Whether you’re pivoting careers or chasing a long-held ambition, this session will walk you through everything you need to know. Study law on your terms.
Our fully online Juris Doctor is designed for future-focused professionals who want the flexibility to learn anywhere, anytime. You’ll build your legal expertise in a collaborative environment, surrounded by passionate peers and guided by industry-leading experts. This is more than just foundational legal theory; it’s about understanding the future of law, where tech, innovation and business disruption meet traditional frameworks. Shape your pathway with career-focused electives and graduate with a qualification that opens doors across the legal sector and beyond.
This event will discuss
In addition, we’ll also be running a live Q&A to address any burning questions you might have about the program.
Genevieve Jordan 00:00:00
Welcome everyone and thanks for joining us today. I'm really pleased to meet with you and to let you know more about our Juris Doctor program. Here at RMIT Online.
Genevieve Jordan 00:00:09
My name is Genevieve Jordan. I'm a Senior Product Manager at RMIT Online and I've been working with the School of Law on the design and delivery of this program for a little while now. But first, before we go too far, I would like to acknowledge the Woiwurrung and Boonwurrung people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the university.
Genevieve Jordan 00:00:31
I acknowledge their ancestors and elders, past and present. I also acknowledge the traditional custodians and their ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia.
Genevieve Jordan 00:00:41
And today I'm joined by three other panellists. I'll ask them to introduce themselves, but we have Belinda Clarence, we have Georgina Warren, and Elliot Kaufman. But Linda, would you like to introduce yourself just briefly, please?
Belinda Clarence 00:00:54
Yes, I'm the program manager for the JD. And. That means the program director. So that means I'm responsible for the governance, academic issues. I also teach into the program. So, um, program structure, all that sort of thing.
Genevieve Jordan 00:01:14
Excellent. We'll look forward to hearing from you, Belinda. And Georgina, would you like to introduce yourself?
Georgina Warren 00:01:19
Hello, everyone. I am a very junior lawyer from Lander and Rogers, and I'm very excited to chat with you all about this amazing program.
Genevieve Jordan 00:01:30
Thank you, Georgina. And finally, Elliot.
Belinda Clarence 00:01:32
Hi, everyone. I'm Elliot Kaufman. I'm a senior enrolments advisor here at RMIT Online.
Belinda Clarence 00:01:38
You know, if you give a call into our line, you want to have some questions with regards to admission. or questions about the course, myself and my team is there to assist you.
Genevieve Jordan 00:01:48
Thank you, Elliot. So, just in terms of our agenda today, I'll talk a little bit about some of the features of the JD from an RMIT online standpoint, as well as the online learning experience, so you can get a bit of a feel for what that would be like. Then we'll turn over to Belinda to talk about the involvement of industry in the program, how we work with community, and how you can get involved in RMIT Online's JD experience.
Genevieve Jordan 00:02:15
We'll hear from Georgina from Lander and Rogers about some of the career outcomes from the program and her advice about working in the sector. Balancing study with all the other aspects of life.
Genevieve Jordan 00:02:27
Finally, we'll hear from Elliot about RMIT online enrolment processes. It's not that difficult, so it's not a large section today, but there's a few things that you might need to know. And of course, lastly, we will answer your questions. So I encourage you to put your questions in the chat. We'll mainly be taking them toward the end.
Genevieve Jordan 00:02:46
But, you know, just pop your questions in and we hope to get through as many of those as possible. If not, we'll be able to follow up with you afterwards.
Genevieve Jordan 00:02:53
Note also that we're recording this session and we'll be sharing that recording afterwards.
Genevieve Jordan 00:03:00
So first, I'm just going to give a bit of an overview of some of the key features of our Juris Doctor program and the particular approach we use at RMIT Online.
Genevieve Jordan 00:03:09
I have to say we pride ourselves on creating programs that are directly relevant to the real world of work and that's why we've engaged with people like Georgina and Landa and Rogers in our programs. We particularly engage with representatives such as the legal sector in a whole range of different ways to help make sure that the student experience is super relevant. Current practice, the content's really up to date. And that you, as a student, are getting a really thorough and comprehensive program. And really good preparation for a great career in law.
Genevieve Jordan 00:03:39
In the case of the Juris Doctor, that includes engagement with our Law Advisory Board. Through guest lecturers, the research that our academic staff do, and of course, all of the experience of our academic staff that they bring to the roles.
Genevieve Jordan 00:03:52
Our approach to online learning at RMIT Online is super flexible and it's really well supported. We know that most of the people studying with us are fitting their study into around work and maybe other responsibilities.
Genevieve Jordan 00:04:05
We have tutorials for core courses where you attend at a particular point in time and where you get to engage directly with teaching staff and your peers. These sessions are generally scheduled in the evenings on Monday through Thursday.
Genevieve Jordan 00:04:20
And in addition to our wonderful academic staff, we have a team of student success advisors who can assist with all sorts of queries that you might have along the way. This might be about your enrolment, the learning management system, which in our case is Canvas. might be about submitting assessments, how to apply for an extension if you need it. You'll find our student success team is a really useful part of your journey and your support group as you move through the program.
Genevieve Jordan 00:04:46
So, why study the JD and why with RMIT online?
Genevieve Jordan 00:04:51
Something you might have noticed, if you've been doing some research into the program, is that we have Commonwealth-supported places.
