{"id":"sr:legal-profession-uniform-law-application-practising-certificate-fees","name":"Legal Profession Uniform Law Application (Practising Certificate Fees) Regulations 2018","slug":"legal-profession-uniform-law-application-practising-certificate-fees-regulations-2018","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"vic","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":184197,"registerId":"vic-sr:legal-profession-uniform-law-application-practising-certificate-fees-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Legal Profession Uniform Law Application (Practising Certificate Fees) Regulations 2018","content":"Version No. 001\n\n**Legal Profession Uniform Law Application (Practising Certificate Fees) Regulations 2018**\n\n**S.R. No. 7/2018**\n\nVersion as at  \n1 March 2018\n\n**TABLE OF PROVISIONS**\n\n*Regulation Page*\n\n1 Objective 1\n\n2 Authorising provision 1\n\n3 Commencement 1\n\n4 Practising certificate fees until 30 June 2018 1\n\n5 Practising certificate fees from 1 July 2018 2\n\n═════════════\n\nEndnotes 5\n\n1 General information 5\n\n2 Table of Amendments 7\n\n3 Amendments Not in Operation 8\n\n4 Explanatory details 9\n\n**Version No.** **001**\n\n**Legal Profession Uniform Law Application (Practising Certificate Fees) Regulations 2018**\n\n**S.R. No. 7/2018**\n\nVersion as at  \n1 March 2018\n\n\t1 Objective\n\nThe objective of these Regulations is to prescribe fees to be paid for Australian practising certificates under the **Legal Profession Uniform Law Application  \nAct 2014** for the remainder of the 2017/2018 financial year and for the financial years 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2023/2024, 2024/2025, 2025/2026, 2026/2027 and 2027/2028.\n\n\t2 Authorising provision\n\nThese Regulations are made under section 156 of the **Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014**.\n\n\t3 Commencement\n\nThese Regulations come into operation on 1 March 2018.\n\n\t4 Practising certificate fees until 30 June 2018\n\n(1) For the purposes of section 73(1)(a) of the **Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014**, the prescribed fee for an Australian practising certificate for the financial year beginning on 1 July 2017 and ending on  \n30 June 2018 is—\n\n(a) for a practising certificate authorising the holder to receive trust money, 36·50 fee units;\n\n(b) for a practising certificate not authorising the holder to receive trust money, 24·71 fee units.\n\n(2) Despite subregulation (1), if an Australian practising certificate is only to be in force for part of the financial year referred to in subregulation (1), the fee for that practising certificate is—\n\n(a) in the case of a practising certificate  \nthat is to take effect between 1 March and 31 March—50% of the relevant prescribed fee;\n\n(b) in the case of a practising certificate that is to take effect between 1 April and 30 June—25% of the relevant prescribed fee.\n\n(3) A fee under subregulation (2) must be rounded to the nearest whole dollar.\n\n\t5 Practising certificate fees from 1 July 2018\n\n(1) This regulation applies to the following financial years—\n\n(a) 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019;\n\n(b) 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020;\n\n(c) 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021;\n\n(d) 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022;\n\n(e) 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023;\n\n(f) 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024;\n\n(g) 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025;\n\n(h) 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026;\n\n(i) 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027;\n\n(j) 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2028.\n\n(2) For the purposes of section 73(1)(a) of the **Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014**, the prescribed fee for an Australian practising certificate for a financial year to which this regulation applies is—\n\n(a) for a practising certificate for a principal  \nof a law practice that is a community legal service, 15·47 fee units;\n\n(b) for a practising certificate for a principal of any other law practice which authorises the holder to receive trust money, 43·04 fee units;\n\n(c) for a practising certificate for a principal of any other law practice which does not authorise the holder to receive trust money, 30·03 fee units;\n\n(d) for a practising certificate for an employee of a law practice that is a community legal service, 15·47 fee units;\n\n(e) for a practising certificate for an employee of any other law practice, 28·06 fee units;\n\n(f) for a practising certificate for a corporate legal practitioner, 16·88 fee units;\n\n(g) for a practising certificate for a government legal practitioner, 15·47 fee units;\n\n(h) for a practising certificate for a barrister, 24·33 fee units.\n\n(3) Despite subregulation (2), if an Australian practising certificate is only to be in force for part of a financial year, the fee for that practising certificate is—\n\n(a) in the case of a practising certificate  \nthat is to take effect between 1 July and 30 September—the relevant prescribed fee;\n\n(b) in the case of a practising certificate  \nthat is to take effect between 1 October and 31 December—75% of the relevant prescribed fee;\n\n(c) in the case of a practising certificate  \nthat is to take effect between 1 January and 31 March—50% of the relevant prescribed fee;\n\n(d) in the case of a practising certificate  \nthat is to take effect between 1 April and 30 June—25% of the relevant prescribed fee.\n\n(4) A fee under subregulation (3)(b), (c) or (d) must be rounded to the nearest whole dollar.\n\n═════════════\n\nEndnotes\n\n1 General information\n\nSee [www.legislation.vic.gov.au](http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au) for Victorian Bills, Acts and current Versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.