For Australian law students
Law school by law school
Australian law degrees look similar on paper and run very differently in practice. Some schools have no undergraduate law degree at all, two run trimesters, and the rest sit on semesters that start a week or two apart. These pages set out how law is structured at each school, the 2026 dates we can source, and what your library already gives you before you consider paying for anything.
Independence
CaseSharp is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any university named on this site. No logos, no crests, no partnerships implied. University names are used only to describe who a page is written for.
Ten law schools
- SemestersUSYDSydney, New South WalesCombined degrees for school leavers, the Sydney JD for graduates, and a semester that started on 3 August.
- TrimestersUNSWSydney, New South WalesTrimesters, which puts your exam blocks in May, August and December while everyone else sits in June and November.
- Semesters, starting about a week later than mostMelbourneMelbourne, VictoriaJD only, three years, sixteen compulsory subjects, and one of the heaviest weekly reading loads you will meet in an Australian law degree.
- SemestersMonashMelbourne, VictoriaA stand-alone LLB (Hons), popular five and six year doubles, and a city JD with its own teaching periods.
- SemestersUQBrisbane, QueenslandAn LLB (Hons) school, four years stand-alone or five and a half as a dual program.
- SemestersANUCanberra, Australian Capital TerritoryLLB (Hons) inside the Flexible Double Degree, plus a three year JD with an online mode.
- Sessions aligned to semestersMacquarieSydney, New South WalesA four year LLB, five year doubles, and a strong psychology and law pairing.
- Autumn and Spring sessionsUTSSydney, New South WalesOne of the few stand-alone LLBs in Sydney, plus a JD with a large evening and part-time cohort.
- SemestersQUTBrisbane, QueenslandLLB (Hons), doubles with Business and Justice, a graduate entry fast track, and a strong practical and mooting emphasis.
- TrimestersDeakinVictoria, and online through the Cloud CampusTrimesters that can compress the LLB to about three years, plus a JD taught online through the Cloud Campus.
Or start from the subject you are in
You cannot key study to a year of degree, because a first year JD student and a third year combined LLB student sit in the same Torts class. Subject is the thing they have in common.
Questions students ask about this
- Is CaseSharp connected to any of these universities?
- No. CaseSharp is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any university named on this site. University names are used only to describe who a page is written for. There are no partnerships, no site licences and no institutional agreements to disclose, and if that changes it will be stated plainly rather than implied with a logo.
- Why do the dates differ so much between schools?
- Most Australian law schools run two semesters, but UNSW runs three trimesters and Deakin runs trimesters as well, and Melbourne starts about a week later than most. That means exam blocks land in different months, so national study advice is often several weeks out of phase with your own calendar.
- My university is not listed. Does that mean it is not supported?
- No. These ten pages exist because the degree structures and calendars differ enough to be worth writing about. The product itself has no relationship with any institution, so nothing about it works differently depending on where you study. Subject pages are the better starting point if your school is not here.