Genevieve Jordan 00:04:57
You're probably aware that this means that part of the cost of your program is subsidised by the government and part is paid by you. You can pay your part, the student contribution, via Hex Help so you can defer payment if you wish as well. So with a CSP in the JD in 2026, you'll pay about $17,000 per full-time year. So that's a full-time year. Most people do it part-time. And that's, of course, you know, far... less of an investment from your point of view than having a full fee rate.
Genevieve Jordan 00:05:29
In addition to the two standard semesters, which have classes starting in early March and in late July, we also have a summer semester. Um, so that way you can take on additional studies if you wish. To accelerate your progress through the program, but it's optional. So if you want to accelerate, you can. If you want to have a break over summer, you can do that too. Note: you can commence the program in March or July, but you can't start the program in the summer semester. So we need students to do some of the introductory courses in those standard semesters. And then in the summer period, we generally have some of the electives.
Genevieve Jordan 00:06:07
Note also: the RMIT online program has been designed for online. You don't have to attend campus if that doesn't work for you. Though there are some opportunities to come on site if that's feasible for you.
Genevieve Jordan 00:06:18
There are exams for many of the courses. This is a requirement of VLAB and of course VLAB is the Victorian Legal Admissions Board. The exams are done online too, so you can do them from home, you can do them from your workplace if that's an appropriate setting. You do have to be in Australia though, but you don't need to travel to any kind of exam centre. So there's a fair bit of flexibility there in terms of location within Australia.
Genevieve Jordan 00:06:43
We do offer a range of electives so you can tailor your program in line with your interests and your future aspirations. So, if you want to extend your knowledge of tax law, or competition and consumer law, you can. If you see yourself working in family law, you might take that option. If you're looking at employment law, like Georgina, maybe there's some courses there that might be of interest.
Genevieve Jordan 00:07:06
The program is accredited by VLAB, the Victorian Legal Admissions Board. This is the body that accredits all law courses in Victoria as satisfying their requirements for admission as a lawyer in Victoria. So, RMIT is one of eight Victorian universities that have been approved to do this.
Genevieve Jordan 00:07:23
In terms of the structure of the course, of course, it follows what VLAB requires, but we also have a range of electives, as I mentioned. So the program itself takes a minimum of three years full time to complete. That's with eight courses a year, which is a very full-time load. Very few students do that kind of load. The vast majority of our students do it as a part-time undertaking, usually much closer to six years or beyond complete. You've actually got... quite a long period of time to do it. If you wish, you can do things like take a leave of absence up to a point. In total, you need to complete 24 courses. So there's 18 core. and six selectives where you've got a little bit of choice.
Genevieve Jordan 00:08:06
Everyone starts with that first course, 'Introduction to the Australian Legal System and Legal Methods'. This one's delivered in intensive mode. Provide some of the foundational knowledge that underpins the rest of the program, and covers things like the constitutional framework, legislation, case law. Legal institutions, legal research, and Belinda would be able to talk a bit more detail about that too. But that's the first course. Everyone does that first and it sort of underpins everything else that you do later. So then you continue with the other core courses. You can see them listed there, but things like criminal law, contract law, torts, and so on. These are also part of what's called the Priestly Eleven.
Genevieve Jordan 00:08:44
So these are the 11 core areas that VLAP requires everyone in an accredited program in law in Australia to complete. They're essential. In the first and second year you'll do mainly core courses and have one elective each year. In the third year you'll finish the core courses and then you'll have your four electives.
Genevieve Jordan 00:09:04
Legal practice management and professional conduct, that's the capstone course. So that's the one that gives you an opportunity to pull everything together. Integrate and consolidate what you've learned throughout the program. Usually do this in your final year, and so topics there include things like confidentiality. Handling conflicts of interest, ethics, accountability, all of those juicy topics.
Genevieve Jordan 00:09:26
So that's a bit of a high-level overview from me. I'm going to pass over now to Belinda as Program Manager. She's going to talk a bit more about the detail of how we work with industry and the community in the JD. And some of the other things such as study tours that you might be interested to experience along the way. Over to you Belinda.
Belinda Clarence 00:09:47
Okay, uh, do you want to move? Are they the next slide?
Belinda Clarence 00:09:51
Yes, okay. So, as Genevieve mentioned, there's two aspects to the curriculum. There's the very important core skills that a lawyer needs, and then there's a bit of flexibility with electives. Your first year tends to have more of those. Core courses, the Bristol E11. So that you can, because you need that basic learning. Before you can sort of start specialising.
Belinda Clarence 00:10:23
The other thing I should point out that when you finish your degree, it does lead to admission as a lawyer in the Victorian Supreme Court, but not before you've done practical legal training. Which takes place from institutions that are separate to ours and can sort of it's typically about six months.
Belinda Clarence 00:10:48
The core courses have an exam, and there was a question about tutorials.
Belinda Clarence 00:10:56
Now, although tutorial attendance is not compulsory, it really is recommended. Because that's probably where you learn to apply the law the most. It's also fantastic for networking, building your own network, finding study buddies.
Belinda Clarence 00:11:13
We do, however, record them.
Belinda Clarence 00:11:16
So you've got that, but of course, it's not that great an experience. But I also do understand that, you know, you're all busy.
