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CPD on Maternity Leave

How to Complete CPD on Maternity Leave

April 29, 2026
Articles, CPD

You’re back from leave with a pile of CPD to clear, you’ve got a sleeping baby on you at 6.45pm, and the only Substantive Law session your firm has flagged this week starts at 6pm in the boardroom.

That’s not going to work, is it? But no one seems to realise that.

CPD wasn’t designed for lawyers who can’t be there at 6pm. It’s not that the CPD rules arent flexible, it’s just the way most firms run their training isn’t.

Here’s what the requirements actually say, where the traps are, and how to clear your CPR year when you’re not in the office from 7am-6pm.

What CPD actually requires

If you practise in NSW, Victoria or Queensland, the structure is the same.

  • 10 CPD units per year, 1 April to 31 March
  • At least 1 unit in each of the 4 mandatory fields: Ethics & Professional Responsibility, Practice Management & Business Skills, Professional Skills, and Substantive Law
  • 1 unit usually equals 1 hour of qualifying activity

The traps senior associates fall into

CPD units generally do not carry over. You start each new CPD year on zero, regardless of how much you racked up the previous year.

But did you know that every Australian regulator has a process for parental leave reductions or exemptions? The Law Society of NSW, VLSB+C in Victoria, and QLS in Queensland will all consider a pro-rata reduction or full exemption depending on how much of the year you’re on leave. You apply directly to your regulator (you don’t need your firm’s permission).

If you’re going on leave or coming back mid-year, lodge that application now. It’s free, it’s quick, and most lawyers don’t know it exists. Direct links below.

Law Society of NSW Exemption
Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner (delegated to LIV) (apply via the Law Institute of Victoria)
Queensland Law Society (QLS)

 

The CPD year ends 31 March. A lot of people fall into the trap of clustering them into the last six weeks of it.

Evening-only firm events. If your firm runs CPD at 5.30pm or 6pm and that’s where the partners do their networking, you’re being told to choose between training and bedtime. The training itself is the smaller cost. The networking that runs alongside it is what shows up in performance feedback as “low visibility”.

The 31 March cliff. Firms send the “you’re 4 points short” email around mid-March. The only available sessions are after-hours intensives. The stress of fitting the sessions into a short time frame will be felt at work and home.

Performance feedback that doesn’t name CPD. It rarely says “didn’t attend evening sessions”. It says “needs to build profile” or “hasn’t shown commitment to development”. You feel like you’re failing, but the infrastructure is.

How to front-load and batch

The work-around is a simple calendar problem, requiring just a bit of planning.

Front-load the year. Aim for 6 of your 10 points by 30 September. Anything you book before Christmas is easier to attend than anything you scramble for after. Put the points in your diary the way you’d put in a court date.
Batch where you can. A full-day intensive in August can clear 6-7 points in one go and count across multiple mandatory fields. One day off the desk beats six 90-minute evening commitments.
Use lunch-and-learn formats. Most CPD providers run 12-1pm webinars. They count the same as a 6pm session. You can do them at your desk, on the train, or while expressing.
Keep a log as you go. Not at audit time. The CPD record you build through the year is the document you submit if your firm ever queries your hours, or if your regulator pulls you for a random audit.

If you want a one-page version of this you can stick on your monitor, you can download our CPD-on-leave checklist.

Download the CPD-on-leave checklist now

Daytime CPD options that already exist

This isn’t a one day in the future thing. Daytime CPD is already there if you know where to look.

  • On-demand CPD libraries. The College of Law, LegalWise and Lexology all run on-demand libraries that count toward all 4 mandatory fields. Watch in your time, claim the points.
  • Mid-morning and lunchtime webinars. TEN (Television Education Network), Legalwise and the Law Council all run live webinars year-round, in business hours.
  • On-site CPD inside lawyer-built workspaces. A handful of legal workspaces run free CPD for members during business hours, on-site, with the peer networking attached. The CPD and the network sit inside the same hours your firm already pays you for.
  • Law Society and QLS daytime intensives. Each runs quarterly daytime intensives. One day, multiple points, in your diary six months out.

The thing all four options have in common: nothing requires you to be present at 6pm on a Wednesday.

You don't have to choose.

You don’t have to choose between being a good lawyer and a present parent. The CPD rules don’t ask you to. Your regulator doesn’t ask you to. Your firm’s calendar might.

If your firm’s shape still doesn’t fit your life, other lawyers in your exact seat have found a different way. Lawyer-shaped days exist. You just haven’t seen them yet.

If your firm’s shape still doesn’t fit your life, other lawyers in your exact seat have found a different way. Lawyer-shaped days exist. You just haven’t seen them yet.

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