Membership Categories
Affiliate Status
Open to approved graduate health professionals including nurses and physiotherapists, who have formal legal training and who are not registered medical or dental practitioners.
Open to registered legal practitioners.
This is a non-voting category and there is no College post nominal.
Associate Membership
1. A person seeking entry as an Associate Member of the Australasian College of Legal Medicine must satisfy the following criteria:
1.1 the applicant must be a registered medical practitioner with a registration board acceptable to the Council. Acceptable registration includes registration by the Medical Boards of all Australian States and territories, and;
1.2 be aware of the requirement to take the necessary steps to advance to Membership or Fellowship of the College, and;
1.3 be of good standing with a relevant medical registration board, and;
1.4 must agree to abide by the provisions of the Constitution of the College, and;
1.5 must pay the College dues. Associate members may not claim their membership of the Australasian College of Legal Medicine to denote any specialist skills, or use the College post-nominals.
Full Membership
2. A person seeking entry as a full Member of the College:
2.1. must be a registered medical practitioner with a medical registration board acceptable to the College Council. Acceptable registration includes registration by the Medical Boards of all Australian States and Territories;
2.2. hold an acceptable qualification in law, and have completed a satisfactory period of supervised training and practical experience of at least three years, and;
2.3. must be of good standing with a relevant medical registration board, and;
2.4. must agree to abide by the provisions of the Constitution of the College, and;
2.5. must pay the College dues. Acceptable qualifications in law include a Diploma in Law, Diploma in Legal Studies, Diploma in Legal Medicine, or a Diploma in Medical Jurisprudence. A person admitted to member status is known as a Member of the Australasian College of Legal Medicine, and is entitled to use the post-nominals "MACLM" after conferral.
Fellowship
3. A person seeking entry as a Fellow of the College must:
3.1. have completed a program of approved supervised training and practical experience covering a minimum of six years after medical graduation, and;
3.2. have a Bachelor's degree in Law, Master's degree in Medical Law, Master's degree in Legal Medicine, or Master's degree in Medical Jurisprudence, or equivalent, and;
3.3. have passed an examination conducted by the College, or such external examination as is approved by the College, and;
3.4. meet with Fellows of the College nominated by the Council where the applicant's understanding of the responsibilities of Fellows will be assessed, and;
3.5 if not a Member at the time of application, must conform to requirements 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 applicable to Membership.
A person admitted to Fellow status will be known as a Fellow of the Australasian College of Legal Medicine, and that person will be entitled to use the post-nominals "FACLM" to signify specialist status, after conferral.
Practical Experience
4. An applicant's practical experience will be assessed by a mentor appointed by the College. The mentor may make a recommendation to the Academic Committee of the College that the experience be approved, or otherwise augmented. Approved practical experience will be of not less than three years duration for Membership, and of not less than six years duration for Fellowship.
5. The experience must involve engagement in a medical occupation which requires the practical application of civil law and/or criminal law to a degree unusual in normal medical practice. Suitable appointments where this would be likely to be satisfied would include, but not exclusively so:
5.1 Practising lawyers whose legal practice includes medical matters;
5.2 Medico-legal advisers to private legal firms, to certain public institutions or corporations, and also to governments and hospitals;
5.3 Medical advisers working in occupational medicine and insurance medicine including some persons working in or with worker's compensation schemes, and;
5.4 Doctors employed by the Police, the Coroner, or in correctional services systems;
5.5 Medical defence organisation advisers.
Applicants for any qualification of the College may submit subjects included in other qualifications for approval. A list of suitable subjects which may be approved from time to time will be developed over time, and appended to this Handbook. The Academic Committee of the College may examine the legal content of these courses, and may make recommendations to the College Council that they be approved or otherwise.
Quality Assurance and Continuing Education in Legal Medicine
The Australasian College of Legal Medicine expects its members to maintain the highest professional standards, and to retain a high level of expertise by continually updating and increasing their level of knowledge as part of the College's continuing education program. Members are required to spend 20 hours per annum in activities to further their legal or medico-legal education.
Subscription Fees
Subscription fees for the Australasian College of Legal Medicine are set annually. Additionally there is an accreditation fee for advancement of status, whilst internal College examinations attract separate fees. A complete list of current fees and others which may be set from time to time is available from the administration office, C/-President ACLM.Application Procedure For New Members
Practising medical practitioners seeking entry to the College training program, partial recognition of current training and/or qualifications, or entry at Associate member level, should contact the College administrative office directly by mail, telephone, or E-mail for application forms and a College Handbook which contains the requirements for the various levels of College entry.Other bodies requiring information about the Australasian College of Legal Medicine are most welcome to make similar contact with the College administration office or the President through the same office contact numbers.
Your email inquiries are most welcome: admin@legalmedicine.com.au