Belinda Clarence 00:11:25
Often people are working and that sort of thing. So people tend to come to this degree from two with two intentions.
Belinda Clarence 00:11:34
Um, because you all have a degree already and often you have an existing career. So sometimes people want to enhance their existing career, for example, if they work in government, they want to move to policy and governance. Sometimes people want to change career entirely.
Belinda Clarence 00:11:52
So both of those things are possible.
Belinda Clarence 00:11:58
Um, there is less choice than there would be for perhaps your undergraduate degree, simply because it's a professional degree. So you have to sort of accept that. I think one of the other things that I really want to draw attention to is the importance of following the program structure.
Belinda Clarence 00:12:15
The program is very much scaffolded.
Belinda Clarence 00:12:18
So sometimes it might appear you can enrol out of order, but I really wouldn't um recommend that.
Belinda Clarence 00:12:28
So throughout the degree, we um have an industry board if we take their advice, but we also have some of our lectures are practicing.
Belinda Clarence 00:12:38
For instance, in Wales, we have a practicing barrister. In criminal law we do. And in various other courses as well. Some courses lend themselves more to guest lecturers than others. So, for example, in our course, Innovative Justice, which looks at sort of less, what's the word, less restrictive, more flexible ways of achieving justice in a situation. We, in that course, bring in a lot of different lecturers. There are also electives where you can do internships.
Belinda Clarence 00:13:19
Um, so it sort of just depends on the course. And that brings me to another letter, which is study tours. So these are very popular. Um, better done. Not really appropriate for first years though. But we go to Vietnam, which explores comparative law. So we're looking at a legal system of another jurisdiction.
Belinda Clarence 00:13:44
As well as got a strong cultural focus. And I've taken a group of students on that, when did I do it? 2023, I think. Or maybe it was 24.
Belinda Clarence 00:13:55
But that was very popular and we all had a wonderful experience.
Belinda Clarence 00:14:00
So the other study tour that we do is one together with the Centre for Innovative Justice that goes to New Zealand.
Belinda Clarence 00:14:10
And so, innovative justice is a form of restorative justice where we try and bring the victim and the perpetrator together.
Belinda Clarence 00:14:21
Um, to provide for the perpetrator to see the impact of their offending and to achieve some sort of closure and justice for the victim. And the reason we go to New Zealand is the Centre for Innovative Justice was set up by the honorary Rob Hulls. Used to be the deputy premier of Victoria and was an ex-attorney general. And he was the founding of this course, and we go to alternative justice courts such as Maori courts where we can see how Indigenous justice works. So those are two international study tour opportunities.
Belinda Clarence 00:15:13
In terms of networking, that brings me back again to the importance of attending tutorials.
Belinda Clarence 00:15:21
They are set in times between 5:30 and 8:30, generally. And it's an opportunity to ask questions.
Belinda Clarence 00:15:32
And I can't recommend attending them— how important it is because the research also links study success to tutorial attendance.
Belinda Clarence 00:15:42
But if you can't, all is not lost. They are recorded.
Belinda Clarence 00:15:49
Um so there was a couple of questions about whether you could attend on campus and I would just say that we run two separate programs. If you're looking for an on-campus attendance mode, then the online one is not for you. You can't cross over between the two, so you've got to select one or the other. The other question that I saw that I might address, because I'd say about half of our students are part-time. So if you intend to take it part-time, enrol part-time. That gives you six years to complete it at a 50% load. But there's a bit of leeway and you can take leave of absence. But I really wouldn't recommend taking longer than six years because, you know, when you get to the end, you know, you might have forgotten what you did in the beginning. and legal knowledge can come a bit. Can become a bit stale.
Belinda Clarence 00:16:44
So it's really important to commit to time. It probably takes up more of your time than you might have been used to with undergraduates. Undergraduate courses.
Belinda Clarence 00:16:58
But you can attend. RMIT campus for the study facilities.
Belinda Clarence 00:17:03
We also run quite a few events and I always invite the online students because quite a few of you are in Melbourne.
Belinda Clarence 00:17:12
Um, I think that's everything that I wanted to say and then we can address some of those questions in the chat because there's rather a lot of them either afterwards or Oh. Written when the session has ended.
Belinda Clarence 00:17:28
Okay, back to you, Genevieve.
Genevieve Jordan 00:17:31
Thanks, Belinda. Yes, and thank you to everyone who's put in questions in the chat. It sounds like Belinda's been able to address a couple of those. Next, though, we might hand over to Georgina and Georgina is just going to give us a bit of insight into what it's like working in practice. And also, if you can share with us, Georgina, some of your experiences doing a JD.
Georgina Warren 00:17:51
Of course. Hello again, everyone. So what I wanted to talk through today was sort of some of the career outcomes, what I've noticed makes a good legal professional and sort of some of my own personal experience.
Georgina Warren 00:18:06
Um, so firstly, congratulations for coming to this session. I think this is the first step in a very rewarding career. As someone with a JD, I hope that inspires you.
Georgina Warren 00:18:19
Yeah, it's a really... really good. degree to do because I think it opens the door. opens up a lot of doors to careers that people don't necessarily think about. So we've listed on the slide here some of the careers that you could potentially take with this degree and I just want to really emphasize that what makes a JD and a law degree so special is it teaches you a way of thinking that is highly desirable.
