This course map is for students commencing from Trimester 1 2026
Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central.
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition
The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9
Supplementary Information
Please note: Full-time study in Trimester 1 and Trimester 2 only. Part-time study only in Trimester 3.
Students should be aware of the commitment required for this course. Each core subject includes 22 hours of pre-recorded lectures, 22 hours of seminars and up to 100 hours of reading and assessment time. The live seminars are not mandatory however students who do attend gain a greater learning experience.
Prepare for a first-class law career at one of Victoria’s top 3 law schools.* Deakin’s Juris Doctor (JD) is built on the principle that lawyers can be catalysts for positive change in society. Designed for non-law graduates, this prestigious law program will give you a comprehensive legal education. You will focus on sharpening your critical thinking and practical skills and explore policy issues relating to law and law reform, while developing a solid foundation of legal knowledge.
Looking for a progressive, engaging and flexible online course to launch your law career?
Delivered fully online, Deakin’s JD gives you a comprehensive education in each of the major areas of legal practice, with research, theory and policy considerations embedded throughout the curriculum. With flexibility at its core, lectures and interactive live seminars are also recorded so you can schedule your study around your other commitments.
Learn from leading scholars inhuman rights, criminal law, constitutional law, administrative law, intellectual property, international law, property, and mining and energy law, and be guided by teachers with strong research and practice backgrounds. This impressive array of expertise helps shape the course, so you can be confident everything you learn is relevant to legal practice and can be applied as soon as you enter the field.
A placement in the Deakin Law Clinic is also on offer – an award-winning community legal centre where you will gain real-world experience with practicing solicitors and real clients. Other work-integrated learning (WIL) options, including internships and placements, are available and strongly encouraged.
The Deakin JD cohort is made up of students with rich and diverse personal and professional backgrounds. Often already successful and established in their first career, your fellow classmates can be a positive source of encouragement and inspiration. Group assignments not only allow you to network in a professional capacity but will enable you to forge genuine connections that you will carry throughout your career. You will also have extracurricular opportunities to network with the Deakin Law Students’ Society and can access our campuses, libraries and facilities at any time.
*QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024
Indicative student workload
You can expect to participate in a range of teaching activities each week. This could include lectures, seminars, online interactions, or professional experiences for Work Integrated Learning (WIL) units. You can refer to the individual unit details in the course structure for more information. You will also need to study and complete assessment tasks in your own time.
Professional recognition
Deakin's Juris Doctor is designed to satisfy the academic qualifications necessary for admission to the legal profession in Victoria; these have been established by the Victorian Legal Admissions Board (VLAB). In addition to satisfying the academic requirements, a person seeking admission to the legal profession in Victoria is required to have satisfactorily completed certain practical legal training requirements and must be considered a fit and proper person to be admitted to the legal profession.
A person seeking admission in a jurisdiction outside Australia may be required to satisfy different academic or other requirements. Please check the relevant jurisdiction’s legal admissions authority to confirm the required academic qualifications criteria, including any restrictions on online study or distance education.
Career opportunities
A Juris Doctor degree meets the academic requirements for admission to legal practice in Victoria and, through mutual recognition schemes, other Australian jurisdictions. It may also be recognised in other international contexts (please check the relevant jurisdiction’s legal admissions authority to confirm the required academic qualifications criteria).
Law intersects with every part of society — from government and business, to families and marginalised groups.. As a graduate, you’ll be equipped for a wide variety of career paths, including traditional legal practice and roles where legal expertise is highly valued. The analytical and communication skills you will develop in this course are also sought after outside legal practice.
Deakin JD graduates pursue careers as:
Solicitors in many areas, including commercial, criminal, family, property, and environmental law
Barristers, including public prosecutors
In-house counsel and corporate legal advisors
Government and regulatory lawyers
Policy officers or policy advisors
Community or human rights lawyers (e.g. in CLCs or NGOs)
Academics
Industrial relations or employment law specialists
Legal technology and compliance consultants
Public administrators
Risk and governance managers
Management consultants or analysts.