\n\nThe Legal Profession Uniform Law Application (Practising Certificate Fees) Regulations 2018, S.R. No. 7/2018 were made on 6 February 2018 by the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Victorian Legal Services Board, under section 156 of the **Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014**, No. 17/2014 and came into operation on 1 March 2018: regulation 3.\n\nThe Legal Profession Uniform Law Application (Practising Certificate Fees) Regulations 2018, S.R. No. 7/2018 will sunset 10 years after the day of making on 6 February 2028 (see section 5 of the **Subordinate Legislation Act 1994**).\n\nINTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)\n\nStyle changes\n\nSection 54A of the ILA authorises the making of the style changes set out in Schedule 1 to that Act.\n\nReferences to ILA s. 39B\n\nSidenotes which cite ILA s. 39B refer to section 39B of the ILA which provides that where an undivided regulation, rule or clause of a Schedule is amended by the insertion of one or more subregulations, subrules or subclauses the original regulation, rule or clause becomes subregulation, subrule or subclause (1) and is amended by the insertion of the expression \"(1)\" at the beginning of the original regulation, rule or clause.\n\nInterpretation\n\nAs from 1 January 2001, amendments to section 36 of the ILA have the following effects:\n\n• Headings\n\nAll headings included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after  \n1 January 2001 form part of that Statutory Rule. Any heading inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Statutory Rule.  \nThis includes headings to Parts, Divisions or Subdivisions in a Schedule; Orders; Parts into which an Order is divided; clauses; regulations; rules; items; tables; columns; examples; diagrams; notes or forms.  \nSee section 36(1A)(2A)(2B).\n\n• Examples, diagrams or notes\n\nAll examples, diagrams or notes included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Statutory Rule. Any examples, diagrams or notes inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, form part of that Statutory Rule. See section 36(3A).\n\n• Punctuation\n\nAll punctuation included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after  \n1 January 2001 forms part of that Statutory Rule. Any punctuation inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Statutory Rule.  \nSee section 36(3B).\n\n• Provision numbers\n\nAll provision numbers included in a Statutory Rule form part of that Statutory Rule, whether inserted in the Statutory Rule before, on or after  \n1 January 2001. Provision numbers include regulation numbers, rule numbers, subregulation numbers, subrule numbers, paragraphs and subparagraphs. See section 36(3C).\n\n• Location of \"legislative items\"\n\nA \"legislative item\" is a penalty, an example or a note. As from 13 October 2004, a legislative item relating to a provision of a Statutory Rule is taken to be at the foot of that provision even if it is preceded or followed by another legislative item that relates to that provision. For example, if a penalty at the foot of a provision is followed by a note, both of these legislative items will be regarded as being at the foot of that provision. See section 36B.\n\n• Other material\n\nAny explanatory memorandum, table of provisions, endnotes, index and other material printed after the Endnotes does not form part of a Statutory Rule. See section 36(3)(3D)(3E).\n\n2 Table of Amendments\n\nThere are no amendments made to the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application (Practising Certificate Fees) Regulations 2018 by statutory rules, subordinate instruments and Acts.\n\n3 Amendments Not in Operation\n\nThere are no amendments which were Not in Operation at the date of this publication.\n\n4 Explanatory details\n\n**Fee Units**\n\nThese Regulations provide for fees by reference to fee units within the meaning of the **Monetary Units Act 2004**.\n\nThe amount of the fee is to be calculated, in accordance with section 7 of that Act, by multiplying the number of fee units applicable by the value of a fee unit.\n\nThe value of a fee unit for the financial year commencing 1 July 2017 is $14.22. The amount of the calculated fee may be rounded to the nearest 10 cents.\n\nThe value of a fee unit for future financial years is to be fixed by the Treasurer under section 5 of the **Monetary Units Act 2004**. The value of a fee unit for a financial year must be published in the Government Gazette and a Victorian newspaper before 1 June in the preceding financial year.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"These Regulations implement a schedule of practising‑certificate fees, prorating and rounding rules, and rely on fee units whose dollar value is set under the Monetary Units Act. They do not expand regulatory scope beyond prescribing fees and associated calculation mechanics and therefore do not change the statutory scope set by the authorising Act."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple practitioner categories with different fee‑unit rates (reg 5(2))","Separate transitional rates for remainder of 2017–18 (reg 4(1))","Prorating rules for part‑year certificates with different percentage bands (reg 4(2); reg 5(3))","Different rounding rules (nearest whole dollar for some fees — reg 4(3); reg 5(4); rounding to nearest 10 cents noted in explanatory details)","Dependence on fee units under the Monetary Units Act and Treasurer's annual fee‑unit setting (explanatory details; Monetary Units Act s5 and s7)","Reference to and operation under section 73(1)(a) of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (regs 4 and 5)","Multi‑year application (covers 2018–19 through 2027–28; reg 5(1))","Sunset timing and administrative publication requirements for fee‑unit values (endnotes & explanatory details)"],"plain_english_summary":"_These Regulations set fees for Australian practising certificates for the remainder of 2017–18 and for financial years 2018–19 to 2027–28, specifying fee‑unit amounts by practitioner category and prorating and rounding rules for part‑year certificates._ Amounts are converted to dollars using the Treasurer‑fixed fee‑unit value (Monetary Units Act); the rules therefore impose costs on certificate‑holders, create calculative and compliance tasks for applicants and regulators, and vest fee‑value setting in the Treasurer."