Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
Bachelor · 4 years
Serving as the standard undergraduate route into the legal profession in Australia, the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) is frequently studied as a double degree, for example with commerce, arts or science, which extends the total duration beyond the standalone four years. Completing an accredited law degree is only the first of several steps toward admission as a legal practitioner.
What’s covered
- Foundations of Australian law and the legal system
- Contract, tort, criminal, constitutional, and property law
- Legal research, writing, and advocacy
- Ethics and professional responsibility
- Electives and clinical or moot-court experience
After the degree
A law degree alone does not allow you to practise. Graduates must complete Practical Legal Training and meet the admission requirements of their state or territory’s legal admissions board. International students should research these requirements early.
Career outcomes
Law graduates who complete Practical Legal Training and gain admission typically start as a graduate lawyer or paralegal at a firm, in government, or in-house at a corporation, before specialising into an area such as commercial, criminal, family or property law. International students face an additional consideration: admission and long-term practice rights depend on your visa status, and some graduates instead use their law degree as a strong analytical foundation for careers in policy, compliance, banking or consulting rather than courtroom practice. Because a double degree is common, many students combine law with commerce or arts specifically to keep career options open beyond legal practice, which is worth considering if you’re not certain admission is your end goal.
How to choose a provider
Law school reputation genuinely matters for competitive graduate positions at larger firms, so university ranking and clerkship placement rates are worth researching directly rather than trusting general marketing claims. Sydney and UQ both have long-established reputations and strong moot-court and clinical programs, ANU carries particular strength if you’re interested in policy or public law given its Canberra location, and Bond offers a notably faster, small-cohort structure through its three-semester academic year if you want to finish sooner. Whichever institution you choose, check that the specific degree is accredited by the relevant state or territory legal admissions body, since accreditation (not just university ranking) determines whether the degree actually counts toward practising rights later.
Entry requirements
- Year 12 or international equivalent with a high entry rank
- IELTS 6.5 to 7.0 (institute-specific)