Frequently Asked Questions

You should refrain from providing incorrect responses to application questions, or uploading draft or dummy documents to enable you to proceed through the admission application before ready to do so as this can result in a delay in your admission.

All applications for admission must be made on the VLAB website via the VLAB online application portal (External link).

If you are unsure of which application category you fall under please email vlab@justice.vic.gov.au (External link) for advice before proceeding.

The online application portal will assist you to:

• make application for a compliance certificate;
• save and edit your application as often as you wish;
• guide you through the requirements of the admission process;
• view the status of your application; and
• receive emails about the progress of your application.

It is recommended that you commence your application a minimum of 2 months prior to your intended admission date. 

There are two options for admission:

• in-person in a ceremony, or
• on the papers.

All applicants must select a preferred mode of admission as part of their application.   

If you select the option to be admitted in-person, you will need to show up in person for the ceremony and you will be required to brief an Australian lawyer to move your admission. The Supreme Court of Victoria conducts admission ceremonies monthly throughout the year. Upon completion and payment of your application, you will be automatically assigned to the earliest available ceremony date and time. There is limited availability at in-person ceremonies and numbers are subject to change at short notice. Spaces for ceremonies may fill up well in advance and you are not guaranteed allocation into a ceremony of your choosing.  

If you select the option to be admitted on the papers, you will be required to file an affidavit and will be admitted in your absence via order of the Honourable Chief Justice.  Paper admissions do not require attendance. After a person has been admitted on the papers, VLAB will notify applicants via email and the Supreme Court Registry will then send out the hard copy admission certificate via postal mail.

You must complete the online workbook for all competencies completed in-house. When completing the online workbook, you are restricted to 500 characters for each competency. Please summarize only or you will not be able to progress to the next section. For all competencies completed at an external PLT provider you must arrange for the provider to email a completion certificate to VLAB at vlabdocuments@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

No.  VLAB requires your academic transcript to be emailed to us directly from your University.  Alternatively, you can share the My eQuals link with us.

No.  VLAB requires your official transcript to be emailed to us directly from your University or you can share the My eQuals link with us.

If you studied law at more than one tertiary institution and have been granted exemptions or credit in any areas of knowledge set out in Schedule 1 of the Rules, you must provide an academic transcript from each institution where you have studied, in addition to the institution which awarded the qualification. 

All transcripts are required to enable the Board to confirm that any exemptions or credits meet the current academic areas of knowledge.

If any previous exemptions or credits do not satisfy the academic areas of knowledge set out in Schedule 1 of the Rules or have not been undertaken in an accredited Australian law course, you may be required to reprise the subject to satisfy the academic requirements for admission.

Any applicant who relies on an academic or practical legal training qualification that is over five years old must be assessed by VLAB.

If your academic or practical legal training qualifications were completed more than five years ago, you will need to apply for an assessment of your qualifications.

An application can be made via the VLAB online application portal (External link).

You should set out the circumstances surrounding the delay in applying for admission.  You should provide details and evidence of further law related study and/or experience and attach a certified copy of your academic records (transcript or Academic Graduation Statement) and an up-to-date curriculum vitae.

You cannot proceed with your application until your qualifications have been assessed.

Further information can be found in the Guide for Qualification Assessment (External link).

To be considered for concurrent study you must have completed, and received the results, for all of the Priestley 11 subjects and have no more than two electives remaining to complete your law degree.

Concurrent study applications can be made on the VLAB website via the VLAB online application portal (External link).

To apply you will need to create an online application

• select PLTC application type;
• proceed to step 3, answer YES to the first question “Have you commenced a PLT prior to completion of your academic studies?”; and
• NO to the second question “Have you sought and obtained pre-approval of your concurrent study from VLAB?”.

A field will open where you are required to upload a copy of your academic transcript or statement of results and a letter from your university confirming the remaining subject/s to complete your law degree.

In addition, you will need to provide information about your PLT provider and intended commencement date.

Please note your concurrent study application will not be considered until the required documents have been uploaded to your online application.

If you intend to commence PLT you should ensure that you application is submitted to VLAB a minimum of 10 business days prior to commencement of your course.

Further information can be found in the Guide for Concurrent Study (External link).

Every applicant for admission must provide a Police Report which has been issued in Australia. The Report shows whether you have any criminal history in Australia. 

You must disclose Spent convictions when applying for admission as a lawyer.

