FAQs

A Certificate of Satisfactory Completion and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. Provided you have completed all other academic requirements, you are then eligible to apply for admission to the legal profession as an Australian Lawyer of the Supreme Court of Victoria. If you wish to work in legal practice as a lawyer, you will then need to apply for a Practising Certificate from your relevant State regulator (e.g. the Legal Services Board of Victoria or the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia). You must complete ‘supervised practice’ as an employed legal practitioner before you are eligible for a full practising certificate. For further information about admission to practise, please see the website of the Victorian Legal Admissions Board or the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia.

No. You are continually assessed, based on the National Competency Standards for Entry Level Lawyers. The program replicates actual workplace practice, with the aim of making you ready to practise law efficiently and ethically in the interests of your clients.

No. At present, Leo Cussen is the only provider of full-time onsite PLT courses in Victoria. There is currently no full-time onsite course in Western Australia.

We have a longstanding reputation within the profession, also expressed tangibly in the number of Leo Cussen graduates who gain employment, and the number of practitioners who choose to pass on their knowledge and expertise here by working as instructors.

In simple terms, Leo Cussen runs two full-time onsite and online courses per year in Victoria, each lasting for 24 weeks – a relatively short, but intensive and challenging, program. There is also a Part-time Online course that follows the same format as the full-time online course, but which runs for 42 weeks, starting in January. There is currently one Online PLT course a year for Western Australian trainees, including 21 weeks of course work and 15 weeks of professional placement, as required by the WA Legal Practice Board. For detailed information, go to Important Information for Applicants, Course Dates page.

In the Onsite PLT in Melbourne, attendance is full-time, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and is compulsory. In the Online PLT offered from Melbourne and Perth, you must attend all 13 face-to-face onsite intensive contact days.  For further information on attendance, go to Course Dates.

Yes. FEE-HELP is available for both the Onsite and Online courses for eligible trainees.

You will run simulated client files (connected to our simulated Court Registry and Bank) to help you manage your introduction to legal practice within a safe environment while engaging with the realities of practice. We have a proven record with our practical courses in giving our graduates the skills and confidence required to make them work-ready.

Our overriding concern is ensuring that PLT trainees are guided through tasks to maximise their learning and prepare them as well as possible for entry to the profession. To that end, you are assigned a mentor who actively oversees your progress and supports your development as a lawyer.

With a combination of friendly, well-connected instructors, the intensity of undertaking challenging work in small groups, and a supportive, friendly environment, it is commonplace for our graduates to form lifelong friendships and professional connections.

Probably fewer than you would think. We appreciate that trainees will have good reason for preferring the convenience of online learning, but the major difference is obviously face-to-face contact. However, our online course includes 13 days of onsite contact – more than usual for a course like this – which we find helps in reinforcing the online learning.

Yes. Applicants must provide written reasons why their circumstances (family, work, health etc.) are particularly suited to part-time online training.

Onsite placement takes place at the end of the course, while online placement can take place during the course itself or after course work is completed, though we do limit the time within which the placement may be completed. We invite onsite trainees to nominate an area of interest and we make every endeavour to find you a placement in that area. Allocation of places is at the discretion of the Director PLT.

This is the other major area that differs between our onsite and online courses. Leo Cussen arranges professional placement only for onsite trainees. We find that online trainees prefer the autonomy of organising their own placement, which they can then schedule to suit their own timetables and commitments. However, our Graduate Placement and Careers Advisor may be able to assist online trainees who struggle to find a placement. Online PLT placements must be approved by the Director PLT.

We are frequently approached by firms or other organisations looking for a PLT graduate. Information about positions is circulated to the graduates on our Jobs Board. However, we do not function in the same way as an employment agency.

