International Journal of Clinical Legal Education
2025 Annual Conference
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
November 19-21 2025
Navigating Global Challenges in Clinical Legal Education: Innovating for the Future
Navigating Global Challenges in Clinical Legal Education: Innovating for the Future Clinical legal education programs can contribute to universities fulfilling their social responsibilities while serving local and global communities. By embracing innovation and collaboration, universities and their clinical programs constructively and creatively address a range of global challenges. These include climate change, building thriving communities and advancing geopolitical security.
The Monash University Faculty of Law is proud to host IJCLE 2025. The conference is a key part of celebrating the 50th birthday of the Monash Clinical Program. Monash established Australia’s first CLE program in 1975 and is now distinctive in guaranteeing every law student the opportunity to participate in a clinic-based learning experience during their degree. Monash Law has developed enduring partnerships with community legal centres and other agencies engaged in front-line service delivery across disciplines.
About the conference
The conference will run from November 19-21 2025. It will start with a day of workshops focused on building the skills clinical teachers need for their work with students, clients and colleagues. These skills
include supervision, reflective practice, assessment, feedback and scaffolding student learning. The conference is structured to facilitate as much participation as possible. While there will be a small
number of plenary sessions, most of the conference will consist of parallel sessions providing many opportunities for delegates to share ideas, experience, and teaching materials.
Days 2 and 3 will provide participants with opportunities to engage with multiple issues related to climate justice, the impact of technology and AI, access to rights and justice, along with enhancing regional and
global collaboration. There will be publication-themed sessions including a writing workshop mini retreat designed to encourage clinical scholarship and research collaborations.
The IJCLE conference will be held at the Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street in the heart of Melbourne’s Legal Precinct. It is planned as an in-person conference only.
Themes and areas of interest
We invite proposals for papers and workshops relating to the conference theme and other areas of interest in CLE as set out below:
• Supporting the cornerstones of clinical legal education. We are looking for clinicians to contribute to skills development workshops to enhance best practices in fostering social justice, supervision, reflective practice, assessment, feedback and scaffolding student learning.
• Embracing innovation and collaboration. We want to explore the range of ways in which universities and their clinical programs can constructively and creatively address a range of global challenges, including climate change, building thriving communities and advancing geopolitical security.
• Developing ways in which clinical programs can contribute to universities fulfilling their social responsibilities while serving local and global communities.
• The promise and limitations of harnessing technology and AI to enhance access to rights and justice.
• Starting up and sustaining clinics. We hope conference participants will share insights and analysis drawn from their experiences of developing and sustaining clinical legal education and justice
education initiatives.
• Enhancing regional and global clinical collaborations – in areas including research, networking, multidisciplinary work and cross-border projects.
• Professional identity formation and fostering ethical practices and perspectives.
• Listening to our students, clients and colleagues – valuing a range of perspectives.
• Promoting the wellbeing of clinic students, clinicians and practitioners in law clinics.
Taking Part
Presentations can take one of three formats, each with its own structure:
Lightning Talks
o These short presentations are designed to allow presenters to share an idea or a problem and seek feedback. We anticipate each presentation will consist of a short introduction to new work, methodological
innovations or insights from the field. Each presentation should last no more than 10 minutes.
Paper Presentations
o These will be in traditional conference paper format with a twenty-minute presentation followed by questions linked to clinical legal education and justice education in general, such as indicated by the nonexhaustive
list of themes above. Interactive Workshops
o For the interactive workshops, we seek proposals from teams of educators or students, who are interested in organising a 45min interactive workshop on a relevant topic linked to clinical legal education/justice education in general, such as indicated by the non-exhaustive list of themes above.
Proposals will be reviewed by the Conference Team. Relevance to clinical legal education/justice education and geographic diversity among presenters are important criteria in the proposal review. We encourage
session proposals from international teams.
Interactive Workshops
o For the interactive workshops, we seek proposals from teams of educators or students, who are interested in organising a 45min interactive workshop on a relevant topic linked to clinical legal education/justice education in general, such as indicated by the non-exhaustive list of themes above. Proposals will be reviewed by the Conference Team. Relevance to clinical legal education/justice education and geographic diversity among presenters are important criteria in the proposal review. We encourage session proposals from international teams.
Proposal Submission Form:
Session proposals should be submitted online using the online Submission Form.
Giving the following information:
Lead Presenter:
• Where there is more than one presenter, we require that a “Lead Presenter” submit the Proposal Submission form. That person, unless changed, becomes the point of contact for the presentation throughout the stages of proposal review, decision, scheduling, and questions and logistical information for the conference.
Content of the Proposal – the Online Proposal Submission Form asks for the following information:
• Full name (as written in your passport) and contact details (email) of the lead presenter;
• Organisation/affiliation of lead presenter;
• Professional title/position of lead presenter;
• Country of lead presenter
• Short bio of lead presenter
• Name(s) and details (affiliation, email address) of any other presenters;
• Short bios of other presenters
• Title of the session proposal;
• Abstract of session proposal (which should include information about the session’s objectives, how interactive methods will be used, relevance to conference theme, short information about the presenter(s)
and their relation to legal education/CLE; max 400 words)
• Summary of the session proposal (for conference website; max 100 words)
• Presentation format – Lightning Talk, Paper Presentation or Interactive Workshop
Key Dates:
Deadline for submission of papers 1/5/25- earlier submissions will be considered upon being received
Confirmation of paper accepted no later than 15/6/25
Conference Registrations Open 15/3/25
Registrations close 1/9/25
Fees
We are in the process of calculating the conference fee which will be published in advance of registration opening.
For further information or if you have questions, please contact the Conference Convenors, Professor Jeff Giddings and Dr Jacqueline Weinberg on IJCLE2025@monash.edu