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CPD FAQs

Webinar registrations and recording purchases grant one viewing licence exclusive to the registered purchaser. Due to licensing restrictions the registered purchaser is the only attendee who can claim CPD points for audit purposes. In summary:

  • One registration or recording purchase means one attendee/ viewer.
  • It’s like going to the movies – to view the film you are expected to buy a ticket. This is the same with Society products – webinars and recordings.
  • If you need to substitute an attendee please see the Cancellation Policy here first as the Society is to be informed before the CPD event.
  • If you want to join a session last minute, or your PA sends through your colleague’s Zoom link, please do the right thing and contact the Society to be invoiced.
  • Links and registrations are individual and not firm-based. Please let your PAs know this.
  • If you are not registered or have not purchased the product yourself, you cannot claim CPD points for viewing/attending.

The Society encourages this good-will uptake of the its CPD Program and, for recordings, observation of the viewing licences, as this model is critical to the sustainability of the Society’s not-for-profit low cost program offered to you – its members. The Society’s not-for-profit program offered to its members includes:

  • Affordable prices.
  • Easy member login registration.
  • Dedicated staff/personnel.
  • Responsive program development and event management.
  • Speaker procurement and preparations – experts and renowned-in-their-field presenters.
  • Trainer fees (where applicable, for fee-earning trainers).
  • Maintenance – technology and equipment.
  • Quality venues, livestream opportunities and recordings

The Society’s event refund and cancellation policy, and T&Cs, can be found HERE.

Yes it does! So please take note of the selection you are making/have made when booking.
The Society often provides you with a choice in how you attend a CPD event and you get to select this – in-person or livestreamed – when you book. BUT for planning purposes, and as a courtesy to the presenter – particularly when they have travelled from interstate – the Society needs to know ahead of event day if you are going to change how you attend. If you booked to attend in-person please commit to this and make every effort to be in the room with the presenter.

Practice Guideline no.4 separates CPD activities into ‘types’ and defines those types, and as such it is helpful to read Rule 3.3 with Rule 2.4. In particular, Rule 2.4(a) which states: (a) attendance at, or preparing or presenting material for, a seminar, interactive live-streamed webinar, workshop, lecture, conference, educational program or course or discussion group. Since the increase, post COVID, of online interactive livestreamed CPD activities, this rule classes interactive live-streamed activities – where they are attended in real-time – as in-person and such CPD activity does not fall under the 5-point cap on recordings in Rule 3.3 (b).

For the purposes of Practice Guideline no.4, recordings are not considered interactive livestreamed because they are not attended in real-time (and one cannot actively engage with the presenter in real-time) and therefore falls under Rule 2.4(c) and Rule 3.3(b). This type of CPD activity is capped at 5 CPD points. An online webinar if livestreamed and one is attending in real-time is not considered a recording for this purpose even if it is ‘viewed’ online.

No. Refer to the definition of CPD activity at Practice Guideline no.4 rule 2.4(a), in particular that highlighted, which states CPD activity means: attendance at, or preparing or presenting material for, a seminar, interactive live-streamed webinar, workshop, lecture, conference, educational program or course or discussion group. If you attend a CPD activity remotely and not in-person (i.e. in the physical room), but you are attended in real-time as it is being presented, it is not considered a recording and will not be limited by the 5-point CPD cap under Rule 3.3(b).

Rule 3.3 of Practice Guideline no.4 lists the caps on the amount of CPD points that can be acquired for certain activities, and in any one day. The Guideline does not list a cap on in-person CPD activities as the scheme mandates a minimum of 10 CPD points. Legal practitioners are able, and encouraged, to acquire as much continuing professional development that they regard of interest and benefit to them and their work.

Under rule 3.7 of Practice Guideline no. 4, where a practitioner has accrued excess CPD points (beyond those that meet compliance for the CPD year) in February, March or April, the practitioner may elect to assign all or any of them to the next CPD year.