Georgina Warren 00:18:49
and is quite unique.
Georgina Warren 00:18:52
and so some of the path that that can take you on is commercial law, which is where I am currently. And that's everything from employment. Uh, litigation, intellectual property, wills and estates. It's a huge, huge area. Criminal law, of course. Government law, which is very, very fascinating. That's often with some Commonwealth government departments or state departments. Judicial associates.
Georgina Warren 00:19:20
CLCs and not-for-profits, which is actually where I started my sort of legal career and is an area I highly recommend. Then you have your non-legal careers— policy advisors, working in academia.
Georgina Warren 00:19:35
and sort of going and taking the skills you learn in the Juris Doctor and applying them to a further career such as teaching is one I've seen quite a lot. My first sort of person who inspired me to go into law was a teacher who did a law degree. So there's just many options it can take you.
Georgina Warren 00:19:55
Um, I've had to think about what I think makes a good legal professional.
Georgina Warren 00:20:01
And this was actually quite hard to synthesise because... It's so varied and so many, there's so many different.
Georgina Warren 00:20:09
sort of steps that you can take and things you can do. But I narrowed it down to five. And I think What makes a good legal professional is strong collaboration and relationship building. Analytical problem solving, clear, confident communication, commercial and contextual awareness, and resilience in the face of challenge and feedback. And I think this degree is really well placed to teach you all of those, particularly at RMIT, because it is so focused on practical experience and making sure you understand.
Georgina Warren 00:20:43
Sort of more fully the law that you're going into.
Georgina Warren 00:20:46
The one I really wanted to draw attention to and I think is most relevant to all of you is sort of resilience in the face of challenge and feedback. This is a difficult degree, but a very rewarding degree and a very rewarding career. But it is, it can be challenging at times. And so you should utilise all of the supports around you that are MIT. For you and I think they are very good at doing that.
Georgina Warren 00:21:14
Um, In terms of what you can start doing now, I think. The number one thing that's important is to really make sure you learn everything you can and really care about your studies.
Georgina Warren 00:21:29
From my experience, this is not a degree that you can really do in the background. Of course, you can fit it around your life and your other responsibilities, but you really want to make sure that this is a commitment that you want to do because it is quite a lot of effort.
Georgina Warren 00:21:46
And I think I really echo what Belinda said in that you should go to your tutorials whenever you can. Of course, life happens, but you really should engage in the course that you're. that you're doing and with your fellow peers.
Georgina Warren 00:22:02
Another thing I think is really important is trying to get as much legal experience as you can. Can, whether that's through the subjects that offer internships, through CLCs, anything like that. And finally, I thought something to really highlight is to connect with people, whether that be your lecturers, people you know through industry events, your fellow students, because you never know what you might learn from someone else.
Georgina Warren 00:22:29
So now that I've gotten that out of the way, I can talk a little bit about my experience and how I found being a lawyer so far. So I should caveat this by saying I got admitted in December last year. So I'm still very close to finishing uni. I finished in July 2024.
Georgina Warren 00:22:50
So I'm very early in my career. But to sort of give you some context, I did an undergraduate degree, then decided I wanted to be a lawyer. So I went and did the JD. I did it part-time. Um, because I really do think it is very hard full-time and I also had a lot of commitments going on in my life that I needed to also be present for.
Georgina Warren 00:23:16
When I started the JD program, I had no idea what I was interested in. And it was really volunteering at Fitzroy Legal Service, which is a community legal centre that kind of made me realise, OK, this is something I can do. I'm interested in and want to do. And what came out of that was my love for employment law. I then interned at the Department of Justice and Community Safety. And then through that, got a job as a policy officer. So I did my time in government law and have a lot of fond memories of that. And then I got my clerkship at Lander and Rogers, which a clerkship is basically an internship, and then was very fortunate enough to get a grad role. And as a grad, I've rotated through workplace relations and safety, family law and corporate, so quite a wide mix of law. And that has been a fantastic experience to really solidify my learning and see the law that I learned through my JD program actually applied in practice.
Georgina Warren 00:24:21
Um, I highly recommend all of them and I really do recommend commercial law if that's a pathway that you're interested in. And if any of you have any further questions about that, please always just send me a message on LinkedIn. I'm always happy to talk about that because it is a confusing pathway.
Georgina Warren 00:24:40
Um, But yeah, that's been my experience so far.
Genevieve Jordan 00:24:46
Thank you so much, Georgina. Really great to hear from you and hear about your experience in your career to date. Next, we're going to hear from Elliot about the enrollment and application processes. Yeah.
Belinda Clarence 00:24:58
Absolutely. And thanks, everyone, for being in this afternoon and this information session. And thank you, Georgina, Jen and Belinda as well for your insights.
Belinda Clarence 00:25:07
So if you're looking to take the next step, if you like what you've heard so far and you're looking to take that next step. Myself and my team are there to assist you with that through the application process. Essentially, the application process is pretty straightforward. You can visit our course webpage. You can see a screenshot there. There's a red 'Apply' button that you can click there to begin your application. I'd note, for this particular program, you just need to have an existing in bachelor's degree, accept a bachelor of laws, or a existing juris doctor with a GPA of 2. 0 out of 4. 0. So, when you apply for the program, just make sure that you get a copy. If it's with us or not with us, just make sure you get a copy of your certificate of completion and also your academic transcripts as well and have that all prepared for when you submit your application. But essentially, when you're going through the application process, you've got the option to select a full-time or Commonwealth-supported place. If you're eligible for a Commonwealth-supported place, definitely select it.
