Professional Standards Scheme
The LIV Has You Covered
Membership of the LIV covers all eligible* members under the Professional Standards Scheme (PSS / Scheme), limiting your civil liability while ensuring high standards and ongoing improvements across the profession.
We are pleased to cover all eligible members who have not exempted from the Scheme for a fee of $167 PA for participation.
The Professional Standards Legislation that governs the Scheme requires that all LIV members either actively join or exempt themselves in order to retain their membership of the LIV.
It is important to note that all practitioners within your firm must be scheme participants for the organisation to be covered.
The key benefits of the PSS include:
-
It caps the occupational liability or damages of participating LIV members*
-
It helps to improve the professional standards and risk management strategies of members
-
It maintains accessibility to Professional Indemnity Insurance and keep premiums at a realistic level
Know Your Scheme Status & Actions
*Your Eligibility
Practitioners holding a Government, Corporate or Volunteer Practicing Certicate type are not eligible to participate in the scheme. There is no action required if you are in these categories.
To be eligible, practitioners must hold a Principal or Employee Practicing Certificate type.
See the LIV Scheme Guide for full scheme rules, eligibility and liability cap details.
Your Status & Actions
To know your Scheme status follow the steps below.
-
Sign In using your member details (see ‘Sign In’ in top menu of webpage)**
-
Click on your 'Your Profile' in the menu and select the ‘Membership’ tab
-
Your Professional Standards Scheme status is shown on this page (see example below):
-
Active = No Action Required. You are up to date and are a Scheme Participant.
-
Exempt = No Action Required. You / Your Firm has completed an exemption form and have been exempted from the Scheme
-
Inactive = ACTION REQUIRED. Your status is not up to date, you must either actively Join or Exempt from the scheme.
**Need to find your ID and password? Click on 'Sign In' in the top banner and select Forgotten/Update Password? Follow the instructions and you will be sent an email detailing how to reset your password.
For more information or help please email scheme@liv.asn.au
Screenshot below of where your status apperars in My LIV.
About the Professional Standards Scheme
The Scheme is a statutory professional standards and consumer protection scheme, established under the Professional Standards Act 2003 and enforced by the courts.
State-based professional standards legislation arose from the Commonwealth tort law reforms aimed at reducing compensation payments in professional negligence matters. Other professions with schemes include accountants, engineers, surveyors, valuers and IT professionals.
The Scheme promotes self-regulation by enabling LIV members in private practice and incorporated legal practices to limit their occupational liability for damages against certain types of claims to nominated monetary ceilings provided they meet the Scheme’s requirements and are proactively managing law practice risk and exposure to claims and complaints.
The Scheme is not an insurance product and does not affect the requirement to obtain insurance from the Legal Practitioners’ Liability Committee. However, Scheme participants who have insurance coverage equal to an amount not less than the applicable monetary ceiling may limit their civil liability in the event of a relevant claim – see clauses 3.2 and 3.3 of the Scheme and section 23 of the Professional Standards Act 2003.
Useful Links
Contact
T: 9607 9470
E: scheme@liv.asn.au
Disclaimer
The information provided in the LIV Professional Standards Guide and on the LIV website is intended to be a general guidance only and no part is intended to be advice, whether legal or professional. The LIV Scheme Guide provides links to all source legislation and the LIV Professional Standards Scheme Instrument to enable Members to undertake their own assessment on eligibility to participate or be exempted from the scheme, based on their individual firm profile.