have met their obligations under the Law Institute Continuing Professional Development Rules 2008.
If you have an exemption from the requirement to complete all or part of the 10 CPD points, and have completed the number of points including the compulsory fields you are required to complete after the exemption was granted, then you are considered to have met your obligations under the rules. Similarly, if you are a new or recommencing practitioner, you may not be required to undertake 10 units of CPD in order to meet your obligations.
If you have not met your obligations, your practising certificate will still be issued, however you may be subject to disciplinary action.
Suitability matters, and show cause events
Questions 12 and 13 on the renewal form require practitioners to disclose in writing suitability matters or show cause events that have not previously been disclosed to the LSB (or to the LIV as the LSB’s delegate). The renewal form notes provide extensive detail as to what kinds of matters you need to disclose.
Please note that LIV staff are unable to provide advice as to whether a particular matter should be disclosed. If you are in any doubt as to whether a particular matter should be disclosed, the best course of action is to disclose the matter.
The LIV General Manger of Professional Standards reviews all disclosures. You will be contacted directly if further information is required, or if a disclosed matter is likely to impact on your practising certificate. In many instances however, practising certificates will issue without any problems.
Your 2012-2013 practising certificate
Each practising certificate renewal application form that is lodged will be individually checked by LIV processing staff to ensure that it meets the criteria for the issuing of a practising certificate. Your certificate will be issued when your application passes all checks including payment of all fees, fulfilment of any outstanding trust audit obligations (only applies to practitioners authorised to receive trust), and payment of professional indemnity insurance as required by the Legal Profession Act 2004 (Vic). Applicants who lodge a fully completed renewal form by the 30 April due date should receive their certificate by the end of June 2012, in time for the new practising year.
Not renewing?
If you do not intend to renew your practising certificate, please tick the 'NO' box at Question 1 on the renewal application and amend your employment and preferred mailing address details and submit. If you are completing a paper form, return it to the LIV by the lodgement deadline. There is no requirement to complete the other questions on the form or to complete the declaration. Alternatively, you can notify the LIV Practitioner Information Centre in writing of your intention not to renew (see contact details below). Please also notify the LSB of the termination of your law practice and closing of your trust account (if applicable). This will complete your LSB practice record, and ensure that the LIV takes no further action to follow up the lodgement of your renewal application.
If your plans subsequently change, and you find that you do in fact need to renew you practising certificate, download a fresh renewal form from this website, complete the form, and lodge it with the LIV. If you lodge your application after the renewal deadline, you will not be subject to a late lodgment surcharge, as long as you had already notified the LIV in writing of your intention not to renew prior to the lodgment deadline. If you did not provide notification prior to the lodgment deadline, you will be required to pay any late lodgment surcharge. The surcharge may be refundable under special circumstances. See the information on Refund of Surcharges for further information.
Privacy
The Law Institute of Victoria is bound by the National Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy legislation. All personal information provided on renewal forms is treated confidentially.
The only information provided to third parties is information required under the Legal Profession Act 2004, and information authorised by the applicant in the privacy question at the end of the form.
Further information on renewals
The LIV website has detailed information on a range of practising certificate renewal matters including variation of practising certificate type, removal of the supervised legal practice condition, changes in practitioner details, Continuing Professional Development requirements, show cause events, and specific requirements for overseas practitioners. Further information is also available from the staff at the LIV Practitioner Information Centre:
Practitioners’ Information Centre
Law Institute of Victoria
470 Bourke Street
Melbourne 3000
Ph: 9607 9508
Fax: 9602 5270
Email: pcrenewals@liv.asn.au
LSB Online Support
Ph: 03 9679 8111
Email:
online@lsb.vic.gov.au
Website:
www.lsb.vic.gov.au