The legal field is continually evolving and challenges such as emerging technologies, sustainability, and access to justice are currently at the forefront . A Deakin JD prepares you to thrive in this legal landscape.
Participation requirements
Units in this course may have participation requirements that include compulsory placements, work-based training, community-based learning or collaborative research training arrangements.
Mandatory student checks
Units which contain work integrated learning, a community placement or interaction with the community may require a police check, working with children check or other check. These requirements will be detailed in unit guides upon enrolment.
Develop an advanced and integrated understanding of the Australian legal system, the fundamental areas of knowledge required for legal practice, and the broader contexts within which legal issues arise, including international and comparative contexts and contemporary developments in the law; and apply that understanding, including to demonstrate appropriate competence in the fundamental areas of knowledge.
Communication
Develop and apply an ability to communicate effectively and persuasively to both legal and non-legal audiences, orally and in writing
Digital Literacy
Use technologies to identify, locate, and evaluate information for researching legal questions, solving legal problems and communicating legal solutions
Critical thinking
Apply sophisticated critical thinking capacities and exercise intellectual independence to identify and articulate complex legal issues.
Problem Solving
Apply legal reasoning and research to understand and analyse legal problems, to identify possible responses, and to make reasoned and appropriate choices to generate and justify jurisprudential and practical solutions.
Self-management
Develop the capacity to learn and research with autonomy, accountability and professionalism, and to reflect on and assess personal capabilities and performance.
Teamwork
Collaborate effectively in team environments, demonstrating constructive engagement and contribution to the team and the ability to draw on strengths of others.
Global Citizenship
Recognise and reflect on the ethical and professional responsibilities of legal professionals, and the requirements of ethical decision-making in legal practice; and apply these to a range of social, ethical, global and environmental contexts.
Course rules
To complete the Juris Doctor you must pass 8, 12, 16 or 24 credit points. The number of credit points required may vary, depending on your entry point or how much credit you receive as recognition of prior learning (RPL) based on your professional experience and previous qualifications.
A 24-credit point Juris Doctor includes:
DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in your first study period
17 credit points of core units
7 credit points of course elective units.
Most units are equal to one credit point. As a full-time student you will study four credit points per trimester and usually undertake two trimesters per year.
Optional (but highly recommended) JD Induction program (refer to additional course information below for dates and times), which is live-streamed and recorded, plus online pre-recorded presentations
Note: MLP code denotes Priestley units, which teach the academic areas of knowledge prescribed for admission to legal practice .
Course electives
Not all elective units will be offered every year. Units not offered in 2025 may be offered in 2026 or 2027. From time to time, the Law School may develop new units to strengthen the law elective list.
7 credit points of elective units can be chosen from:
This course does not require students to complete compulsory work integrated learning units.
Juris Doctor Induction Program
JD students are invited to attend our Juris Doctor Induction Program which will occur in person (and livestreamed online) during Orientation Week and will support you in your studies. Orientation Week occurs the week prior to Week 1 teaching of each trimester. Please register for each session via your Orientation Itinerary.
2026 Induction Program dates:
T1: to be advised
T2: to be advised
T3: to be advised
Course duration
You may be able to study available units in the optional third trimester to fast-track your degree, however your course duration may be extended if there are delays in meeting course requirements, such as completing a placement.
Research and research-related study
Research-related learning tasks are embedded across units where student achievements is demonstrated in specific assessment tasks.
Fees and charges
Tuition fees will vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, your study load and/or unit discipline.
Your tuition fees will increase annually at the start of each calendar year. All fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD) and do not include additional costs such as textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment, mandatory checks, travel, consumables and other costs.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.
Contact Student Central for assistance in course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements. Student Central can also provide information for a wide range of services at Deakin. To help you understand the University vocabulary, please refer to our Enrolment codes and terminology page.
