Details
University Location | Gold Coast, Queensland |
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City Population | 647,000 |
Student Population | 45,000 |
Int'l Student Population | 8,500 |
Main Campus | Gold Coast |
Program Campus | Gold Coast |
Program Duration | 2 – 3 years |
Estimated Annual Tuition | AUD$70,500 (2025 fees; subject to increase)** |
Trimester Intakes | March, July, November |
Next Available Intake | March |
Application Deadline | No set deadline* |
CRICOS Provider | 00233E |
TEQSA | PRV12076 |
Overview
Griffith University‘s law school is ranked among the world’s top law schools and offers a dedicated graduate program for Canadian students pursuing a career in Australia or Canada.
Griffith offers a professional legal curriculum that focuses on core areas of legal practice and the legal skills that lawyers must have. You’ll have the opportunity to choose law electives based on your interests, including clinical courses that emphasize practical legal skills, insights, and experience.
Griffith Legal Clinic Program
The Griffith Legal Clinic Program offers one of the broadest range of clinics of any Australian law school. In fact, Griffith helped pioneer clinical legal education in Queensland, paving the way for legal placements to be included in law degrees. Griffith’s years of research and experience mean they understand the needs of their industry partners and their law students.
Griffith offers a diverse selection of clinics through our collaborations with industry partners.
- Innocence Project
- Advanced Legal Writing
- Criminal Advocacy
- Culturally Principled Practice
- Advanced Family Law clinic
- Caxton General clinic
- Refugee Law and Policy clinic
- Social Justice Lawyering clinic
- Community Lawyering clinic
- Employment Law clinic
- Internship / Trimester in Practice
- Volunteering opportunities: e.g.,: My Community Legal, Bayside Community Legal
Canadian Law Students’ Association
Hosted at the Gold Coast campus, the Canadian Law Students’ Association is a small but active group. Past events include Thanksgiving dinner and a night at a hockey game. As a Griffith Law student, you’ll receive support and advice from the Canadian Law Student Association and enjoy regular mentoring meetings with Dean Therese Wilson. Ms. Wilson makes a point of keeping in regular contact with the Canadian cohort and catching up regularly with those who are interested.
International Mooting Experience
Each year, Griffith law students travel to either to Hong Kong or Vienna, to compete against teams from prestigious law schools across the globe in the International Commercial Arbitration Moot. Griffith teams are always top-ranked, and students competing in the competition have also won numerous awards at the competition year after year.
Moot Courts
Griffith Law School equips you to deal with contemporary issues with a perfect balance of legal theory and practice, right from the first year of study. The teaching facilities and moot courts provide law students with the opportunity to solve real legal problems in front of a judge and jury by engaging in a simulated court proceeding.
Griffith offers a range of flexible and innovative international field trips, study tours, and global internships that get you out of the classroom and into the field. Each year, law students compete for coveted spots on international mooting teams at annual competitions including the Phillip C Jessup Moot Court Competition and the Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.
Have a look at what fellow Canadians (and a former OzTREKK student) have to say about the Griffith law program.
Program
The Juris Doctor program will prepare you for a rewarding career. It is an alternative to the Bachelor of Laws for students who have completed an undergraduate degree in any discipline.
Griffith Law School offers a professional legal curriculum that focuses on core areas of legal practice and the legal skills that lawyers must have. You will have the opportunity to choose law electives based on your interests, including high-level research and clinical courses that emphasize practical legal skills, insights and experience. You will also have the option of completing a major in Canadian Law, International Law, or Migration Law.
As a Griffith JD student, you’ll make connections between law and ethics, legal theory, Indigenous issues, and internationalization. You will also develop interdisciplinary understandings of law and legal work.
The major in Canadian Law assists with preparing for meeting the entry requirements for the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada in the legal profession in Canada’s common law provinces.
Canadian Law Electives
Griffith offers elective Canadian law courses at the Gold Coast campus that count toward your degree and prepare you for the NCA exams. You will learn from experienced lecturers who can guide you through what’s involved and give you personalized advice on how to prepare.
- Foundations of Canadian Law
- Canadian Criminal Law
- Canadian Constitutional Law
- Canadian Administrative Law
- Canadian Legal Professional Responsibility
The Canadian Law electives are only taught at the Gold Coast campus, and only this campus hosts the Canadian Law Students Association. If you choose to study at the Nathan campus, you would need to transfer to the Gold Coast to take the electives toward the end of the program. Alternatively, could choose to study for the NCA exams by yourself, as some students prefer to take advantage of the other electives held at the Nathan campus.
A few law electives are run in intensive mode, including during the summer semester. Intensive mode means that classes may be compacted over a week, or over several weekends. Some law electives are “clinics,” which typically involve work off campus. Law electives are not normally undertaken until the final two years of your law degree.
Students who choose to enroll in the Canadian Law elective areas will complete these courses over Griffith’s Summer Semester (Trimester 3), allowing them to graduate in 2 years’ time.
If you complete the major in Canadian Law you, will be eligible for entry into the legal profession in Canada’s common law provinces, when accompanied by a Certificate of Qualification from the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.
Admission Requirements
Completed bachelor’s degree
You must have a completed degree with a minimum GPA of 2.7/4.0.
The Griffith JD has 2- and 3-year program options.
Canadian Accreditation Accelerated Pathway
Graduate in 2 years (6 trimesters): students who choose to enroll in the Canadian Law elective areas will complete these courses over Griffith’s Summer Semester (Trimester 3), allowing them to graduate in 2 years rather than 3. Please contact OzTREKK to learn more about this option.
**Fees shown are based on the 2-year accelerated program option, 3 semesters per year instead of 2.
Admission Timeline
*While there is no set application deadline, you are encouraged to apply a minimum of 3 months prior to the program start date.
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