Policy Submissions

One of the core goals of the UNSW Law Society is to give students the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the law reform process. Students are an often forgotten source of knowledge and ideas on a range of legal issues, and it is only right that their voice should be heard in the discussions which shape the law’s future development. Not only do such contributions help students to develop important communication and critical analysis skills, they also lead to the development of better and more representative laws.

Students at all stages of their degree are invited to contribute to the writing of policy submissions. A policy submission is a document that it is submitted to a public or parliamentary body that presents the Law Society’s view on a particular law reform issue. It makes recommendations that will be taken into account by the body in their final report to the Government. These submissions are made on an ad hoc basis to a variety of formal inquires held by bodies such as the Australian Law Reform Commission and the Commonwealth Productivity Commission.

Students who volunteer to contribute will have the opportunity to work closely with other students and Faculty members throughout the entirety of the submission process. This involvement ranges from deciding on the general direction of the submission, to researching and writing its content. The process is collaborative, and aims to give all students an important stake in the development of the submission.

If you are interested in contributing to future policy submissions, please email policy.submissions@unswlawsoc.org, or watch out for the opportunities that will be posted to this website when they arise.

The 2023 Policy Submissions Handbook can be accessed here.

Past Submissions