Employers who do not wish to employ an individual for a Supervised Legal Traineeship or Articled Clerkship may wish to sponsor you to complete PLT. The decision to sponsor is up to the particular firm or legal practice. Interested employers should contact Shirley Southgate, Director PLT:

Email: ssouthgate@leocussen.edu.au
Tel: (03) 9602 3111

The Onsite PLT course is full-time, so requires you to attend at Leo Cussen each weekday during business hours. Part-time work or study must not interfere with your full-time attendance or the standard of your work. If you are enrolled in the Online PLT full-time, you may work full-time or part-time but you must still commit to a minimum of 25 hours course work each week, plus 13 days onsite. In the part-time PLT course, you will need to commit to a minimum of 15 hours of course work each week and attend 13 days onsite over the 10 month period of the course.

Onsite trainees will receive a handbook at the commencement of the course. The handbook is made available to online trainees once they make final payment of tuition fees and receive their login to the learning portal. If you have enrolled email pltadmin@leocussen.edu.au to request a copy of the 2017 trainee course timetable.

Yes. Contact the PLT Administrator before making a deferral application. There is more information on deferrals in our Important Information for Applicants page.

In most cases, applicants in this situation forfeit their place on the PLT course and receive a refund of any part tuition payments they have already made. You will generally be subject to our Withdrawal Penalty, although in special cases this can be waived. To learn more, go to the Failed University Subjects and Withdrawal Penalties sections of the Important Information for Applicants page.

You will first have to undertake the Bar Readers’ Course. The Bar Readers’ Course runs twice each year, in March and September, and is a full-time 12-week course.  For further information, please contact the Victorian Bar.

Some university Masters programs in law, legal practice and global business law recognise the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (PLT) for the purpose of advanced standing or credit (sometimes referred to as ‘articulation’), but conditions vary. We encourage graduates to direct any queries to the relevant university.

You can find our Complaints Policy and Procedures here.

Leo Cussen meets all the tuition assurance requirements of the Higher Education Support Act 2003. For more information, read the Higher Education Provider Guidelines.

You are eligible to apply for either the onsite or online course, depending on your visa conditions. In our onsite course offered in Melbourne, we find the professional placement for international students. See below for more information on visas. The Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice is a CRICOS approved course with the provider number 02224A.

Any applicant whose LLB degree or equivalent is from outside Australia must have their qualifications for admission approved by the Victorian Legal Admissions Board or Legal Practice Board of Western Australia before applying for the course.

You must obtain a determination from the Victorian Legal Admissions Board or Legal Practice Board of Western Australia about any requirements for admission to the legal profession. If such a determination requires you to complete a course of Practical Legal Training, you may apply to Leo Cussen Centre for Law to complete this.

If you are on a bridging visa or other temporary residence visa with no restrictions on study, you may take the online course. However, it depends on the conditions of your visa, so if unsure you should check this with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection or seek advice from an agency. See below. Leo Cussen checks the visa at the application stage. Overseas students on a Student Visa are only eligible to study the full-time onsite course.

Australian citizens and applicants on a Permanent Humanitarian Visa are eligible to apply for FEE-HELP.

Yes. Find out more at The Department of Health.

You are required to pay a $500 part-tuition fee within one week of acceptance of your offer to secure your position. The balance of the tuition fee is due two weeks prior to the course start date. You may be able to pay the course fee by instalments but an application for permission to do so must be made in writing to the Director PLT no later than two weeks before the commencement of the course.

We can offer advice about our course, and assistance in what is best for you regarding onsite or online options, but you are required to arrange your visa yourself. The following resources can assist you:

• The Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) for details of registered migration agents who can help.
• Local law associations for each State often have a referral service that will connect you with lawyers who work in migration matters. In some cases the first 15-30 minutes are free. This may vary in each state so please check.
• The Department of Immigration and Border Protection

Contact our Overseas Student Coordinator, Fonda Gazis, for further advice and referrals:

Email: fgazis@leocussen.edu.au
Tel: 1300 039 031

You are not required to take an International English Language Test to enter PLT.

To view our most current list of fees, go to our Course Fees page.