New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

LEGAL PROFESSION REGULATION 2005 - REG 11

11 Manner of application for local practising certificate-section 46 of the Act

(1) An application for the grant or renewal of a local practising certificate must be in a form that is approved by the appropriate Council, and signed by the applicant, and (subject to any determination under subclause (4A)) must provide or be accompanied by the following:

(a) the name of the applicant, together with the applicant’s residential address and personal telephone number,

(b) the name of any law practice of which the applicant is an associate,

(c) particulars of any incorporated legal practice of which the applicant is an officer or employee, including its Australian Company Number (ACN) and the names of the directors of the incorporated legal practice,

(d) the address of the office or offices at which the applicant practises or provides legal services and, if more than one office, an indication as to which of those addresses is that of the principal office,

(e) in the case of an applicant who is a member of, or employed by, a partnership or is an officer or employee of an incorporated legal practice-the address of the office or offices at which the partnership or incorporated legal practice practises or provides legal services and, if more than one office, an indication as to which of those addresses is that of the principal office,

(f) in the case of an applicant who is employed otherwise than by a partnership or incorporated legal practice-the name of the employer and the address of the principal office of the employer,

(g) the telephone number, facsimile number (if any) and email address (if any) of the applicant at the office or offices at which the applicant practises or provides legal services,

(h) the number of the DX box (if any) that is used by the applicant,

(i) if the applicant does not have a DX box in New South Wales, the name of the applicant’s Sydney agent (if any),

(j) if the applicant has been convicted of any offence (other than an excluded offence)-the nature of the offence,

(k) if a show cause event has happened in relation to the applicant-details of the event,

(l) if a pre-admission event has happened in relation to the applicant-details of the event,

(m) if:

(i) the applicant is a legal practitioner director of an incorporated legal practice, and

(ii) a financial report and director’s report is required to be prepared in respect of the incorporated legal practice under section 292 of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth,

a copy of those reports (being the reports most recently lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission),

(n) the date of the applicant’s admission as an Australian lawyer and the jurisdiction in which the applicant was admitted.

(2) Subclause (1) (j):

(a) applies to an offence committed in New South Wales or to an offence committed outside New South Wales (so long as it would have been an offence, other than an excluded offence, if committed in New South Wales), and

(b) applies to a conviction even if other persons are prohibited from disclosing the identity of the offender, and

(c) extends to an indictable offence committed before 1 October 2005 (and so extends whether the conviction occurred before, on or after that date), and

(d) extends to an offence (other than an indictable offence) committed after 8 March 1991, and

(e) does not apply to a conviction previously disclosed to the appropriate Council:

(i) under section 55 (Statutory condition regarding notification of offence) of the Act, or

(ii) under Division 7 (Special powers in relation to local practising certificates-show cause events) of Part 2.4 of the Act, or

(iii) in an application for a practising certificate under the new Act or the old Act, or

(iv) under clause 133 (Duty to report offences) of the former Legal Profession Regulation 2002 .

(3) Neither paragraph (k) or (l) of subclause (1) requires the disclosure of any information previously disclosed to the appropriate Council:

(a) under Division 7 (Special powers in relation to local practising certificates-show cause events) of Part 2.4 of the Act, or

(b) in an application for a practising certificate under the new Act or the old Act, or

(c) under clause 134 (Duty to report bankruptcy) of the former Legal Profession Regulation 2002 .

(4) Both paragraphs (k) and (l) of subclause (1) apply to events whether occurring before or after the commencement of this clause.

(4A) A Council may determine that applications made to it for the grant or renewal of a local practising certificate by specified applicants or by applicants of a specified class need not provide, or be accompanied by, particulars of a specified kind that would otherwise be required by subclause (1), if:

(a) the Council reasonably believes that special circumstances warrant the particulars not being disclosed to it (for example, on privacy, safety or security grounds), and

(b) the Council considers that the public interest and administrative convenience in having the particulars disclosed to it are outweighed by any individual interest in the particulars not being disclosed.

(4B) If a Council determines under subclause (4A) that particulars of an applicant’s residential address need not be disclosed, the application must include or be accompanied by a statement:

(a) indicating whether or not the applicant resides in Australia, and

(b) specifying the jurisdiction in which the applicant resides if the applicant indicates that he or she resides in Australia.

(5) In this clause, "offence" includes a tax offence.