A welcome from Professor Michael Coper, Immediate Past Chair of the Council of Australian Law Deans

It is my great pleasure to welcome readers and viewers to this electronic version of Studying Law in Australia, an informative publication of the Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD) that has been produced in hard copy since 1993.

Having myself studied law in many countries, I know from personal experience how fulfilling it will be for you to study law in Australia. Australia has a well-developed, stable and sophisticated legal system that draws on the accumulated experience of many other countries and combines that international perspective with its own rich local experience. If you have had experience of another legal system, you will be reassured by the similarities and stimulated by the differences.

Australian law degrees are becoming increasingly valued world-wide, as Australian law graduates seek satisfying careers not only in Australia but around the globe. Australian postgraduate law programs — coursework and research — have also grown enormously in recent years, reflecting a demand for both general and specialised qualifications in law, legal practice, legal studies, law and society, and many other law-related fields.

Australia has 30 accredited law schools, which offer a wide diversity of courses and programs. This web site offers an easy and user-friendly way into those law schools. It provides some basic generic information, but also a portal to the websites of all of the individual law schools. I invite you to browse and click to your heart's content.

Finally, as this web site is directed mainly at international students coming to Australia, may I underline how much Australia welcomes and values foreign students, irrespective of nationality, race, religion, colour or creed — in other words, on a totally non-discriminatory basis. Idealistic as it may seem, I firmly believe that the cultural diversity that international students bring to Australia, and the local experience they take home, can only benefit the international community by contributing to mutual understanding, tolerance, and thus, albeit indirectly, world peace.

I warmly welcome you to the Australian part of the global village.


Professor Michael Coper
Immediate Past Chair 2005-2007, Council of Australian Law Deans

Foreword to the 1993 first edition of Studying Law in Australia - by the Hon Sir Laurence Street AC KCMG

The idea of a guide to courses offered by Australian university law schools arose from the work of Australia’s International Legal Services Advisory Council in seeking to identify and better understand the overseas opportunities and challenges facing Australian law schools in the 1990s.

A comprehensive directory of undergraduate and postgraduate law courses at Australian universities, which could be made available to students and academics overseas, emerges as a logical step in encouraging greater interaction in the study of law between Australia and the rest of the world.

Australian higher education has benefited significantly from the contribution of students, academic staff and researchers from the Asia Pacific region and beyond.