The Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice provides Practical legal training for Law Graduates.  This training is a compulsory requirement to be admitted as a barrister and solicitor in Australia. Once admitted in South Australia you can apply for a practising certificate in other States and Territories without seeking further admission.

The program comprises a core of compulsory courses and a small choice of elective courses

The program is designed to be delivered in a flexible mode with students being offered the option of after hours classes, weekend or daytime classes.

Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice students are required to complete the following:

• Five "Core" Courses - Foundations of the GDLP (compulsory before completing any other course), Professional Obligations, Civil Litigation, Commercial & Corporate, and Property Law;
• Two "Elective" Courses - one Elective A: Criminal Law or Family Law and one Elective B: Employment and Industrial Relations, Planning and Environmental Law, or Wills and Estates;
• 10 hours minimum of Continuing Professional Development (CPD); and
• 30 days (225 hours) of Legal Practice Placement.

The program is a 24 unit program with Foundations of GDLP, a 6 unit course, being the pre-requiste course for all other courses.  The compulsory courses are offered twice yearly with the foundations course being offered in both summer and winter.

A variety of assessment tasks will be required varying slightly from course to course but including a combination of the following, multiple choice questions, practical legal research assessment, demonstartion of advocacy skills, online quizzes, practical interviewing and advising tasks, participation in discussion boards, drafting letters of advice, drafting, completion of relevant forms.

When you have successfully passed the GDLP, you can apply for direct admission to practise as a barrister and solicitor in South Australia.  Once admitted in South Australia you can apply for mutual recognition from the admitting authority of the Australian state that you wish to practise in.

Most student complete their placement in a legal office, for example in private practice or a government legal services department. You can complete five out of six weeks of your placement as a Judge's Associate or judicial tribunal member; the remaining week must be completed in a legal office to enable completion of all tasks in the GDLP Placement Handbook.

Although most students source their own placements, the Law Society of South Australia members of the GDLP staff can assist. There are four allocated placement periods known as “blocks” each year. Placements are allocated on a priority basis and whilst we endeavour to place students in their first choice practice area, this cannot be guaranteed.

GDLP students complete a placement handbook to ensure that they complete real legal tasks and "hit the ground running" on day one of practice as an admitted lawyer. Although there is a role for general administration and photocopying, this should not be the focus of your placement.

More information relating to placements can be found at http://www.law.adelaide.edu.au/degrees/gdlp/