Rethinking the law curriculum: strategies for rural and regional Australia

Abstract

In 2001, a themed issue of the 'Alternative Law Journal' (26(2)) explored issues related to access to the law and to legal services in regional, rural and remote communities. In their editorial, Jeff Giddings and Jennifer Nielsen called for increased research attention to better understand what constitutes regional, rural and remote communities, and to assist the formulation of more appropriate policy to meet their legal service and other needs.In the decade since, greater attention has been directed to the legal and justice needs of rural communities, with particular attention to the increased decline of legal practitioners in these areas. Indeed, many rural and regional legal service providers either have, or will soon have, insufficient legal professionals employed to respond to the legal needs of their communities. Research suggests that failure to address recruitment and retention problems in rural and regional legal practice will restrict access to justice in rural and regional Australia. However the research also suggests that students who undertake their legal studies at a rural or regional university are more likely to seek employment in a rural or regional area, compared with those who study in metropolitan areas. Despite this link, the typical law school curriculum does not actively deal with preparing graduates for employment within regional and rural community contexts. Following this, a collaborative team of law school academics has commenced work on an Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded project that aims to develop strategies within the undergraduate law curriculum to prepare and attract lawyers and other legal professionals for legal careers in rural and regional Australia. Led by Dr Amanda Kennedy (UNE), this project represents the start of an ongoing collaboration to improve learning outcomes for rural and regional legal professionals. It intends to develop curriculum resources for use within all Australian law schools and to establish an active Rural and Regional Legal Education Network.