CPD Requirements for NT lawyers

The Law Society of the NT’s mandatory CPD scheme is set out in full in Schedule 2 of the Legal Profession Regulations (NT).  Failure to comply with the requirements of the CPD scheme may amount to unsatisfactory professional conduct and/or professional misconduct under the Legal Profession Act (NT).

CPD Activities

Under the Law Society of the NT’s CPD scheme, a CPD activity must:

• be of significant intellectual or practical content;
• primarily cover matters of substantive law or legal practice competencies;
• be aimed at increasing or updating the substantive law or legal practice competencies of legal practitioners; and
• be given by a person who is qualified by practical or academic experience in the subject covered.

NT practitioners can earn CPD points for participating in CPD activities relevant to the practitioners’ current and future needs to engage in legal practice.

A CPD activity must consist of one of the activities set out in clause 2(1) of Schedule 2 of the Legal Profession Regulations (NT) to comply with the Law Society of the NT’s CPD scheme.

LawCPD’s online CPD courses are classified as a multimedia or website based program under clause 2(1).  This means that NT practitioners can earn 1 CPD unit per hour and up to 6 CPD units annually by completing LawCPD’s online legal CPD courses.

Annual Requirements

According the Law Society of the NT’s CPD scheme, practitioners must earn a minimum of 12 CPD points every CPD year (1 April – 31 March annually).

NT practitioners must earn a minimum of 4 CPD points in the compulsory competency area – Legal Practice.  Practitioners must also earn CPD points in the substantive law competency area.

LawCPD has allocated competency areas to each course on the website to assist practitioners with the task of identifying which courses fall within the different competencies.

Record Keeping and Auditing

Under the Law Society of the NT’s CPD scheme, practitioners must maintain a record of their CPD activities.  Practitioners must retain some supporting documentation to support their CPD record.

At the end of each CPD year, practitioners are required to declare whether or not they have complied with the Law Society of the NT’s CPD scheme by completing a record sheet and declaration form. 

The Law Society of the NT conducts annual random audits of practitioners’ CPD records to monitor compliance with the CPD scheme.  If a practitioner is selected for audit, they will need to provide supporting documentation to the Law Society of the NT to verify that they have complied with the CPD scheme.

LawCPD provides practitioners with a personalised page (MyCPD) which tracks all their learning in real time and provides a record of all CPD points earned through LawCPD.   Practitioners can print a copy of this page and provide it to the Law Society of the NT in the event that they are audited for compliance with the CPD scheme.

LawCPD also provides printable certificates for each course completed which can be downloaded from the MyCPD page.  These certificates may also be provided to prove compliance with the CPD scheme if the practitioner is audited by the Law Society of the NT.

Further Information

For full details of the Law Society of the NT’s CPD scheme and the requirements for NT practitioners, visit the Law Society of the NT’s website.