Belinda Clarence 00:26:10
For a full fee place in this particular program, it's about $43,200 a year. As Jen said earlier, on a Commonwealth-supported place, it's $17,399 per year of full-time study. Once you submit your application, generally applications can take sort of five business days, and can take longer if there's any further information that's required. But our admissions team at RMIT, they'll be in touch with you. Via email to inform you if they require any further documents or anything like that. And I'd note as well, if you've got any questions about the course and you're a bit unsure or you need anything clarified, myself and my team are there to help you as well. We can answer questions about the course. You know, have a chat to you, see if you're eligible for the course. To apply and go through the details of the course with you as well, so you're comfortable in that decision as well. Once you've got an outcome for your application, then you can accept it. And at that stage, you'll be applying for things such as like fee help.
Belinda Clarence 00:27:12
If you're looking to utilize a government loan for the course, and we can send you through instructions on how to apply for that as well. One thing I'd recommend to people if they're looking to apply for the course and they're unsure if they're eligible for fee help or Commonwealth supported places, you can type in 'Commonwealth supported place.' RMIT or just 'Commonwealth Supported Place.' We've got resources on RMIT's website. We've also got, there's also resources on the government website as well. So you can check against that to see if you're going to be eligible for those services.
Belinda Clarence 00:27:45
Like Belinda and Gem were saying. Um, you know, most students do the course on a part-time load, which is about two subjects per semester, as what we would generally recommend to start with. And just so you can, you know, get a feel for the course and see if it's going to be appropriate. If you do need to increase your workload in the following semester, you certainly can. Just need to enroll in four subjects for that particular semester. But my general advice to students is to choose two to start with. You can see how you go. And if you do need to up that in a later semester, you always can as well. I'd say for this particular program, we've got the last date to apply. We've got an upcoming semester. So, if you're keen to start straight away or near enough, you certainly can. We've got the last date to apply is going to be on the 4th of March, and 6th of March is going to be the last date to accept as well. And the census is the 31st of March. So your census date is the last date that you've got to withdraw for no financial academic penalties. So, you know, you've got that gap period between starting the program. And if anything comes up or you find the course isn't right for yourself, you know, you can withdraw as well before that time.
Belinda Clarence 00:28:52
I'd note that new students to this particular course can only start in semester one and semester two as well. The optional summer term, that's for existing students to continue their studies over the summer. So yeah, if you're looking to study, it'll either be semester one or semester two as well.
Belinda Clarence 00:29:09
I think that should be everything.
Genevieve Jordan 00:29:14
Thanks, Elliot. Really appreciate that. And I can see lots of questions are coming through, which is fantastic. Belinda, you've been able to answer a few as we're going. But I will start to go back to some of the ones that came in earlier. So thanks for your patience, everyone.
Genevieve Jordan 00:29:30
One of the earlier questions was around VLAB. VLAB is obviously a Victorian body. This degree, though, is able to be used as the basis for admission in all other Australian states. So there is that reciprocal arrangement. So you can do a JD in Victoria and then apply for admission in New South Wales with that and all sorts of other combinations. So that's definitely very relevant. There was a question about having already completed some core courses in a diploma as prior study. I think, Belinda, you might have answered this and they're not going to be relevant because they're not the right level.
Belinda Clarence 00:30:09
I can add a few. Um, words that it comes across my desk quite often in the migration law. context.
Belinda Clarence 00:30:19
And. So. some courses in a graduate. Diploma may be at the level. But we have to look at it very, very closely. And then the other thing is because all of the courses are about the same thing. It sort of might only be one elective. So we've got a credit assessment team. And we look very closely at every specific thing so I can only really make general comments. But the things to look out for if you want to get credit as an elective, it's got to be at AQF 9, master's level.
Belinda Clarence 00:30:55
Um and it's got to be law related, in other words, you can usually tell it's got law as a as the beginning of the subject code and it's taught by law school.
Belinda Clarence 00:31:07
So there is a bit of scope to get. Credit usually for electives if you want to get credit for one of the priestly 11, it's usually that you've done at another law school. It's usually quite difficult because the content is distributed across different courses and it's not quite the same way. So it's possible, but for the priestly 11, it's usually a bit, it's not that easy to move from one law school to another in terms of those core subjects. For instance, University of Melbourne's got... law of obligations, we have this in contract law, so Georgina would know what I mean.
Belinda Clarence 00:31:49
Yeah.
Genevieve Jordan 00:31:50
Thank you, Belinda. I think our advice generally is for people to apply and include all the information that they have about prior study. And then that will be assessed by the team in terms of the credit that can be applied.
Genevieve Jordan 00:32:02
Um... The next question is from a student who is currently enrolled in the JD program and would like to understand more about the class schedule. Are the classes held at specific times that require live attendance and so on?
Genevieve Jordan 00:32:19
Belinda, I'll let you answer, but my understanding is that they're... There are classes at a specific time that students should join those classes online at that time, wherever possible. But that there are also recordings made available.
