Does a new law practice get an exemption from making a deposit to the Prescribed Account until it has practised for at least 12 months?

No. All law practices that held trust money during the previous calendar year are required to make a deposit to the Prescribed Account unless exempted pursuant to section 70(5) of the Legal Profession Regulation 2007(LPR).

Section 70(5) of the LPR allows an exemption if the amount of trust money held on any day in the previous calendar year, after money was deposited to the trust account, was less than $3,000.

The required initial deposit to the Prescribed Account is two-thirds of the lowest approved ADI statement balance in the previous calendar year .