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Education and Training
Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD)
The requirements for complying with MCPD are detailed in the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Guidelines.
What CPD does the Law Society offer?
Questions and answers about MCPD
How to get help
Key points about MCPD:
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MCPD will commence in the ACT from 1 July 2010.
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MCPD will only apply to practising certificate holders. Members who are only associate members only (and who do not require practising certificates) will not have to comply with MCPD. MCPD will be imposed as a condition on practising certificates issued for the period 1 July 2010 onwards.
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In the period 1 July 2010 to 31 March 2011, practitioners must complete 7 CPD units (MCPD Guidelines, para 2.4(a)). However, the Society will also allow practitioners to count, towards that requirement, CPD units undertaken between 1 April and 30 June 2010.
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In the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, practitioners must complete 10 CPD units, and the same in subsequent CPD years which run 1 April to 31 March (MCPD Guidelines, para 2.4(b)). In those CPD years, practitioners will also be able to carry over CPD units from the last 3 months (1 January to 31 March) from the previous CPD year) into the upcoming CPD year so long as those CPD units were not counted in that previous CPD year, eg. For the CPD year 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, practitioners will be entitled to carry over CPD units completed between 1 January 2011 and 31 March 2011 so long as those CPD units were not counted for the CPD period 1 July 2010 to 31 March 2011. (See para 2.3 in the MCPD Guidelines.)
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Of the minimum number of CPD units which must be undertaken each CPD year, those units must include no less than 1 units drawn from each of the 3 core areas: (i) practical legal ethics; (ii) practice management and business skills; and (iii) professional skills (see para 2.5 in the MCPD Guidelines).
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CPD units do not need to be accredited. Rather, it is simply up to practitioners to assure themselves that the CPD units meet the requirements specified in the MCPD Guidelines (see paras 2.7 and 2.8 in the MCPD Guidelines). However, practitioners are welcome to contact the Law Society with any queries about whether a unit would count for CPD purposes.
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Practitioners must maintain their own records of attendance (MCPD Guidelines, para 2.14). Practitioners will not, as a matter of course, need to submit records of attendance to the Law Society. However, the Society could require a practitioner to provide such records, including in the event of an audit (MCPD Guidelines. para 2.16).
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