For the FAS to pay legal costs, lawyers must:
- have been listed as the victim’s Authorised Representative
- have a practising certificate at the time of assisting the victim with their application, and
- provide reasons in their request for legal costs explaining why the application should be considered complex.
The FAS will consider the lawyer’s explanation and information on the victim’s application when deciding whether an application is complex. The FAS will pay legal costs associated with an application as outlined in the following tables and will generally pay the upper amount for each of the categories listed below.
The upper amount may be reduced where the work required in a particular circumstance justifies a reduction of legal costs associated with a specific application, notwithstanding that the application is complex. Some examples of scenarios where the upper amount may be reduced include:
- If more than one lawyer has worked on an application the FAS may pay the full amount of legal costs to some or all lawyers who have worked on the matter or reduce the legal costs payable to reflect different levels of work and time spent.
- If multiple separate but largely duplicative applications involving the same or related acts have been submitted by a lawyer (that is, multiple applications were unreasonably submitted rather than a single consolidated application dealing with related acts), the FAS will not pay legal costs for each individual application on the basis that there is significant or total overlap in the work required across the applications.
The FAS will only consider paying legal costs above the amounts listed, or outside the circumstances identified in the below tables in exceptional circumstances, and only where the lawyer provides an appropriate explanation of the additional work undertaken.
Where a lawyer is seeking legal costs above the upper amounts set out in the table below, they should provide an itemised bill or sufficiently detailed information (such as the number of hours worked, a description of the work and the lawyer’s charge out rate) for the FAS to be able to assess whether the legal costs claimed are reasonable and proportionate.
Complex applications
Lawyers will be able to apply for additional costs by exception.
| Legal costs available | Up to $1,128 |
|---|---|
When the FAS will pay legal costs
| The FAS will pay legal costs for a complex application. Complexity factors include where an application involves:
|
Associated applications
Legal costs available
| Up to $338 for an associated application Up to $1,128 for the lead application |
|---|---|
When the FAS will pay legal costs
| The FAS will pay legal costs for an associated application. An associated application is an application connected to another lead application. This includes where a lawyer is representing:
Associated applications must also meet the complexity factors above. |
Complex variation applications
| Legal costs available | Up to $338 |
|---|---|
When the FAS will pay legal costs
| The FAS will pay legal costs for a complex variation application. Complexity factors include where a variation involves:
|
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