You are required to obtain a Police Report issued by Victoria Police. You should order your Report when you commence your online application, allow 4-6 weeks to receive the Report.

It must: 

1. be dated no earlier than six months prior to the date your admission application is received; and
2. include all previous names by which you have been known.

Applicants who reside in Australia must obtain a Police Report via Victoria Police only.  Any other forms of police reports will not be accepted.  This can be found at:  https://www.police.vic.gov.au/national-police-records-checks#apply-for-a-national-police-check (External link) and follow the steps below.

Online National Police Check

In partnership with Service Victoria, Victoria Police have launched an online national police checking service. If you meet certain criteria, your identity and ID documents will be verified electronically and you will be provided with a PDF certificate via email.

To do the check fully online you'll need at least 3 documents, including one photo ID.

To begin, you must have two of the following documents:

• Australian birth certificate
• Australian passport (current or expired less than 3 years)
• Australian driver licence (current)
• Foreign passport (with linked Australian visa)
• ImmiCard
• Australian citizenship certificate

If you don't meet the criteria or do not wish to transact online, please apply for a national police check via the steps below:

National Police Report via Post Application Instructions

• Section A: Type of check required - Select National Name Check
• Section B: Details of applicant - Ensure correct details are provided
• Section C: Current, postal and previous residential address/es – Ensure correct details are provided
• Section D: Payment provider – If your employer is paying for the police report check the Yes box, this section must then be completed by your employer, then go to Section E. If you are paying for the police report check the No box and go straight to Section E.
• Section E: Purpose of check - Choose Option 1 Employment or occupational licensing purposes, select Legal Admission. (If you select any other option, we will not accept your police report).
• Section F: Certification, authorisation and statement of consent and indemnity – Insert your name but do not sign or date the form.
• Section G: Proof of identity - You must provide a minimum of two (2) types of identification from the list with a minimum total of 100 points, including at least one type of photo ID from category A.

You must complete the Proof of Identify list and details. 

You are required to print the application form once it has been completed and take it to a certifier with your original proof of identity documents and a copy of your proof of identity documents.     A list of persons able to certify your identity documents is listed on Page 3 of the application.  You must sign and date Section F in the presence of the certifier.  The certifier must also sign and date each copy of your proof of identity documents (100 points) and complete and sign the Certifier Use Only in Section G of the application.

• Complete the applicant checklist below section G.

Pay online or attach a cheque or money order with the required fee. Attach all the paperwork including payment and mail to the address listed on the application form.

Payment for police records checks can be made online https://www.police.vic.gov.au/national-police-records-checks (External link) (External link) or via cheque or money order payable to Victoria Police. Cheques/bank drafts must be issued by an Australian financial institution.

You cannot apply for a Police Report through Victoria Police or a Nationally Coordinated Criminal Check and instead you must apply through the website of the Australian Federal Police via https://afpnationalpolicechecks.converga.com.au/ (External link) and select ‘Commonwealth Employment/Purpose’, and then '33-Immigration/Citizenship’.

You must also obtain a police report from the country where you are currently residing. The report must be dated no earlier than six months prior to the date your admission application is received.

If you have resided in a foreign jurisdiction, for over three months in the past 12 months, you will be required to obtain a foreign police report from that jurisdiction.

For applicants residing in Australia, International Police Reports from over 200 jurisdictions are available through Equifax Fit2Work via https://www.equifax.com.au/fit2work/for-you/checks/international-police-checks (External link)

Until further notice, international checks for Afghanistan, Brunei Darussalam, Comoros, Cote D'Ivoire, Curacao, Djibouti, Dominica, Eswatini, French Polynesia, Gabon, Greenland, Guadeloupe, Guinea-Bissau, Isle of Man, Kiribati, North Korea, Kosovo, Libya, Liechtenstein, Macau, Maldives, Martinique, Montserrat, Nauru, North Macedonia, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Martin, Sao Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, Syria, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Ukraine, Vanuatu and Venezuela are currently unavailable via Equifax Fit2Work.  If you require a police report from any of these countries, please speak to the relevant Consulate for further information.

