Following years of investigation into finding the best solution to the difficult issues that the existing arrangement throws up, The College of Law is intending to move forward on proposals for a new administrative structure.
The necessary change in constitution for the College has come about for a number of reasons. Primarily, it will address a basic administrative need to simplify certain aspects of the trust in which parts of the College operate.
In addition, the HEP (Higher Education Provider) sector is currently going through a process of national regulation, and the College will be required to ensure that its constitution is aligned with new national protocols in order to be able to make the most of the benefits that the revised HEP status brings.
The new constitution will also allow the College to prepare for its future role as a national and regional HEP following a major restructure of the academic board functions which occurred earlier this year.
It is hoped that that the changes will re-energise the College’s work in practical scholarship and its interaction with the broader intellectual life of what has become a national profession.
Following approval of the proposals, the College will become a company limited by the guarantee of members, a group that will continue to have significant input in its operations from the Law Society of New South Wales. As the sole preferred ordinary member, the Law Society will have will also have rights of veto to ensure its continuing presence in the administration of the College. These arrangements have been put forward to replace the current unsatisfactory situation where the Law Society own shares in a complicated trust arrangement from which members derive no direct benefit.