ANU is Australia’s leading university provider of Practical Legal Training (PLT) through the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (GDLP). The ANU GDLP is accredited by the ACT Admissions Board and the Victorian Legal Admissions Board. The GDLP program meets the national standards for preparing entry level lawyers for professional legal practice.

Designed to provide you with the practical skills and professional understanding you will need as a lawyer, the ANU GDLP builds on the knowledge you have gained in your Bachelor of Law degree or Juris Doctor. It provides you with the qualification you need to be admitted as a lawyer in Australia.

There is also the option to undertake further study of 4 Masters level courses and graduate with a Master of Legal Practice (MLP). Students have up to two years to do this after completing the GDLP.

The ANU GDLP program is an online program.  You can choose to balance the Practical Legal Training requirements with employment, or other personal commitments and to study at ANU regardless of location.

The GDLP program is comprised of the following components:

•    Becoming a Practitioner (BAP) – This is a compulsory four-day face-to-face threshold entry course which introduces fundamental skills in interviewing, writing, negotiation and advocacy.

•    Professional Practice Core (PPC) – The PPC is a 12-week course that covers the compulsory practice areas in the Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice (GDLP) namely:

1. Property Law Practice;
2. Commercial Law Practice;
3. Civil Litigation Practice;
4. Ethics and Professional Responsibility;
5. Legal Accounting Practice;
6. Professional Formation attitudes, skills and competencies.

During the PPC, you will study individually and as one of a legal team. You will work on legal matters as an entry-level lawyer.

• Electives – You will choose from an extensive suite of elective courses, offered by our team of expert Practitioner Teachers. The number of electives that you undertake will depend on the duration of your Legal Practice Experience (see below).    
• Legal Practice Experience (LPE) - You have the option of completing LPE in a total of 20, 50 or 80 days. The GDLP fee varies according to the number of LPE days and electives you choose to do.
• Ready for Practice (RFP) – This is a three-week capstone experience which enables you to draw together your professional skill development in the GDLP.

Graduates from ANU have been rated as Australia's most employable graduates and among the most sought after by employers worldwide.

The latest Global Employability University Ranking, published by the Times Higher Education, rated ANU as Australia's top university for getting a job for the fourth year in a row

Learning Outcomes

1. Apply professional knowledge, skills and ethical responsibilities to review, analyse and synthesise knowledge and information to advise and represent clients and other stakeholders.
2. Demonstrate specialised technical skills to generate complex ideas and concepts at an abstract level and apply critical thinking, creativity and initiative to justify conclusions and solutions.
3. Investigate, critically reflect on and communicate information to inform diverse audiences of complex theoretical and practical ideas, concepts, strategies, courses of action and solutions in legal practice contexts.
4. Demonstrate high level personal autonomy and accountability in legal practice through professional and ethical behaviour.