NSW judicial officers signing -off NSW LPAB financial statements do so as ordinary officers of a corporation, not as judges with immunity -They are subject to accounting standards, not the rules of court and evidence that would normally shield them

 by Ganesh Sahathevan

                           NSW LPAB likely the only legal body in the region that will suffer "significant losses"into the future

The NSW Department of Communities and Justice and its NSW Legal Profession Admission Board have failed to disclose, in their   2024-25 Annual Report  the costs of the NSW LPAB's sudden change of heart towards the  PLT, in particular the College Of Law PLT, declaring it not fit for purpose after decades of accrediitng and re-accrediting it.  Such a reversal is not without costs. NSW LPAB has already incurred the costs of an industry wide survey about the PLT,and says it is in ongoing consultations with presumably PLT providers about the new PLT format ordered by the Chief Justice NSW, Andrew Bell, who is also chairman of NSW LPAB.

The NSW LPAB has also failed to disclose its delayed reaccreditation of the Communist Party China linked Top Education Group Ltd's law school, and the reasons for it. The NSW LPAB  was queried about the delay and the response was an  admission: that accounting period conventions which are intended to match revenue and the cost incurred in earning that revenue.

NSW LPAB Presiding Officer Judge Anthony Payne has assumed the duty of attesting the Internal Audit And Risk Management Attestation Statement.
Previous attestations, which were probably false, were attested by the Executive Officers concerned.
The false attestations concern the PLT and complaints against the College Of Law. Those matters remain outstanding and have not been corrected.

As presiding officers  Anthony Payne and Hon Justice Jeremy Kirk have primary responsibility for the contents of the NSW LPAB Annual Report.
https://lnkd.in/genYsaRz .