Timeframe

Update: Queensland Law Society lodges submission in response to Draft Bill and Rules – 12 August 2010

Queensland Law Society has lodged its submission to the National Legal Profession Reform Taskforce in response to the draft Bill and Rules. Find out more.

Update: Draft Legal Profession National Law and Rules released – 14 May 2010

The draft National Profession Law and Rules have been presented to COAG and released for a public consultation period of three months, ending on 13 August 2010.

Update: National legal profession reform – 26 February 2010

Today, the Federal Attorney-General addressed the Law Society of Western Australia on the topic of national legal profession reform.

Of major interest are:

A changed timeframe

  • The Attorney now proposes to present the Draft National Profession Bill and Rules to the April 11 meeting of COAG. The Rules will be subordinate to the National Law, and will include matters which currently might be found in regulations.
  • COAG will be requested to agree in general terms to the package, subject to consultation.
  • The Draft Bill and Rules will then be available for public consultation and comment from the Consultative Group and the profession.
  • The Attorney will then bring back to COAG the finalised package after consultation, together with an Intergovernmental Agreement for signature.

This means that release of the package, and consultation on it, is unlikely to start prior to 11 April.

The Proposed National Bill will

  • be less than 200 pages long
  • be outcomes based – that is principles based rather than prescriptive
  • allow for national practising certificates, including national renewal systems and types
  • support a co-regulatory system with a central, but not exclusive, role for the profession and its representative associations
  • national rules will be developed in close consultation with the legal profession prior to approval by the States and Territories through SCAG

The National Legal Services Board

  • will comprise up to seven members appointed by SCAG, with the Law Council of Australia and the Council of Chief Justices each having one nominee appointed
  • members will also have regulatory and consumer protection experience
  • members will not be “representative” of particular interests or constituents

National Legal Services Ombudsman

  • will perform compliance and complaints handling
  • ensure nationally consistent administration and enforcement of law and rules
  • may collect information and data on complaints
  • will provide an annual report to the board on national statistics and systemic issues, and may develop tools to support practitioners
  • will provide a process to support quick, cheap and effective conciliation of consumer complaints

These two national bodies would:

  • be jointly established by States and Territories, and would be accountable to the jurisdictions through SCAG.
  • delegate many functions back to local entities nominated by State and Territory Governments.

This means that local entities would continue to undertake compliance and complaint-handling functions.

Financial matters

  • There is no proposal to change the management of Fidelity Funds.
  • Interest accrued on national (multijurisdictional) trust accounts will be distributed back to local funds under a proposed model
  • Funding for the new system will remain in State and Territory hands
  • ACIL Tasman has been commissioned to analyse the regulatory and economic costs and benefits of the proposals, to assist States and Territories to assess the proposals on funding structures, leading to an acceptable Intergovernmental Agreement.
  • The speech contains no reference to professional indemnity insurance, and it is assumed that the status quo may remain.