ALSA Annual Conferences
Traditionally an annual conference is held each year by ALSA, with council, general and competing delegates attending from the majority of Australia's law schools. Competitors are also invited from New Zealand's five law schools, and from the National University of Singapore. The conference allows students to compete against fellow member universities in mooting, negotiation, witness examination, paper presentation and client interviewing. Each competition allows the student to apply their legal training, skills and knowledge in a practical sense.
Bidding rights to host the conference are determined on the basis of a two-tiered classification system. ALSA-affiliated Universities are first divided into two groups by geography: Eastern (made up of Universities in Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria) and Other (made up of Universities in South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania). This makes up the first tier, with hosting rights rotating in a three-yearly cycle between Eastern, Eastern and Other.
Within each tier is the second tier, which divides Universities further into geographical classifications as follows:
| Eastern | Other |
|---|---|
| Victoria | South Australia |
| NSW-Regional & ACT | Northern Territory |
| Queensland | Western Australia |
| NSW-Sydney | Tasmania |
Therefore, after the first tier is confirmed for any given year, the right to make a bid will fall on the next regional classification along, e.g. if it is an Eastern year and the last Eastern bid was from Victoria, then the right to bid will fall on NSW-Regional & ACT. If no University in the region which has the bidding rights that year makes a bid to host the conference, the next region along in that group will have the right to make a bid.
NSW-Sydney did not bid for the 2010 conference. The opportunity to bid therefore passed to South Australia as the bidder next in line. South Australia's decision to bid for 2010 means that it will not be eligible to bid for 2011 (for which it was originally scheduled to bid), and the bidding rights for 2011 will pass to Eastern (Victoria).
| Year | Location | Tier 1 Region | Tier 2 Regional classification | Hosting universities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Perth | Other | Western Australia | Joint hosts: University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and University of Notre Dame Australia |
| 2006 | Melbourne | Eastern | Victoria | Joint hosts: University of Melbourne, Deakin University, Monash University and La Trobe University |
| 2007 | Canberra | Eastern | NSW-Regional & ACT | Joint hosts: Australian National University and University of Canberra |
| 2008 | Hobart | Other | Tasmania | University of Tasmania |
| 2009 | Brisbane | Eastern | Queensland | Joint hosts: Griffith University - Nathan and Queensland University of Technology |
| 2010 | Adelaide | Other | South Australia | Joint hosts: Flinders University, University of Adelaide, and University of South Australia |
| 2011 | Sydney | Eastern | New South Wales | University of New South Wales |
| 2012 | Melbourne | Eastern | Victoria | Joint hosts: Monash University, University of Melbourne, La Trobe University, Deakin University, Victoria University, and RMIT University |
| 2013 | Perth | Other | Western Australia | Host: University of Western Australia |
Bids for the opportunity to host the annual conference are heard two years in advance at the ALSA July Conference itself. If no bid is presented (as happened at the 2010 Conference in Adelaide), the bid process continues to the October Council meeting, until a bid is put forth. The 2012 Conference will be hosted by six universities from Victoria.
Read more about this topic: Australian Law Students' Association
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