Founded 1979 | Website www.alsa.net.au | |
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Type Public, limited by guarantee | ||
The Australian Law Students' Association (ALSA) is a not-for-profit association which serves as the peak representative body of law students in Australia. The association facilitates communication between the law student societies of most Australian law schools, represents students to government, universities and the public, authors educational and careers publications, and hosts an annual conference each year.
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Membership and governance
ALSA's membership comprises all law students in Australia and their universities' law student societies, with the exception of the Sydney University Law Society which withdrew from the association in 2014.
ALSA is governed by a National Council which includes delegates from each participating law student society. The organisation's functions are overseen by an Executive and Committee. Members of the Executive and Committee are elected annually. Presidents of the Association are elected for a one year term by the ALSA Council. The first president of the association was Terry Connolly, who went on to become a judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory.
Annual conference
Each year, ALSA hosts a national conference at a different city in Australia at which the governing Council and representatives meet to discuss policy issues and delegates attend seminars and speaking events. Speakers have included practitioners, academics, and judges.
At the conference students also compete against each other in advocacy competitions. Among the competitions is a national intervarsity moot competition which has been run since the 1970s. Competitors include law students from across Australia, New Zealand and neighbouring Asian countries.