Guidance for Character Referees - Legal Profession Admission Board Forms 3A-3D - Updated Guidance

Sep 16, 2026

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Guidance for character referees supporting applicants to the legal profession explains which of four statutory forms (3A, 3B, 3C, 3D) must be used based on prior admission history and whether the applicant disclosed relevant matters. It sets out when a referee should provide a reference, eligibility requirements, and disqualifying relationships. The document also requires a signed statutory declaration before an authorised witness, warns that false declarations are a serious criminal offence, and describes next steps after submission.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time1 min

AccessFree to download

Which form should I use?

Should I give a character reference?

Am I eligible to give a character reference?

Signing your character reference

What happens next

Guidance for character referees Legal Profession Admission Board (Forms 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D) Please read this guidance before you prepare a character reference for an applicant who is seeking admission to the legal profession. Which form should I use? There are four different forms for a character reference. Each contains the precise wording necessary to comply with the Uniform Admission Rules. Please use the correct one, depending on the applicant’s circumstances. You should complete: | Form 3A | if the applicant has never been admitted previously | and the applicant has made a disclosure in his or her application | | --- | --- | --- | | Form 3B | | and the applicant has not made a disclosure in his or her application | | Form 3C | if the applicant has been admitted previously ina foreign jurisdiction | and the applicant has made a disclosure in his or her application | | Form 3D | | and the applicant has not made a disclosure in his or her application | Should I give a character reference? People who are admitted to the legal profession may be authorised to give legal advice and engage in legal practice as solicitors and barristers. The community expects that such people are capable of upholding high standards of personal integrity and honesty. Please consider this carefully before you decide whether or not to give a character reference for an applicant whois seeking admission to the legal profession. If you decide to give a character reference, you will be required to sign a statutory declaration, and declare that the contents are true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief. It is a serious criminal offence to make a false statutory declaration, and the penalties include imprisonment for up to five years. If the applicant has made a disclosure Applicants are required to disclose in their applications any matter which may affect the Board’s assessment of whether or not they are: i) currently of good fame and character, and ii) a fit and proper person to be admitted to the legal profession. If the applicant has made a disclosure in his or her application, you must: • have read that disclosure before giving your character reference; and • attest in your statutory declaration to having read that disclosure. Am I eligible to give a character reference? To be eligible to give a character reference, you must: • have known the applicant for at least two years, and • not be related to the applicant by blood, marriage or as a domestic partner. In addition, if the applicant is or has been a legal practitioner in a foreign jurisdiction, to be eligible to give a character reference, you must also have been associated in legal practice with the applicant in that jurisdiction. Page 1 of 2 NSW Legal Profession Admission Board V1 .1 29 July 2015 You must not give a character reference if: • you are aware of any relationship whatsoever by blood or marriage between you and the applicant (this includes even if the relationship by blood is very distant, or if the relationship by marriage is no longer intact, or if the marriage was between other blood relatives of you and the applicant) • you are, or have ever previously been, in a registered domestic relationship with the applicant, or • you are living, or have ever previously lived, as a couple with the applicant on a genuine domestic basis (irrespective of gender) . Signing your character reference You must sign your character reference in the presence of an authorised witness. Authorised witnesses include: • an Australian Legal Practitioner (anywhere in Australia) • a Justice of the Peace for New South Wales (anywhere in New South Wales), or • a Justice of the Peace for another Australian state and territory (in that other state or territory) . If you are giving a character reference from another country outside Australia, your statutory declaration must be made either: • in an Australian Consulate before a Consular

FAQs

Which form (3A, 3B, 3C, or 3D) should I use for a character reference?

Use Form 3A if the applicant has never been admitted previously and has made a disclosure, and Form 3B if they have never been admitted previously and have not made a disclosure. Use Form 3C if the applicant has been admitted previously in a foreign jurisdiction and has made a disclosure, and Form 3D if they have not made a disclosure.

What requirements apply if the applicant has made a disclosure?

You must read the disclosure before giving your character reference, and you must attest in your statutory declaration that you have read the disclosure.

Who can act as an authorised witness when signing the statutory declaration?

Authorised witnesses include an Australian Legal Practitioner, a Justice of the Peace for New South Wales, or a Justice of the Peace for another Australian state or territory. For statements made outside Australia, the declaration must be made in an Australian Consulate before a Consular Officer under the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 (Cth), or under equivalent local law with an attached copy of the local statutory provision.

Sep 16, 2026

Upload by Rizky