New South Wales and Victoria are close to closing a deal to form a common legal services market.

NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton says the recently-passed Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 brought the state a step closer to enacting the Legal Profession Uniform Law, which was passed by the NSW and Victorian Parliaments last year.

The uniform law will regulate the legal profession across both States, including admission to the profession and professional discipline issues.

The Attorney-General said the law reforms would slash red tape and better protect consumers, but the job is not finished yet.

“Our reforms will allow lawyers to focus on lawyering, give consumers consistent protections and make it easier for people to practise on both sides of the Murray,” Ms Upton said.

“We need a common legal services market across Australia... NSW and Victoria have paved the way for other States and Territories. All that is needed from them is the will to reform.”

NSW Bar Association President Jane Needham SC has welcomed the new laws, which she says will serve as a “blueprint for a single national system of regulation” for the legal profession.

“The commencement of the new scheme on 1 July will involve challenges for regulators and professional associations alike, however any issues in the transition to the new system will be more than outweighed by the certainty and consistency that the new scheme will deliver," Ms Needham said.

It is hoped that the majority of Australian lawyers will be regulated under the new scheme from 1 July 2015, if other State and Territory bodies get on board.