The Law Council of Australia welcomes the ongoing progress of the Australia – United Kingdom Legal Services Regulatory Dialogue established under the Australia – UK Free Trade Agreement following its most recent meeting in March 2025.
"The Legal Services Regulatory Dialogue seeks to advance a number of objectives which relate to trade in legal services between Australia and the UK," Law Council of Australia President, Juliana Warner said.
"The Dialogue has focused on sharing information and improving transparency of current regulatory arrangements, including requirements for admission and licensing in each jurisdiction within Australia and the UK, the existing availability and prevalence of business structures, and opportunities for regulatory cooperation on emerging issues relating to legal technology and artificial intelligence.
"The Law Council is pleased to be engaging in this Dialogue alongside the Legal Services Council, its Admissions Committee, and the Law Admissions Consultative Committee, together with our UK counterparts."
"During the term of the Dialogue we have noted positive steps towards mobility of lawyers between Australia and the UK. This includes the grant of an exemption for Australian legal practitioners holding an unrestricted practising certificate from the practical legal skills component of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) in England and Wales, and work to operationalise conditional admission under the Legal Profession Uniform Law in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
"The Dialogue submitted a progress report to the intergovernmental Professional Services Working Group established under the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement in January and plans to publish a public report later this year on its work to date."