Belinda Clarence 00:32:35
Yeah, so... They generally do run between 5. 30 and 8. 30.
Belinda Clarence 00:32:42
Because the enrolment in this program is growing, which is a good thing, but it's also a good thing for you because it means we often are running more than one class. So you have a choice usually of two different classes— you don't have to go to both, just one of them. When we schedule them, we do look very carefully at. We know that people doing first year are going to be doing intro and then they're going to be doing contract and torts. So we try and make sure those things don't overlap.
Belinda Clarence 00:33:14
Um, there are some courses though that have intensive modes. The intro one does, and the reason for that is we're trying to get you those basic skills. Before you sort of move in time for your first assessment.
Belinda Clarence 00:33:31
I think another thing that I just wanted to say that I didn't say in my earliest slide is that these laws are generally one of the harder things you're going to study.
Belinda Clarence 00:33:46
Particularly in the JD, because it's at master's level as well. And there's a tendency of first year students to over-enrol.
Belinda Clarence 00:33:54
I just know this, I see it all the time. So you think you can manage three, and then all of a sudden you're in week two or three and you're thinking. 'I'm completely you know, overwhelmed.'
Belinda Clarence 00:34:06
It's very important to know when census date is. I believe it's on the 31st of March. I think that I would always check under RMIT important university dates, but it's around there and it might be different for RMIT online. So you know, there's a caveat there. But if you withdraw by census date, you won't be charged your fees and it won't show up on your academic record. So it's very, very important to be realistic as to what you can manage.
Belinda Clarence 00:34:40
Because if you get post-census date and you want to withdraw, it can academic withdrawal without penalties a little bit later. But it can potentially show up as a fail. And then you can be charged. So put that in your um put that debt in your calendar or your diary. Because it's very important when studying law part-time to be realistic.
Belinda Clarence 00:35:04
About what you can get, because actually what you can achieve, because it's much pleasanter studying law. When you are getting good marks for your assessments as opposed to when you just desperately trying to get things done and hoping you're going to pass here and there. So it just makes it for a more enjoyable experience.
Genevieve Jordan 00:35:24
Thank you, Belinda. Georgina, I might ask you actually your thoughts on that topic around, you know, how many subjects do you think?
Genevieve Jordan 00:35:31
Can be achievable at a time. And what you did.
Georgina Warren 00:35:36
So I think it's really important to kind of think about what's going to be happening in your life in the next sort of six months in the semester as much as you can and try and adapt for that. Where possible, so I had a semester where I did four semesters where I did three and semesters where I only did two. And that gave me the flexibility I needed.
Georgina Warren 00:36:01
In order to be able to do all of the commitments I had going on as well. As do my JD. And I think it's a really... important thing to be aware of going into it because the last thing you want is for your marks to suffer because you couldn't give it the time. That a JD needs. Um And there's no... There's no race really, like you can do this degree at the time that best suits you. Um, and it's better to do it well than it is to half-ass it, trying to finish it quickly.
Genevieve Jordan 00:36:38
Yeah, thank you for that. And I see there are a couple of questions about that overall duration and Belinda provided a response there too. Technically, according to university policy, you have up to 12 years to complete the program. So there is sort of some guidance.
Genevieve Jordan 00:36:54
Belinda, I think you mentioned up to 10 and circumstances that can go to 12.
Belinda Clarence 00:37:00
Have your attention, Aviv. I've got to stop you there.
Belinda Clarence 00:37:03
There may be VLAB requirements.
Belinda Clarence 00:37:07
So that's the thing: it's not just university policy we have to comply with.
Genevieve Jordan 00:37:12
Yes, yes.
Belinda Clarence 00:37:13
It takes a bit of a dim view if your subjects are so long ago in the past. That they can't sort of be said to be current. Yeah, that's right. Ten years is safe. Yeah. The very, very maximum. But I would be. Um, you know, I would be very anxious about trying to be admitted if my subjects were 12 years old.
Belinda Clarence 00:37:37
Got it. I just wanted to justify that or qualify that, I should say.
Genevieve Jordan 00:37:41
Yeah, thank you. And there was another question, I think, about the minimum time. And the minimum time is three years. And that is a VLAP requirement that a JD has to be at least three years. So thank you for those questions. I think they're probably questions that a lot of people would have. I'm going to move to some slightly different questions because I can see there's a cluster of questions about CSP and also a cluster of questions around exams.
Genevieve Jordan 00:38:03
I might take CSP first and also hand over to you, Elliot, but we do have Commonwealth supported places for the program.
Genevieve Jordan 00:38:11
Generally, domestic students who are accepted into the program at the moment are getting CSP. But CSP is not unlimited. So we do recommend people apply earlier rather than leave it till the very last minute. Once you've got a CSP, you carry that with you. So, we as a university can't take that away and then put you onto a full fee. That's not the way it works, which is a good thing for everyone.
Genevieve Jordan 00:38:36
But we recommend that you apply earlier because, of course, all universities have a fixed number of CSPs and we need to manage that. that constraint.
Genevieve Jordan 00:38:45
Elliot, I don't know if you wanted to add anything to that.
