Application of Continuing Professional Development Units to the following CPD Year

 Position Statement 15 November 2023

Legal Profession Uniform Law (WA)

Rule 11 of the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015 provides that a maximum of 3 CPD units accrued in the period 1 January to 31 March in any CPD year may be carried forward into the following CPD year, but can only be counted in one CPD year.

The Rule is only applicable to legal practitioners who do not practice as or in the manner of a Barrister only.

It is the Board’s intention to enable legal practitioners, to whom the Rule applies, to carry forward a maximum of 3 CPD units accrued in the period 1 January to 31 March in any CPD year, commencing from the CPD year ending 31 March 2023. 

The Board is developing a framework to enable CPD units to be carried forward at the request of a legal practitioner.  The carrying forward of CPD units will be restricted to those CPD units considered by the Board to be excess to a legal practitioner’s CPD requirements in the relevant CPD year.

Any units carried forward have the same effect as if they were completed in that CPD year.

By way of example, a legal practitioner with 3 excess CPD units accrued in the period 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024 may carry forward those excess units into the 2025 CPD year as long as the transfer of those units does not adversely affect the practitioner’s CPD compliance in the 2024 CPD year. The excess units carried forward will apply to the practitioner’s CPD compliance in the 2025 CPD year.

It is anticipated that the online functionality and ability for a legal practitioner to carry forward CPD units will be in effect by February 2024. This should provide a legal practitioner with sufficient time to carry forward CPD units prior to 31 March 2024.

Definitions:
CPD means continuing professional development
CPD year means the year beginning on 1 April and ending on 31 March the following year 
CPD unit has the meaning given by rule 9 of the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015

Examples

EXAMPLE 1

Practitioner’s CPD

In this example the practitioner would be eligible to carry forward the maximum 3 CPD units (with potentially all 3 of those CPD units being interactive) from the 2024 CPD year into the 2025 CPD year.  

Explanation

As shown in the Practitioner’s CPD tables above, the practitioner has undertaken 3 CPD activities in the period 1 January to 31 March 2024 (carry forward period). 

These activities resulted in CPD units being allocated as follows: 

• 6 CPD units (interactive); 
• 1 CPD unit (non-interactive); and 
• 1.5 CPD units (interactive).

The practitioner may carry forward any of these CPD units, up to the maximum of 3, as the practitioner will remain compliant with the minimum CPD requirements for the 2024 CPD year (i.e. 6 interactive CPD units and a total of 10 CPD units with at least 1 CPD unit in each field), regardless of the CPD units chosen.

EXAMPLE 2

Practitioner’s CPD

In this example the practitioner would be eligible to carry forward 1 CPD unit (which may be interactive) from the 2024 CPD year into the 2025 CPD year.  

Explanation

As shown in the Practitioner’s CPD tables above, the practitioner has undertaken 5 CPD activities in the period 1 January to 31 March 2024 (carry forward period). 

These activities resulted in CPD units being allocated as follows: 

• 2 CPD units (interactive); 
• 1 CPD unit (non-interactive); 
• 1 CPD unit (non-interactive); 
• 1 CPD unit (non-interactive); and 
• 3 CPD units (interactive). 

As the practitioner has achieved a total of 11 CPD units with 7 of those CPD units being interactive and there is more than 1 CPD unit in each of the compulsory fields, the practitioner can carry forward the excess 1 CPD unit from any of these activities.  

EXAMPLE 3

Practitioner’s CPD

In this example the practitioner would not be eligible to carry forward any CPD units from the 2024 CPD year into the 2025 CPD year.

Explanation

As shown in the Practitioner’s CPD tables above, the practitioner has undertaken 1 CPD activity in the period 1 January to 31 March 2024 (carry forward period).

This activity resulted in CPD units being allocated as follows:

• 1 CPD unit (interactive);

As the practitioner can only carry forward those CPD units that are excess to the minimum CPD requirements in the relevant CPD year, the 1 CPD unit allocated in the carry forward period cannot be carried forward. If this CPD unit is carried forward, the practitioner will be non-compliant with the requirement to earn at least one CPD unit in the field of Ethics and Professional Responsibility.