On 1 July all draft renewal applications are deleted in LSB Online. If you have not renewed you will need to create a new application.

If you were unable to renew due to our delays we will not penalise you for this. We will consider your circumstances and where appropriate will either not apply or refund the surcharge.

If you did not renew and were not waiting on our assistance you will incur a 200% surcharge on the new practising certificate fee. You can't practice law until a new certificate is issued.

If you have been delaying your renewal due to changing employment circumstances we will also consider your circumstances and where appropriate will either not apply or refund the surcharge.

If you have been unable to complete your renewal and have contacted us, and we have not been able to respond before 30 June, we will not penalise you for this. We will consider your circumstances and where appropriate will either not apply or refund the surcharge.

It can take anywhere from a few days to a few months to issue a new certificate. Reasons your certificate might be pending include your professional indemnity insurance payment is outstanding, you have not complied with CPD requirements, the trust account audit process is not complete, or we are assessing disclosures made in the application process.

If there were no changes to your practising certificate type, and you have paid your fees and any applicable insurance you can continue to practise on your current certificate until a new one is issued.

Practising certificate renewals close on 30 June. The renewal period is now closed for 2021/22,

Renewal open on 29 March, 2021

How to renew

1. Log-in to LSB Online 
2. From the home screen select ‘Practising certificates’ then ‘Practising certificate renewal’
3. Check your contact details and confirm they are correct
4. Complete your application and pay your application fee and fidelity fund contribution (if required) to VLSB+C. Click submit
5. Pay your professional indemnity insurance (if required)
6. Your application will remain ‘Pending’ until you have completed steps 4-5 and we have assessed it
7. You will receive an email once your application is processed. It may take us several weeks from the time you finalise your application until we process this. Once approved, you can then download your certificate from LSB Online

Remember, you must complete and submit the form in LSB Online yourself.  You should not ask someone else to do this for you.

The fees are different depending on the practising certificate type and if you have trust authorisation. There are three fees you may have to pay:

• Fee to renew your practising certificate – paid to the VLSBC in order to process your renewal
• Fidelity Fund contribution (if the organisation you work for receives trust money)
• Public Indemnity Insurance (for law practices) – payable to the LPLC (or other insurer) if applicable

Fees for the 2021/22 practising year

The practising certificate fees for the 2021-22 practising year (from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022) are listed below.  Fees are scaled on a pro rata basis. Your fee will be based on when your certificate commences. For renewals please see the first column for relevant fees.

There are different fee requirements for Victorian lawyers, foreign lawyers and approved barristers’ clerks. See the fee table on the Fidelity Fund page 

Our legislation does not permit us to waive or reduce the fee for practising certificate applications or renewals, nor are we able to extend the time frame for renewal or take instalment payments.  

If you are suffering financial hardship please use the lawyer enquiry form to organise a chat with a member of our team. Select ‘Other’ on the form category and note ‘Financial hardship’ in the text box.

When you apply for or renew your certificate you can choose to pay via credit card or BPAY. If you choose credit card you can make payment immediately in the LSB Online portal. If you choose BPAY you will receive an email with the BPAY details. When you make payment you need to use the unique BPAY reference number. If you select BPAY, please note that your application will not be processed until we receive payment

At any time you can log into LSB Online and make payment by credit card if you have changed your mind about the payment method. Simply log in and use the ‘Outstanding payments’ screen to view your outstanding fees and make payment by credit card.

We accept:

• Visa
• Master Card
• Amex

We can’t issue you with a tax invoice for later payment. You need to select either credit card or BPAY to submit your application

No. To apply for a practising certificate you need an organisation to be assigned to. If you are unemployed you should wait until you have employment before applying.

If you selected BPAY but would now like to pay by another means, you can log into LSB Online and make payment by credit card. Simply log in and use the outstanding payments screen to view your outstanding fees and make payment by credit card.

There are a number of reasons why your application won’t submit. Check the red error messages for details. Common reasons include:

• You have not provided employer details
• Your certificate type does not match your employer
• You have not ticked the declaration box
• You have not answered the consent questions. 

If you are currently employed as an in-house counsel only, we recommend that you apply for a corporate practising certificate during the current renewal period, rather than applying to renew a principal practising certificate.  A principal practising certificate is intended for lawyers who are managing the responsibilities and obligations of law practices and law firms, not those who are employed within other business types such as banks or utilities, large corporates or not-for profit organisations such as universities or religious organisations and trade or professional associations. 

You can continue to hold a principal practising certificate, however we do not require you to hold a principal practising certificate if you are solely employed as an in-house counsel. We do not consider that an in-house counsel requires a principal practising certificate unless you are advising other clients outside of your employment arrangements such as for private clients, friends and family.
 

Receipts for payments made by credit card are automatically generated and emailed to you when the payment is processed (within a few hours from submission). If you have not received your receipt please check your junk mail folder. Receipts for payments made by BPAY can be emailed on request, please submit a lawyer enquiry form and select ‘Practising certificate’ and ‘Renew my practising certificate’ as the categories.

Please note that we can’t issue you with a tax invoice for later payment. You need to select either credit card or BPAY to submit your application.