Belinda Clarence 00:38:48
Yeah, I'll just say as well, you know, CSPs for a duration, it's not a guaranteed thing going into the future as well. If you do have intentions on studying... and you're sort of looking to make that jump, it's best to sort of start your journey sooner rather than later just to make sure you can get one of those CSP places. As Gem mentioned, they are limited. So, you know, going into other years, we can't be guaranteeing that CSP places may still be available as they are limited.
Genevieve Jordan 00:39:17
Yep. So once you get a CSP, you keep it. But if you don't apply, say for another 12 months or two years, we can't guarantee what the settings at that time might be.
Genevieve Jordan 00:39:27
Okay, I might turn next to questions about exams because there's a couple of different questions.
Genevieve Jordan 00:39:34
One is, can exceptions be made for students not in Australia during exam periods? Belinda, I'll hand over to you for that one.
Belinda Clarence 00:39:42
Okay, so we are accredited for study in Australia. And one of the issues with exams being done overseas is, first of all, we've had instances of geo-blocking from certain countries. When people have tried to submit an assignment in Europe, there's issues with the GDPR. So our lawyers are not happy. And not only that, we're only accredited for study in Australia.
Belinda Clarence 00:40:12
Or for students in Australia. Of course, we don't obviously know where you are at any given time and we don't track it. It's assumed that you are in Australia when you sit an exam.
Belinda Clarence 00:40:24
Other thing I was going to say is that the 11 priestly core areas of knowledge all have an invigilated exam. And this is the same throughout all law schools in Australia.
Belinda Clarence 00:40:38
It can be a bit confronting if you haven't sat for an exam for a long time. But we do help you and prepare for all of that. Exams are done online in an invigilated environment.
Belinda Clarence 00:40:52
We use proctoring software. Sir. Your computer is the platform that you do your your exam on. doesn't allow any other applications to be open. But all our exams are open book, so you've got your study notes. We use this proctoring software so you can have your camera on, and there's an invigilator in person at the other end who can help with any problems. So it mirrors the invigilated exam experience for the in-person students.
Belinda Clarence 00:41:27
So the first, you know, there's quite a few in first year because that's where our core subjects are.
Belinda Clarence 00:41:37
certainly we can you know We train you in the platform, the exam platform.
Genevieve Jordan 00:41:44
Thank you Belinda. Hopefully that helps for everyone. There's also quite a lot of information that is shared with students well ahead of any exams. there's an opportunity to do a little practice run to make sure that everything's working for your setup. So some of those things help people feel a bit more comfortable about the experience as well.
Genevieve Jordan 00:42:04
I'm just looking at some other questions that are coming through. One is, how can you gain practical experience if you live in a different state in Australia while studying online? Belinda, can I ask you to respond to that one? Because I know there are opportunities for practical experience for students.
Belinda Clarence 00:42:19
Yes, we've got an elective called postgraduate legal internship. So the university can either help you with some of our partners that we have. And I know one of them, we've got one with Anika Legal and that's done. virtually.
Belinda Clarence 00:42:41
Or you can actually source your own because quite often people have contacts and they're basically submitted. Um, to the university, we've got a team that that looks at this kind of thing, assesses what you'll be doing, and then, and you can actually potentially even be paid, and then says whether it meets the requirement of our postgraduate legal internship, which is supervised by us from one of our specialist academics in that area. So definitely you can.
Genevieve Jordan 00:43:16
Thank you. Thank you. A question that I might put to Elliot actually, the question is, can you enrol unit by unit or do you have to enrol in all subjects for the year? Elliot, what's your advice?
Belinda Clarence 00:43:28
Yeah, so you don't need to enroll in all subjects at the start. You know, generally, for the course, we generally have the year subjects listed as open for enrollment. But, you know, you can enroll in... you could even enroll in one subject if you wanted to sort of take it even uh sort of further down. You could enroll in one subject or two subjects as part-time for that six-year completion. Um, but you know, you can enroll in two subjects for now and get through your semester, and then enroll in another two subjects or four subjects or however many you would like to do in the next semester. There's no requirement to enroll in all of them at the start. You can, if you'd like, but there's no requirement. Just before the course begins, you just need to make sure to enroll in the subjects that you're looking to study.
Genevieve Jordan 00:44:14
Okay, thanks for that, Elliot.
Genevieve Jordan 00:44:17
Different kind of question, but I know it's a question that a lot of people think about, and that is, are there group assignments? These are very much of interest for many, many students. Belinda, I'll hand over to you.
Belinda Clarence 00:44:28
Yes, so there tend to be group assignments in intro.
Belinda Clarence 00:44:34
And that's actually quite a good time to do it because, you know, you're working with other people. It can be a bit intimidating to do a presentation by yourself. So if you're doing a group presentation, take some of the pressure off. And it's a good way to get to know people. But I would say another time where you might work together is in mooting. I didn't really mention that you have the opportunity to moot.
Belinda Clarence 00:45:03
If you look at the picture behind me, just behind the orange trees is the Melbourne Old Magistrates Court. And RMIT owns that. And so, you know, if you wanted to have your experience, you know, face to face as opposed to online, that's something that can be done, although most people are quite happy to do it online. We also do mooting in electives where there's moot competitions.
Belinda Clarence 00:45:40
Um. Sorry, did I answer that question? Was there another question?
Genevieve Jordan 00:45:44
I think so. Yeah. Yep.