The listed eligibility criteria are prescribed by legislation. If you do not meet the eligibility criteria, please contact us for advice before commencing any application

All documents uploaded to your application must be in PDF format and no more than 2GB.  Only matters of suitability will be able to upload up to 65GB. For all suitability matters, collate your disclosure/capacity statement, exhibit certificates and exhibit documents into one file

All documents uploaded to your application must be in PDF format and no more than 2GB.  Only matters of suitability will be able to upload up to 65GB.  For all suitability matters, collate your disclosure/capacity statement, exhibit certificates and exhibit documents into one file. There are many free apps available to download to a smart phone or tablet which will convert an image to a PDF document.  Please search the App Store or Google Play for a suitable application.

You should allow a minimum of 10 business days for your disclosure statement to be fully reviewed. You will receive an email to confirm receipt and also when it has been assessed to advise approval or referral for further review. Disclosure statements that have not provided a full and frank account of matters or are significant may require an applicant to file a further disclosure statement with additional material.

A list of authorised statutory declaration witnesses can be found on the Victoria State Government website via the following link https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/statdecs (External link).

A complete list of authorised affidavit takers can be found on the Victoria State Government website via the following link https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/affidavits (External link).

A compliance certificate will not be issued until your application has been assessed, approved and the admission fee has been received by VLAB.

If you have selected a paper admission, a compliance certificate will be issued at the monthly Victorian Legal Admissions Executive meeting, in accordance with the Admissions Calendar (External link).

If you have selected an in-person admission, you will be allocated to the next available in-person admission ceremony. A compliance certificate and the ceremony time will be issued 3-4 weeks prior to your scheduled in-person admission.

The following fees are payable under the Legal Profession Uniform Law Act 2014 for admission to the Australian Legal Profession in Victoria:

1. a prescribed general fee of $100.00, to be applied to meet the expense of the Victorian Legal Admissions Board.  The fee relates to administrative services for the processing of an application for a compliance certificate;
2. a prescribed library fee of $560.00, to be applied for the purposes of the Supreme Court Library; and
3. any fee payable under the Supreme Court Act 1986 for admission to the Australian Legal profession.  The current fee is $322.60.   This is a filing fee payable to the Supreme Court for the admission of a Lawyer to the Court and the Authentication of an Order.

These fees are stipulated under the Act and remain payable by an eligible person seeking admission to the Supreme Court of Victoria.

All fees are made via the Service Victoria payment portal.  Payment can be made by either Visa, Mastercard or PayPal.  A transaction processing fee will be charged for all payments made through Service Victoria.

When all documents have been uploaded and your application is approved you will receive an email with a link to pay the fees.  The payment email will not be sent until all documentation has been received and reviewed by VLAB.

Yes, as long the payment link that you have been emailed is used to make payment the on your behalf

When you select the "Pay" button, you will be re-directed to the Service Victoria Payment Gateway in a new tab on your browser. You have two options to pay, either Credit Card (Mastercard or Visa) or PayPal.

When you make a payment, you will receive an email acknowledging success of payment.  Attached to this email will be your Tax Invoice.

If your payment is unsuccessful, you will not receive an email, you will only see an on screen notification advising of the unsuccessful payment. 

There may be a problem with your internet connection or web browser.

You may also have insufficient funds on your card to make payment, or you card has expired

If you are having trouble paying via PayPal, firstly ensure you are logged into your PayPal account before attempting to pay.

If you wish to pay using PayPal Guest checkout, you can only do so if you have not previously used the same email and/or payment card with PayPal.

If you have used PayPal before, you will need to checkout with your PayPal registered details. You will otherwise receive one of several errors due to identity verification regulations. Please note that these are AUSTRAC regulations & applicable for all Australian transactions (https://www.austrac.gov.au/ (External link)).

When VLAB has received payment, you will be eligible for a compliance certificate.

If you have selected a paper admission, a compliance certificate will be issued monthly at the Victorian Legal Admissions Executive meeting.

If you have selected an in-person admission, you will be allocated to the next available in-person admission ceremony. The ceremony date will be confirmed via email within 3 business days of VLAB receiving payment.  A compliance certificate and the ceremony time will be issued 3-4 weeks prior to your scheduled in-person admission.

The admission ceremony will be held in the Banco Court (Court 1) of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

There are two entry points:

•           210 William Street, Melbourne
•           485 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

You will need to arrive at the Supreme Court of Victoria at least 60 minutes prior to your ceremony.  This is to allow you to clear the security area and make your way to the Banco Court. You must be seated no later than 20 minutes prior to the admission ceremony.