You are required to keep your own record of CPD activity so you know what CPD points you have acquired at any given time. When you book through the Society’s TryBooking portal you are sent an automated confirmation for your records. You will find a record of the Society events you have attended by checking your inbox for your event receipts. The Society does not maintain an events record for each individual practitioner. Any information held on the Society’s previous website was unfortunately not able to be retained in the move to this website. To keep a record of your points the Society recommends using the CPD Activity Record Form HERE.

Under rule 3.8 of Practice Guideline no 4, a practitioner must maintain a written record of CPD points accrued by that practitioner in respect of each CPD year. This written record must include the following minimum information:

(a) the CPD activity, and event name (if applicable);
(b) date of event;
(c) CPD points claimed;
(d) mandatory category to which it relates; and
(e) provider or entity.

Whether you have practised a part or full year, the information you’ll need about your CPD obligations in Tasmania, including the CPD Practice Guideline 4, are found at CPD Obligations, HERE.

If you were issued with a PC after the start of the year, see this CPD Pro Rata Guide for the number of CPD points, across the mandatory categories, you will need to comply.

The CPD year in Tasmania runs 1 May to 30 April. Information on the minimum number of CPD points and mandatory CPD categories you need to acquire in a CPD year if you were not practising for the whole CPD year is covered by rule 3.9 of Practice Guideline no.4 which states: In relation to a practitioner who holds a local practising certificate for less than a CPD year, the reference in this rule to 10 CPD points in respect of that year is proportionally reduced in accordance with the table HERE. See also this CPD Pro Rata Guide for how the number of points change depending on when a PC is acquired.

A CPD year in Tasmania runs from 1 May to 30 April. See rule 2.7 of Practice Guideline no. 4 HERE.

There are five mandatory CPD categories. When calculating your minimum 10 CPD points of CPD activity in respect of a CPD year, your total units must include at least one (1) point from each of the following five categories:

  1. Practical legal ethics (E);
  2. Practice management or business skills (PM);
  3. Professional skills (PS);
  4. Substantive law (SL); and
  5. Equality and wellbeing (EW).

Upcoming CPD activities and past recordings that can assist you to get your Equality and Wellbeing (EW) CPD points are listed in the weekly CPD Newsletter, and in the Online Recording Store, respectively. As guidance, we have collated a list HERE.

For a snapshot of CPD activities (as per Rule 2.4 of the Practice Guideline), their value and maximum limits, see this Summary of CPD Activities.

When making a decision about whether a CPD activity is relevant to your professional development, please use Rule 3.6 of Practice Guideline no.4 as a guide. This rule states:

3.6 Each CPD activity undertaken by a practitioner for the purposes of this Rule must be an activity:
(a) of significant intellectual or practical content primarily related to the practise of law; and
(b) conducted by persons qualified by practical or academic experience in the subject covered; and
(c) relevant to the practitioner’s immediate or long-term professional development needs.

By way of example, this includes considering:

  • whether the content of a CPD recording (no matter when it was recorded) is still current and of value to you from a professional development perspective; or
  • whether an activity viewed, participated in or attended, etc. outside the Society CPD program attracts CPD points. Formal approval, accreditation or physical certification of such CPD activity by this Society is not required as it is at your discretion as a legal practitioner as guided by Rule 3.6.

If you have a hot topic and would like to join the CPD Program as a presenter, we welcome your suggestions.

For an idea of what CPD has already been offered, to see how your topic may fit within the program, and to get a feel for past seminar and webinar formats, you can look through past CPD events held by the Society in our CPD Newsletters.

You may also be interested in the Practical Guide to Presenting: Face-to-Face and Webinars, HERE.

To get in contact, email the Society at cpd@lst.org.au and include your suggested topic title, a brief summary of the proposed content, and your preferred contact details. We will follow up with you.

Information about the Society’s venues, facilities and AV support hire is found HERE.