9 April 2018
In NSW, the three-year transitional period under the Uniform Law for those who were not admitted and commenced work as a government lawyer after 1 July 2015 is coming to an end on 30 June 2018. Therefore these government lawyers working in NSW have until 30 June 2018 to gain admission and obtain a practising certificate if they intend to continue to engage in legal practice.
A government lawyer is defined in the Uniform Law as "an officer or employee of a government authority, or a holder of a statutory office", who engages in legal practice.
Exemptions:
A government lawyer engaged in purely policy work does not require a PC as this work is excluded from the definition of "engage in legal practice" (section 6 UL).
The Uniform Rules also exempt persons acting in an official capacity undertaking certain work (UGR 10). Some examples are:
In Victoria, this arrangement has applied to government lawyers since 1 October 2015. For more information, see our Government Lawyers information sheet (PDF, 417.8 KB).
11 Oct 2022