Applicant’s clothing should be appropriate to the formality of a Supreme Court hearing. Therefore, professional attire is required i.e. jacket and tie. Practitioners moving admissions must be appropriately robed in gown, bar jacket and jabot. Attire for movers will not be provided by the Court.  Wigs are not to be worn.

The admission ceremony generally does not exceed 30-45 minutes.

You will be notified of your admission ceremony time no earlier than 3-4 weeks prior to the scheduled in-person admission.

The admission ceremonies times are 9.30am, 11.30am and 2.30pm but subject to change at the discretion of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

You will be required to brief an Australian lawyer to move your admission and they should be in possession of a photocopy of your Compliance Certificate.

Admission may be moved by an Australian Lawyer whose name is on the Roll of the Supreme Court of any State or Territory of Australia.  It is not necessary that a current practising certificate be held. 

Current members of the judiciary (i.e., judges and magistrates) may not move an admission.   It is your responsibility to find someone to move your admission. 

The Court has instructed that there is a strict limit of two guests per applicant, in additional to your mover. Your guests will be required to produce a printed ticket or show an electronic version prior to entry into the Courtroom. A ticket is not required for your mover or children under 18 years of age.

Two guest tickets will be emailed to you three weeks prior to your admission ceremony.

Additional guest tickets will not be provided under any circumstance.

Yes, the in-person admission ceremonies are live streamed and can be found on the Supreme Court website at https://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/about-the-court/multimedia-on-demand/court-ceremonies/admissions (External link)

Your Admission Order will be mailed to you by the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Please be advised that you do not need to provide your Admission Order to the Victorian Legal Services Board in order to apply for a practising certificate as they are provided a copy when you are admitted.

Admission orders are managed and produced by the Supreme Court.  You will have to contact the Supreme Court Principal Registry at admissions@supcourt.vic.gov.au (External link)

Further information can be found on the Supreme Court website (External link).

VLAB is the admitting authority only.  Once you have been admitted by VLAB, you will need to apply for a practising certificate.  All queries relating to practising certificates in Victoria should be directed to the Victorian Legal Services Board.  Further information can be found on their website, https://lsbc.vic.gov.au/ (External link).

Once you have been admitted in any state in Australia, it is not necessary to be admitted again in another state.

If you wish to practise in Victoria, you will require a Victorian practising certificate.  This is issued and managed by the Victorian Legal Services Board.

Further information can be found on the Victorian Legal Services Board website (External link).

You must apply for a skills assessment, this is done online (External link).

You must first apply for a skills assessment, this is done online (External link).  Dependent upon your academic and work history, the Board will seek additional academic study and practical legal training be undertaken as part of any assessment.

Certain documents are required to be certified, you can find an example on how to do this at https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/certifiedcopies (External link)

The assessment process can take up to 4-6 weeks to complete, we will provide you with your assessment letter upon completion.

No, you should email overseas@justice.vic.gov.au (External link) for a status update only if you have not heard from us after a minimum of 4 weeks after your application was submitted.

VLAB will open up an application for a compliance certificate on your behalf, we do this so your original assessment is linked to you application for a compliance certificate. Please email us at overseas@justice.vic.gov.au (External link) when you are ready

You will need to contact the Business Licensing Authority. More information can be found on their website https://ablis.business.gov.au/service/vic/conveyancers-licence/23951 (External link)

You are required to email us at overseas@justice.vic.gov.au (External link), you will need to provide us with an official transcript (direct from the University or a certified copy) along with your BOLE ID. We will then send a letter directly to the New York State Board of Law Examiners.

Yes, you are required to email us at overseas@justice.vic.gov.au (External link), and we can provide you with a letter for immigration .

No, you are required to contact the Department of Home Affairs. You can find more information at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au

A Certificate of Good Standing is a report stating you are in good standing in a particular jurisdiction.  The report must be requested from the society of each foreign jurisdiction in which in you have admitted to practice law. The Certificate of Good Standing must be emailed directly to VLAB from the relevant law society.

We are unable to receive Certificates of Good Standing from applicants.

Any person having authority to administer an oath or affirmation in that jurisdiction.

You must arrange an appointment to appear before the Principal Registrar/Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of Victoria or the High Court and Supreme Court of New Zealand and produce your Form B affidavit.  You must swear the oath or take the affirmation and sign the affidavit before the authorised Court representative and complete all details on the Form B affidavit.  

MRA Admissions proceed without the necessity for applicants to appear in person in Court.