Practising certificates frequently asked questions

Under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (WA), all Australian lawyers must hold a current practising certificate, issued by the Board or by the regulatory authority in another Australian jurisdiction, to be entitled engage in legal practice in Western Australia. 

A practising certificate may be granted or renewed by the Board after an application is made, accompanied by the correct documents and fees. 

We aim to complete an application for the grant of an Australian practising certificate within 30 days of receipt of a complete application.

We aim to issue renewed Australian practising certificates, renewed within the standard renewal period, before 30 June each year.

Contact the jurisdiction you are moving to for their practising requirements. 

If you are not renewing your practising certificate in Western Australia, please advise us. Please include the date you ceased or will cease practising in Western Australia, as well as your updated contact details. 

If you plan on applying for a practising certificate in Western Australia in the future, please email enquiries@lpbwa.com

If you will not be engaging in legal practice, there is no requirement to hold a practising certificate.  Please advise us if you wish to suspend or cancel your Australian practising certificate, or do not intend to renew your Australian practising certificate, and include any updated contact details.

An Australian practising certificate can be renewed only during the standard renewal period (1 May to 31 May) and late renewal period (1 June through to 31 December) as specified by the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Regulations 2022. A late renewal requires a different prescribed fee. If you choose not to relinquish your Australian practising certificate or have it suspended, you will need to make an application for the renewal of your Australian practising certificate in the ordinary manner.

If you have cancelled or not renewed your Australian practising certificate, you can apply for the grant of an Australian practising certificate when you are intending to return to practice. 

See also the FAQs regarding CPD and parental leave.

The SGF is the Solicitors’ Guarantee Fund contribution. All legal practitioners pay an annual contribution of $50 to the SGF (in addition to the prescribed fee) when applying for their annual practising certificate, unless they are:

• practising as, or in the manner of, a barrister only
• a government legal practitioner 
• a corporate legal practitioner.

This fee is Western Australia’s contribution to the Legal Services Council to manage the Legal Profession Uniform Law Framework. All legal practitioners pay an additional annual contribution of $30 when applying for their Australian practising certificate, unless they are:

• a government legal practitioner or Solicitor General (WA)
• a volunteer at a community legal service or otherwise working pro bono only.

It may be because your existing password doesn’t meet our minimum requirements. Your password must have at least 10 characters and must include at least one upper case, one lower case and one numeric character.

Instructions for resetting your password, or if you have forgotten your password, are available at the Service Hub login.

If you still can’t login, please email us on enquiries@lpbwa.com with the subject line Service Hub Access Issue. Please include your full name as it appears on the Roll of Practitioners, and your Practitioner ID.

If you still cannot login, you can always download an application for a practising certificate and submit it by hand to our office at 6/111 St Georges Tce, Perth during normal business hours, or by email to enquiries@lpbwa.com or by post to PO Box 5720, St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6831.

Email enquiries@lpbwa.com with the subject line Service Hub Apply or Renew Option Missing.

Include your full name as it appears on the Roll of Practitioners, your Practitioner ID and daytime contact number.

If an error message displays at any stage of the practising certificate application processes, email us on enquiries@lpbwa.com with the subject line Service Hub PC Application Error.

Please include your full name as it appears on the Roll of Practitioners, your Practitioner ID, the question number you were completing at the time the error message appeared, the time the problem occurred and, if possible, a screenshot of the message

Send us an email on enquiries@lpbwa.com with the subject line Service Hub PC Application Question Error.

Please include your full name as it appears on the Roll of Practitioners, your Practitioner ID, the question number you were completing at the time the error message appeared, the time the problem occurred and, if possible, a screenshot of the message.

If you submitted your application online you should have received a confirmation email and a copy of the form as submitted.

If you did not receive either an email or a copy of the form as submitted, email us on enquries@lpbwa.com with the subject line Service Hub PC Submission Query.

Please include your full name as it is on the Roll of Practitioners, and your Practitioner ID.

Yes, as long as payment is made within 14 days of submission of the application form. However, the application is incomplete without payment, and will not be processed until full payment has been received

(Late fees will not apply if you submit your application between 1 May and 31 May inclusive.)

ONLINE PAYMENTS

You can pay using Visa or MasterCard. The payment will be confirmed at the time of payment.

EFT PAYMENTS

In the payment reference, please use your Practitioner ID and your surname as it is on the Roll of Practitioners. Please do not use the reference ‘practising certificate’ or ‘PC’.

Send an email to enquiries@lpbwa.com with the subject line, ID [your Practitioner ID] PC Renewal Payment Transaction Details, confirming the payment transaction details that will help us allocate payment. Please include your full name as it is on the Roll of Practitioners.

INTERNATIONAL EFT PAYMENTS

Please pay in Australian Dollars.

Please send an email to enquiries@lpbwa.com with the subject line, ID [your Practitioner ID] PC Renewal Payment Transaction Details, confirming the payment transaction details that will help us allocate payment. Please include your full name as it is on the Roll of Practitioners.

OTHER PAYMENT QUERIES

The Board does not take credit card payments over the phone, or accept cash. Make cheques payable to the Legal Practice Board.

Firm payments for practitioner applications

ONLINE PAYMENTS

Your firm’s representative can access the Service Hub and make payments using Visa or MasterCard for practitioners who have submitted an application for a practising certificate.

EFT PAYMENTS

Your firm’s representative can make payment by EFT. For your firm’s payment to be applied to your practising certificate application, please use your firm’s name as payment reference.

Additionally, if there are multiple payments, please send an email to accounts@lpbwa.com with payment advice listing all the practitioners the payment applies to. The list must include each practitioner’s full name and Practitioner ID.

