“I don’t think you can be effective working in clinical governance if you don’t understand where that comes from,” she says. “Nobody tells you this stuff as a doctor. You know it exists, but you think, ‘Oh, that’s the domain of the lawyers’. I wanted to understand it for myself.”

When she travelled to Paris to work for the Australian Olympic Committee at the Paris Olympics earlier this year, she briefly considered juggling study with attending the Olympics.

“My lecturer said, ‘Sharon, hear me out. Why don’t you just take the study block off, live all the life experiences, celebrate all the celebrations, then come back and pick it up again?’ It was probably the most sensible advice I have received.”

Students wanting flexibility and convenience

Stay could take the time off thanks to the flexibility of studying a JD through UC. The degree is covered 100 per cent online and taught over six seven-week blocks a year, meaning she has taken breaks and then taken on more subjects when she has been able to.

Ryan says many postgraduate students want flexibility because they are often juggling competing commitments from family and work.

“They’re also trying to transition upwards through a promotion or step sideways into a different career,” he says. “Without the flexibility it can be impossible to manage all that while studying a law degree at the same time.”

Accountant Nicolas Karam enrolled in a JD after previously giving up a law degree because mandatory in-person classes interfered with his work. The fact he could study UC’s JD entirely online convinced him to enrol.

“I can control the timing of my study – when I do my readings, and when I prioritise my work,” he says.

The UC JD is one of the “best things” he has ever done, Karam adds. “It opens up your eyes to the legal system – what it is, what it’s lacking, who benefits from it and who’s marginalised by it.”

For Sharon Stay, taking time away for a session to attend the Olympics meant she could embrace a “mind blowing” once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“Being there for your athletes and your sport – I loved every minute of it. I remember one evening collapsing into a chair at about 11PM and I thought, ‘Imagine trying to work on a constitutional law assignment now!’ It would just not be possible. I’m so glad I could make that decision.”

Networking and industry connections crucial

Alongside flexibility, career changers want opportunities to network and make new industry connections.

“Networking is extremely important to many of our students, especially if they’re a little bit older or established in a career,” UC’s Ryan says.

“They think, ‘This has to go somewhere; I don’t have time in my life to throw myself into a degree and hope for the best later on’. They’re thinking about careers very early on in the program.”

Many teachers at UC are practising lawyers themselves and are based in Canberra, the heart of Australian policy and law. “They give students the advice that we as academics can’t always give – what law looks like on the ground at that very moment, and maybe some career advice too along the way.”

Content is focused on teaching both foundational skills in legal problem-solving and research, as well as specialist transferable skills such as communication, dispute resolution and negotiation.

“Our content tends to be very practical. It draws from a long tradition at UC of providing practical law degrees focused on teaching skills.”