The COVID-19 pandemic has had a large impact on the ability of Colleges to teach face-to-face courses, as well as the ability of students to travel and attend such courses.
ACLM's courses are an essential requirement of achieving Fellowship and Membership with our College. We are aware that some of our members may have planned to attend our 2020 courses in order to achieve Fellowship or Membership in the near future.
While the 2020 Expert Witness course was held in Brisbane in March as planned, we understand that travel restrictions were already coming into effect which impacted some students' ability to attend. Furthermore, the mid-year Expert Report Writing and Basic Law Intensive will likely be postponed to a date late in the year.
We apologise for any delay this causes in your ability to achieve Fellowship or Membership. Please be assured that we know that you have been affected, however we are acting in accord with government and medical direction and in the best interests of the health and safety of our students.
Our Fellowship and Membership requirements state that an applicant must have "successfully completed the expert witness program, the law intensive courses and an examination, each conducted by the College, within two years following the date of an application for membership as a Fellow" (or Member). In light of the disruption to ACLM's course delivery in 2020, we will offer flexibility with the requirement for courses to be completed within a two year window. More time will be allowed proportionate to the length of time which COVID-19 affects our course delivery and our students' ability to travel and attend. This will only apply to current members who are working toward achieving Fellowship and Membership.
We will be in touch with more information regarding changes to our mid-year course dates. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding your pathway to Fellowship/Membership.