Firm representative payment queries

PRACTITIONER LISTINGS

When logged into the Service Hub under Manage Firm, if you find the list:

• includes practitioners who no longer work for the firm 
• does not include practitioners who currently work for the firm

please send an email to enquiries@lpbwa.com with the subject line [Firm Name] Practitioner Listing.

Please state the full name and practitioner ID of each practitioner and the date they left the firm; or started, or will start, at your firm.

UNABLE TO SELECT A PRACTITIONER TO MAKE A PAYMENT

A practitioner’s application status must be ‘awaiting payment’, before they can be selected to pay the fee.

If they still cannot be selected, please send an email enquiries@lpbwa.com with the subject line [Firm Name] Practitioner Listing.

Please state the full name and practitioner ID of each practitioner affected.

If a practitioner’s status is ‘incomplete’, they have not submitted the application. Please advise the practitioner to log back online and click ‘submit application’.

 
Receipt/tax invoices

All practising certificate application fees are GST exempt.

Practising certificate applications submitted online will have a tax invoice available on the Service Hub. Your firm’s representatives can also access the tax invoice.  

If you cannot access the tax invoice or you did not apply online, please email enquiries@lpbwa.com for a tax invoice, with the subject line PC Application Tax Invoice Request.

Please include your full name as it is on the Roll of Practitioners, and your Practitioner ID.

The date of ‘commencement of employment’ is the date you started at the law practice in your current position.

For example, if you started as an employed solicitor and you are still in that role, it is the date you started at the law practice in that role. If you are now practising as a principal at that same law practice, it is the date you started as a principal.

Email any further questions to enquiries@lpbwa.com Please include your full name, including any middle names.

All legal practitioners must confirm their practice details to make sure they appear correctly on the register of Australian legal practitioners. 

Practice details can now be updated while applying for your practising certificate. Please follow the prompts.

If you have already submitted your application, please send an email to enquiries@lpbwa.com with the correct practice details.

If you have difficulty completing the form, please send an email to enquiries@lpbwa.com outlining your issues. Please include your full name, including any middle names.

Please email enquiries@lpbwa.com

If you have already submitted your application, please list your amendments to the application.

If you have not submitted your application, please state the problem, the time the problem occurred, and the details of the last question you completed.

Please send an email to enquiries@lpbwa.com with the contact details of the law practice, your position at the law practice, and the date you started in that position.

Please include your full name, including any middle names, and your Practitioner ID.

Please send an email to enquries@lpbwa.com with the contact details of each law practice in which you are working, detailing your separate positions and the date in which you commenced in those positions.

Please include your full name, including any middle names, and your Practitioner ID.

You will be notified if you are covered by, or exempt from, PII.

Though the Board is unable to confirm individual PII exemptions until any relevant application has been processed. The Board will contact you if further information is needed or a PII exemption cannot be granted. 

If you are required to have PII in Western Australia, please contact Law Mutual (WA) on (08) 9481 3111 or info@lawmutualwa.com.au for further information.

Law Mutual will advise the Board directly once you are covered by PII.

Applying for an exemption from being covered by PII through the mandatory insurance scheme is now part of the application for a practising certificate. 

The application includes categories of exemption, based on your employment status. Payment of the PII fee is included in the total invoice. 

If you complete an application for exemption from being covered by PII through the mandatory insurance scheme, you do not need to complete an additional form.

Please check the Board’s Continuing Professional Development Management System (CPDMS). 

If you do not have your login or password, click on the ‘login now’ button and follow the prompts. 

For more information, check the CPD Frequently Asked Questions. 

Email enquiries@lpbwa.com with any further questions. Please include your full name, including any middle names, and your Practitioner ID.

Please check the Board’s Continuing Professional Development Management System (CPDMS). 

If you do not have your login or password, click on the ‘login now’ button and follow the prompts. 

For more information, check the CPD Frequently Asked Questions. 

Email enquiries@lpbwa.com with any further questions. Please include your full name, including any middle names, and your Practitioner ID.

No. You can include CPD units or points only after the Board accredits or approves your application. You should answer ‘no’ to the CPD question and state that you are awaiting the outcome of an application.

These information sources may be helpful.

• CPD Frequently Asked Questions
• CPD Guidelines
• Downloadable forms available on the Board’s website
• Guidelines for the allocation of topics to CPD fields and categories

Email enquiries@lpbwa.com with any further questions. Please include your full name, including any middle names, and your Practitioner ID.

Refer to the Board’s website under Legal Profession > Practice Management

See the Disclosure Guidelines page.

(‘Show cause’ events that have previously been disclosed in writing to the Board do not need to be disclosed again.) 

See the Disclosure Guidelines.

(Suitability matters that have previously been disclosed in writing to the Board do not need to be disclosed again – except for pending (or unresolved) complaints.)

Yes. Applicants for the grant or renewal of a practising certificate must disclose a spent conviction to the Board (Section 22, read with section 12 of Schedule 3 of the Spent Convictions Act 1988).

(Except that you do not need to disclose spent convictions that have previously been disclosed in writing to the Board.)

Yes. You must always disclose an unresolved complaint made against you, even if it has previously been disclosed to the Board. This includes complaints, investigations, charges or orders, or their equivalents with interstate or overseas bodies. 

Each Australian practising certificate has either the condition that the holder ‘is authorised to receive trust money’, or ‘is not authorised to receive trust money’.

For more information, see the Trust Accounts page. 

Tick the box and tell the Review and Audit team at enquries@lpbwa.com about the issue. Ensure ‘Trust Account’ is in the subject field.

Tick in the box [   ] and tell the Review and Audit team at enquries@lpbwa.com about the issue. Ensure that ‘Trust Account’ is in the subject field.

Tell the Review and Audit team at enquries@lpbwa.com about the issue. Ensure that ‘Trust Account’ is in the subject field.

Select ‘Interstate External Examiner (Auditor)’.