LSB Online will open on Monday 29 March, 2021 for practising certificate renewal. You will receive an email with details when LSB Online opens.

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

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.

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.