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College of Law opens new international headquarters
After almost five decades, the College of Law has closed its doors — and reopened a new international headquarters in the Sydney city centre.
Lauren Croft
Last week (14 December), the College of Law officially opened its new international headquarters at 570 George Street, Sydney.
Whilst the College first began in NSW, it soon expanded nationally across Australia, then to New Zealand and, most recently, the UK.
The relocation of the College’s headquarters signifies an emphatic and ongoing commitment to serving the legal profession and community, according to Neville Carter, chief executive of the College of Law.
“The College was founded upon the primary goal of democratising legal education in Australia and supporting the legal profession through education and training,” he said.
“We are the largest legal education provider in Australia today, with around 70 per cent of all law graduates completing their PLT with the College, and we are the second-largest provider of legal postgraduate programs.”
Brendan Kerin, a Marrawarra and Barkindji elder representing the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council on Gadigal land, performed the Welcome to Country, and the official commemorative plaque was unveiled by Mr Carter, College of Law chair Joseph Catanzariti AM, and College of Law Queensland executive director Ann-Maree David.
The new College premises reflects the institution’s role as an international education service provider, Mr Catanzariti said.
“The College grew into a vacant education space and has evolved as an advisor to the legal profession across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and other common law countries, including England and Wales. Looking to the future, legal practitioners are working cross borders; the College has a role to play in standardising and coordinating these cross-border interactions,” he explained.
“We have been living with extreme levels of ambiguity, and it is the College’s responsibility to lead within these times. To work out new pathways of engaging with the curriculum, skill sets and knowledge in a format that suits people’s lives today.”
The new headquarters, located in the 23-storey, four-star NABERS-rated tower at 570 George Street, overlooks iconic Sydney landmarks Town Hall and St Andrew’s Cathedral. From ground to level four, the College features more than 85 teaching spaces, meeting rooms and collaboration areas.
“Rather than wait until 2025, we conceptualised what the future workplace needed to be. A place housing hybrid workplaces and highly flexible spaces that embraced the agility of contemporary working life,” Mr Carter added.
“A facility that bridges the gap between digital learning platforms and human connection. The College is not just an online service, nor a set of teaching rooms and whiteboards, we are an international headquarters where the physical and virtual meet, where our community comes together to learn.”
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