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of prescribing practising certificate fees. While it covers an extended period (10 years of financial years), this is explicitly stated as the objective in Regulation 1 and does not represent scope creep. The detailed categorisation of lawyer types reflects necessary granularity for a fee schedule rather than expansion beyond the original intent."},"complexity_factors":["Simple structure with only 5 substantive regulations","Uses 'fee units' system requiring external calculation under Monetary Units Act 2004","Multiple categories of practitioners (8 distinct fee categories from 1 July 2018)","Pro-rata calculations with quarterly discount tiers (4 different percentage rates)","Rounding requirements (nearest whole dollar for pro-rata fees)","Transitional provisions covering partial financial year (March–June 2018) with different fee structure","Cross-reference to authorising Act (Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014) for context on practising certificates"],"plain_english_summary":"This legislation sets out how much lawyers in Victoria must pay for their annual practising certificates (licences to practise law) for the period from March 2018 through to June 2028.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Sets fees** for different types of lawyers based on their role and whether they handle client money held in trust (trust money).\n- **Differentiates fees** between:\n  - Principals (law firm owners/partners) vs employees\n  - Those who handle trust money vs those who don't\n  - Community legal centres vs private firms\n  - Corporate lawyers, government lawyers, and barristers (court advocates)\n\n**Key fee structure from 1 July 2018:**\n- **Community legal service lawyers** (principals and employees): 15.47 fee units\n- **Private firm principals** handling trust money: 43.04 fee units\n- **Private firm principals** not handling trust money: 30.03 fee units\n- **Private firm employees**: 28.06 fee units\n- **Corporate lawyers**: 16.88 fee units\n- **Government lawyers**: 15.47 fee units\n- **Barristers**: 24.33 fee units\n\n**Pro-rata discounts:**\nLawyers who get their certificate part-way through the financial year pay reduced fees:\n- July–September: Full fee\n- October–December: 75% of fee\n- January–March: 50% of fee\n- April–June: 25% of fee\n\n**Fee units explained:**\nThe fees are expressed in \"fee units\" rather than dollar amounts. The actual dollar amount is calculated by multiplying the fee units by the value of a fee unit (set at $14.22 for 2017/18 and adjusted annually by the Treasurer). This allows fees to keep pace with inflation without needing new legislation each year.\n\n**Who it affects:**\nAll lawyers practising in Victoria who hold an Australian practising certificate under the national uniform law system.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis determines the cost of maintaining a legal practice licence for a decade, affecting law firm overheads and individual practitioners' expenses. The tiered structure recognises that community lawyers and government lawyers typically earn less than private practitioners, while principals who handle client money pay more due to higher regulatory oversight requirements."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on the available content, the regulation appears to remain focused on its original and narrow purpose: setting practising certificate fees under the Legal Profession Uniform Law framework. There is no indication of scope expansion beyond that administrative function."},"complexity_factors":["The document as provided contains minimal substantive content — mostly version history metadata rather than actual regulatory text","The underlying subject matter (fee-setting regulations) is inherently straightforward compared to substantive law reform","Operates within a pre-existing legal framework (Legal Profession Uniform Law), so readers need some familiarity with that parent legislation","Limited cross-referencing complexity discernible from the available text"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set the fees lawyers must pay to obtain or renew a practising certificate under the Legal Profession Uniform Law. They affect individual lawyers, law firms that may pay on their behalf, and the regulatory bodies that collect the fees.\n\nThey matter because a practising certificate is legally required to provide legal services, the fees fund regulation of the profession, and non‑payment risks loss of the right to practise."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/legal-profession-uniform-law-application-practising-certificate-fees-regulations-2018","history":"/api/acts/legal-profession-uniform-law-application-practising-certificate-fees-regulations-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/legal-profession-uniform-law-application-practising-certificate-fees-regulations-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/legal-profession-uniform-law-application-practising-certificate-fees-regulations-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/legal-profession-uniform-law-application-practising-certificate-fees-regulations-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/legal-profession-uniform-law-application-practising-certificate-fees-regulations-2018/documents"}}