Genevieve Jordan 00:45:47
There's a couple of other questions about people transferring from other courses, either a different JD or a different master's related area, a justice and crim. Masters.
Belinda Clarence 00:46:01
Um, so Let's get it done. The thing about that is that most law schools in Australia. So by law, we have the priestly content.
Belinda Clarence 00:46:12
and every law school just structures they've all got their own aims and they structure their content slightly differently.
Belinda Clarence 00:46:22
so some one subject say for example constitutional law is generally the same across all law schools, just because it's a sort of standalone subject and we all cover what we have to cover.
Belinda Clarence 00:46:34
But something like there's quite a lot of overlap between, say, property, contracts, and trusts, remedies. And so those are just areas of law. And so individual law schools may have different subjects, but at the end of the day, all of them have been covered. So if you try to get credit for one— say, property— at one law school, but that. um. that's Course hasn't saved. covered. um. equitable interests because that school does it somewhere else, you're not going to get equivalent if the one you're getting for does cover it. So that's what I mean. But that tends to be for the pre-11. So you need to be careful between moving between law schools. So I can't make a general sweeping statement. It's going to be a matter for the credit assessors to decide.
Genevieve Jordan 00:47:28
Thank you. So again, I think the advice is for people to apply and provide all the information they can. It will be assessed and you'll get an outcome. So thank you for that. Um, another question: will online shoots be available to sign up when Canvas opens on the 23rd of Feb? Belinda, I know you're juggling lots of pieces here.
Belinda Clarence 00:47:49
I can answer that because, in fact, I intend to. Tomorrow, put up the timetable. For, I'll put it up on the program page, well I'll put a link to it from the program page, of the timing of all the electives.
Belinda Clarence 00:48:05
Not the lectures, all the courses. So we've, um, we've. It's a bit of a balancing act because we've got to staff them, we've got to think about conflicts and all that, but our timetable is pretty much... Final note. And then what we do on Canvas is. We'll create tutorials for you know so that there aren't too many people in the one tutorial and then you can sign into it. It's actually it'll be as a group you'll join a particular group, probably with not more than 30 students max.
Belinda Clarence 00:48:40
So that's going to be happening tomorrow.
Genevieve Jordan 00:48:43
Great, thank you. That just helps people understand what they can expect. We are running short on time and I just wanted to give each of our speakers a last opportunity and I'll go to you first, Georgina. Just in closing, what would your advice be for people who are considering doing a JD?
Georgina Warren 00:49:02
Do it. You won't regret it. Thank you. I think, as I said before, it gives you a wonderful way of thinking, a new way of... seeing the world, processing information.
Georgina Warren 00:49:13
And there are incredible career opportunities out there. So I highly recommend.
Georgina Warren 00:49:20
Thank you.
Genevieve Jordan 00:49:20
Thanks, Georgina.
Genevieve Jordan 00:49:22
Belinda, over to you. What's your last words of advice for people considering doing a JD?
Belinda Clarence 00:49:28
I would say that it's... very, very enjoyable form of study. My first study was in engineering and it is completely different, though I enjoyed my engineering as well.
Belinda Clarence 00:49:39
It's actually something that you really enjoy as a postgrad.
Belinda Clarence 00:49:45
Um, in a way that when you fresh out of school, you don't really appreciate it in a way, not to say anything, about being an NLB student. I just enjoyed it thoroughly as a mature ed student. The final thing that I'd say is take up every opportunity you can to network with your colleagues, build relationships with your tutors, use your LinkedIn to network. So you want to start building your law network from day one. And I hope to see you in the. in the Jodi.
Genevieve Jordan 00:50:19
Thank you, Belinda. And Elliot, any last comments from you?
Belinda Clarence 00:50:22
Yes, look, wise words, Georgina and Belinda. Look, I'd like to say to everyone, you know, I know I can be a bit nerve-wracking, you know, deciding on whether you're going to study and it could be a really big step for a lot of people. Um, just know that myself— you might catch me on the phone or email, or a member of my team. We're here to help you through that process and provide guidance and, you know, help you as best as possible so you can make the right decision on if this is going to be, you know, if you're looking to proceed with this. So feel free to reach out to us, ask as many questions as you can. We're there to answer all of them. And thanks today for everyone for coming.
Genevieve Jordan 00:50:57
Thank you, Elliot. Look, we haven't been able to answer each individual question that's been posted in the chat. I am aware of that, but we do have sort of a fixed time period. So feel free to follow up with Elliot and team regarding specific queries. Some of those queries will end up actually with Belinda. Particularly, Georgina, thank you very much for joining us and sharing your perspectives as someone who's... in a career, building a career, but also done a JD relatively recently. So I really appreciate that. And Belinda, as always, we really appreciate your leadership of this program and all the experience that you bring to it. And your care for all of our students—actually, in getting them through— what is quite a lengthy journey and but also quite a transformative journey. Oh, very much appreciate that.
Belinda Clarence 00:51:45
I'll come to it. RMIT students are very valuable to us.
Genevieve Jordan 00:51:50
Yes, yes.
Genevieve Jordan 00:51:52
So thanks, everyone, for joining us today. As I mentioned, we are recording the session and we'll be sharing a link to that recording with you afterwards. And I just encourage you to reach out to Elliot and team for any further information you might need. And we hope to see you in the program. Thanks very much.
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