Ready, Set, GO!
Disappointed that you are lacking the sporting prowess to make the Australian team at the
London Olympics? Never fear! The perfect opportunity to put your well exercised brain cells
to good use is here and you don't even need to leave the country.
In 2012 the Australian Law Students' Association is being held in the sporting capital of
Australia and we want YOU to join us. From 9th to 16th July more than 500 law students
will come to Melbourne as competitors, councillors and general delegates. Conference is
a jam-packed week and is the largest law student conference in Australasia. It includes
and opening and closing gala dinners with keynote speakers, five legal education speaker
forums, a cocktail evening, two theme nights, a pub crawl, workshops, day trips, an equity
breakfast, competition grand finals and more!
But wait, you actually did want to play some sport? That's okay too as 2012 will see the
launch of the ALSA sports day! This is the perfect opportunity to get some bragging rights
over rival universities! If you are really only interested in the Olympic outfits, we also have a
sports themed social event with every university receiving a sport to dictate their costume.
A great chance for some uni team work and creative planning.
How much does it cost? Gold registration includes your accommodation and is $850. Want
to attend but already have somewhere to stay then a silver registration for $500 is for you.
For more information and to register head to www.alsaconference.com.au. Follow us on
facebook (www.facebook.com/alsa2012) or on twitter (@ALSAConference) to stay on top
of all new developments.
See you in Melbourne!
What is ALSA?
ALSA is the peak representative body for law students in Australia. As an Australian law student, you are automatically an ALSA member. Your interests are represented by your own university's Law Students' Society (LSS), which forms part of the ALSA Council. Now, you are more than likely asking yourself, "How is ALSA different to my own university LSS, and what exactly does ALSA do for me?" Good question!
ALSA's services can be divided into three broad categories:
- Acting as a national representative for Australian law students' interests;
- Providing direct services for Australian law students; and
- Providing a knowledge sharing forum for law student societies (LSSs) across Australian universities.
National Lobbying
ALSA is slightly different to your traditional LSS in that as a national representative body, one of our primary roles is to act as a lobbyist for Australian law student interests. ALSA carries out this role through a number of channels, including making submissions to governments, universities and other stakeholders, and by maintaining relationships with bodies such as the Law Council of Australia (LCA) and the Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD). The ALSA team ensures that where issues require a unified and national response, ALSA has significant weight in its ability to negotiate with other organisations where the individual LSSs would not have a substantial voice.
ALSA is run by an elected Executive and Committee, who consult with the individual LSSs around Australia in order to determine what are the critical issues facing law students at any given moment. These range from traditional education matters, such as funding, assessment policies or scholarship opportunities, to career issues, such as seasonal clerkship guidelines, requirements for admission and non-corporate opportunities.
Services for Students
ALSA delivers a number of services directly to students where there are synergies in doing so at a national level. Our primary event is the annual ALSA Conference (held in July), which brings together over 600 law students from Australia and New Zealand for the national finals of legal competitions. In addition, the Conference hosts ALSA Council meetings, Australian Legal Education Forums (ALEF) and plenty of fun times. It is the largest law student event in Australia, and one of the largest student-run conferences annually. This year, Conference will be hosted by the University of New South Wales in Sydney from 8 – 15 July 2011 and is set to be an unmissable event on every law students’ calendar!
ALSA also maintains a number of publications focused on all Australian law students, including the Academic Journal, International Careers Guide, Global Scholarships Guide, and Judges Associates Handbook. In addition, ALSA produces a biannual flagship publication, the ALSA Reporter; and a quarterly Newsletter, Imprimatur. These publications are intended to be of benefit to Australian law students and supplement the publications provided by individual LSSs.
Knowledge
Sharing for Individual LSSsALSA provides a knowledge-sharing forum to assist the LSS on your campus to be the best it can be. This forum is the ALSA Council, which comprises of the President and an ALSA Representative from each of the 30+ law student societies nationwide. The ALSA Council meets three times a year, and the most important parts of these meetings are knowledge-sharing workshops, seminars and breakout groups, which allow ideas to be shared and taken back home. The ALSA Education team also gathers data from law schools around Australia on issues in legal education, which can then be distributed and used by individual LSSs in their own education roles.
The Year Ahead
2010-2011 is an exciting year for ALSA. As well as committing to improving each of the three aspects of ALSA’s activities listed above, the ALSA Executive and Committee are dedicated to achieving four common aims for our term:
- Improving ALSA’s effectiveness on issues of national significance;
- Supporting younger and regional LSSs in tackling the unique issues they face;
- Advancing communication and collaboration between ALSA, LSSs and law students and enhancing the productivity of ALSA Council; and
- Working collaboratively with national student law associations abroad.
You will find more information about all of ALSA's activities by browsing our brand new website at http://www.alsa.net.au. Many useful resources are also available for Law Students' Societies through the LSS Login. If you want more information or are interested in getting involved in ALSA, please contact the relevant ALSA Executive or Committee member or myself directly. My inbox is always open, and my phone is always on!
I wish you all the best in your studies, and hope to see you at Conference!
Matthew Floro
President
Australian Law Students' Association (ALSA)
For more information check out the ALSA 2011 Official O Week slide show.
