Membership Requirements

Read the requirements of each category of membership below to determine which category best describes your current qualifications before applying to join. The requirements below are extracted from the Memorandum & Articles of Association.

You can also view our Overview of Membership Types webpage for a quick overview of each type of membership. 

A person who:

• is a registered medical practitioner or dentist with the appropriate licensing authority in Australia or New Zealand or, if from another jurisdiction, a Council approved licensing authority; and
• holds a qualification in legal or forensic medicine* which the Council considers appropriate, being at least a bachelor's degree or the equivalent in law, or a master's degree in medical law relevant to the practice of legal medicine, or a master's degree or equivalent relevant to the practice of forensic medicine; and
• has successfully completed the expert witness program, the law intensive courses and an examination, each conducted by the College, within two years following the date of an application for membership as a Fellow; and
• has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Council that he or she has completed at least 6 years of clinical practice relevant to legal and/or forensic medicine; and
• has attained membership as an Associate or as a Member of the College

is eligible to apply for membership as a Fellow of the College.

A Fellow is entitled to claim his or her membership of the College as having specialist knowledge, skill and experience in legal and/or forensic medicine. A Fellow is entitled to use the abbreviation 'FACLM' after his or her name and primary qualifications to denote his or her status as having specialist knowledge, skill and experience in legal and/or forensic medicine.

* Please see FAQ #3 for information on which qualifications will meet this requirement.

A person who:

• is a registered medical practitioner or dentist with the appropriate licensing authority in Australia or New Zealand or, if from another jurisdiction, a Council approved licensing authority; and
• holds a graduate qualification* in the field of law which the Council considers appropriate, being at least a graduate diploma or equivalent relevant to legal medicine, or being at least a graduate diploma or equivalent relevant to forensic medicine (for example a diploma in medical jurisprudence); and
• has successfully completed the expert witness program, the law intensive courses and an examination, each conducted by the College, within two years following the date of an application for membership as a Member; and
• has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Council that he or she has completed at least 3 years of clinical practice relevant to legal and/or forensic medicine; and
• has attained membership as an Associate of the College

is eligible to apply for membership as a Member of the College.

A Member is not entitled to claim his or her membership as a Member of the College as denoting specialist knowledge, skill and experience, but may use the abbreviation "MACLM" after his or her name and primary qualifications to signify membership as a Member of the College.

* Please see FAQ #3 for information on which qualifications will meet this requirement.

A person who:

• is a registered medical practitioner or dentist with the appropriate licensing authority in Australia or New Zealand or, if from another jurisdiction, a Council approved licensing authority; and
• is currently undertaking, or in the foreseeable future is proposing to undertake, a graduate qualification relevant to legal or forensic medicine; or
• is currently practicing in a field of medicine or dentistry which the Council considers relevant to legal and/or forensic medicine, but who is not undertaking or proposing to undertake, a graduate qualification relevant to legal or forensic medicine; or
• has successfully completed the graduate requirements for membership as a Member or as a Fellow, but who is yet to complete the expert witness program, the law intensives and an examination, each conducted by the College;

is eligible to apply for membership as an Associate member of the College.

An Associate Member is not entitled to claim his or her membership of the College as denoting specialist knowledge, skill and experience, nor may any abbreviations be used after his or her name to signify membership of the College.

A person who:

• is a registered medical practitioner or dentist with the appropriate licensing authority in Australia or New Zealand or, if from another jurisdiction, a Council approved licensing authority; and
• is not eligible for Associate membership (due to not currently undertaking, or in the foreseeable future proposing to undertake, a graduate qualification relevant to legal or forensic medicine, and not currently practicing in a field of medicine or dentistry which the Council considers relevant to legal and/or forensic medicine); and
• has demonstrated their interest in furthering their understanding of legal medicine by having attended at least one of ACLM's short courses prior to application; ^

is eligible to apply for membership as a Medical or Dental Affiliate of the College.

A Medical or Dental Affiliate member is not entitled to claim his or her membership of the College as denoting specialist knowledge, skill and experience, nor may any abbreviations be used after his or her name to signify membership of the College.

^ Please see FAQ #3 for details on which short courses or other events will meet this requirement.

A person who:

• is a health practitioner, not being a medical practitioner or dentist, registered with the appropriate licensing authority, who has formal legal training; or
• is a registered legal practitioner;

is eligible to apply for membership as an Affiliate member of the College.

There is no College post-nominal to be used by an Affiliate. An Affiliate otherwise enjoys all College privileges and opportunities and will pay subscription fees.

A person who:

• is a registered medical or dental student with a College approved university and is currently undertaking, or planning to undertake, a qualification relevant to legal or forensic medicine;

is eligible to apply for membership as a Student Member of the College.

A Student Member does not have the right to vote, to nominate, or to hold office in the College and there is no College post-nominal to be used by a Student Member. A Student Member otherwise enjoy all College privileges and opportunities, including access to the College website, and will pay no subscription fees.

A person who:

• is a registered doctor, registered dentist, registered nurse, registered allied health practitioner, or holds another health-related qualification recognised by the Council; and
• is employed, engaged or has substantial professional involvement in legal medicine, forensic medicine, medicolegal practice, health regulation, healthcare complaints, insurance medicine, personal-injury practice or another related field approved by the Council; and
• does not hold or is not currently enrolled to study a legal or forensic medicine qualification that would, in the opinion of the Council, make the person more appropriately eligible for Affiliate or Associate membership.

An Auxiliary Member is not entitled to claim that Auxiliary membership denotes specialist knowledge, skill or experience in legal or forensic medicine; is not entitled to use a College post-nominal; is not entitled to vote at a general meeting; is not entitled to nominate or second a candidate for office; is not eligible for election or appointment to the Council or Executive Committee; otherwise enjoys the educational, professional-development and networking privileges and opportunities determined by the Council. 

A person who:

• has been a financial member of the College and has now reached retirement through age or ill health and wishes to continue association with the College.

Retired members continue to pay a reduced annual subscription fee as approved by the College Council. A retired member does not have the right to vote, to nominate, or to hold office in the College. Retired members otherwise enjoy all College privileges and opportunities  and will pay subscription fees.

Council has determined that the definition of retirement shall be 'completely retired from clinical practice or up to a maximum of 5% clinical work.'

The appeals process is outlined in the Memorandum and Articles of Association section 10A.