Starting a law firm in Tasmania
The Law Society of Tasmania issues the certificate under the Legal Profession Act 2007 and runs the insurance scheme, collecting a fixed premium with the certificate. There is no practice management course. Here are the steps in order and what each costs in 2026-27.
There is no practice management course; a first-time principal completes the Society's online trust accounting course instead. The Legal Profession Board handles complaints and does not issue certificates.
The steps in Tasmania
1. Finish supervised legal practice
Regulation 8 of the Legal Profession Regulations 2018 sets the period at 18 months or two years, full time, part time pro rata or in combined periods, with leave and public holidays counting. Which period applies depends on section 59 of the Act and your admission pathway; the Society describes the general rule as two years.
2. Complete the trust accounting course
Tasmania has no practice management course requirement in the Act, the regulations or on the Society's site. Instead the Society's Council has resolved that a practitioner granted a principal certificate for the first time must complete the online trust accounting course it endorses, run by the Legal Bookkeepers Institute. The fee is not published on the Society's page.
3. Join the Society's professional indemnity scheme
Section 45 of the Act conditions the certificate on compliant insurance, and the Society arranges its scheme through Marsh with CGU as the current insurer, collecting the premium with the certificate. For 2026-27 a full-time practitioner pays $4,345 in total: a $3,000 premium, $300 GST, $330 stamp duty, a $352 broker fee and a $363 claims management fee. Part time, at 22.8 hours a week or less, is $3,110.80. A low fee earning sole practitioner pays $721.60 with nil income, $1,483.90 up to $15,000, $2,770.90 to $35,000 and $3,859.90 to $50,000. Base cover is $2 million, with higher limits from $726.
4. Apply for the principal certificate
Online through the Society's new practising certificate form, with the section 48 eligibility statement and a show-cause statement if one applies; the Society invoices on approval, payable within 14 days. For 2026-27 the principal certificate is $1,603.28, GST exempt and including Society membership, plus the Law Council capitation of $114.23 including GST and the library levy of $901.60 with a Society rebate. The certificate's standard conditions include completing the Society's sexual harassment and workplace culture workshop by 30 April of the certificate year.
5. Notice, if any
No requirement to notify the Society before starting a sole practice or partnership was found in the Act's extracts, the regulations or on the Society's site; the certificate conditions require notice within 14 days of a change of firm or address. An incorporated legal practice gives the Society notice of its intention to start providing legal services under section 115 of the Act. Ask the Society to confirm the form and the lead time, because its text was not available online.
6. Decide on trust money
A general trust account must be with an approved bank. Give the Society written notice within 14 days of opening on Trust Form 6, notify the signatories on Trust Form 8 and again before 31 July each year, and appoint a designated person as external examiner. The designated deposit under section 352 must be brought to two thirds of the prescribed amount within 21 days after each quarter, paid to the Solicitors' Trust on Trust Form 10, with exemptions on Trust Form 12. A practice that held only transit money in the year is exempt from external examination.
What it costs in 2026-27
The regulatory costs before rent, software and marketing.
| Item | Amount | Source, read 23 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Principal practising certificate | $1,603.28, GST exempt, including Society membership | Law Society of Tasmania, 2026-27 fee guide |
| Law Council of Australia capitation | $114.23 including GST | Law Society of Tasmania, 2026-27 fee guide |
| Library levy | $901.60, GST exempt, less the Society's rebate | Law Society of Tasmania, 2026-27 fee guide |
| Professional indemnity insurance, full time | $4,345 in total | Law Society of Tasmania scheme, 2026-27 |
| Professional indemnity insurance, low fee earning sole practitioner | $721.60 with nil fee income, up to $3,859.90 at $50,000 | Law Society of Tasmania scheme, 2026-27 |
| Trust accounting course | Not published | Legal Bookkeepers Institute, endorsed by the Society |
As published in the Society's 2026-27 fee guide, read on 23 October 2026. The Society's fee page says certificate fees are GST exempt. A conflict of interest loading of $550 is listed for principals; the guide does not say when it applies.
If the practice will hold client money
Only if you receive trust money. Notify the Society within 14 days of opening, appoint a designated external examiner, and keep the designated deposit at two thirds of the prescribed amount within 21 days after each quarter.
The part the regulator does not cover
The Society's trust accounting course and its fixed insurance premium are the two Tasmanian steps with no equivalent elsewhere. The one every state shares is a new practice's phone ringing out while its only lawyer is in court. Our phone and intake checklist for a new law firm covers the number, who answers when you are in court, the questions the first call has to capture, and where the record of each call goes. EzyBiz LEX was built for a practice at this stage: an Australian business number in an app on the phone you already carry,
Questions about starting a law firm in Tasmania
No. Nothing in the Act, the regulations or on the Law Society's site requires one. The Society's Council instead requires a first-time principal to complete its endorsed online trust accounting course. Tasmania is the only state besides the Northern Territory without a practice management course requirement.
It depends on fee income, on a fixed scale rather than a percentage. A sole practitioner with no fee income pays $721.60 for 2026-27, rising through $1,483.90, $2,770.90 and $3,859.90 as income passes $15,000, $35,000 and $50,000, and a full-time practitioner above that pays $4,345. The premium is collected with the certificate.
No notice before starting was found for a sole practitioner or partnership. The certificate conditions require notice within 14 days of a change of firm or address, and a trust account must be notified within 14 days of opening. A company must give notice under section 115 of the Act before it starts. Confirm with the Society, which did not publish the section 115 form online.
Two bodies. The Law Society of Tasmania is the prescribed authority that grants practising certificates, sets conditions and runs the insurance scheme. The Legal Profession Board of Tasmania handles complaints, discipline and incorporated legal practice audits.
Primary sources and further reading
Every section reference and figure in this guide traces to one of these. They are listed so you can check the guide rather than take its word for it.
- Practising certificate fee guide 2026-27, Law Society of Tasmania. Certificate fees, levies and insurance premiums.
- Practising certificate fees and guides, Law Society of Tasmania. GST exemption and the broker.
- Principal practitioner practising certificate conditions, Law Society of Tasmania.
- Employed practitioner practising certificate conditions, Law Society of Tasmania. The condition against sole practice.
- The Society's professional indemnity insurance scheme, Law Society of Tasmania.
- Trust accounting forms and resources, Law Society of Tasmania. Trust Forms 6 to 13 and the Council's trust accounting course resolution.
- Trust accounting calendar of key dates, Law Society of Tasmania. The designated deposit and the annual deadlines.
- Legal Profession Act 2007, Tasmanian legislation.
- Legal Profession Regulations 2018, Tasmanian legislation. Regulations 8, 11, 40 and 58.
- Legal Profession (Prescribed Authorities) Regulations 2018, Tasmanian legislation. The Law Society as the prescribed authority.
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