Who's responsible:

Legal services directions

• Legal Services Directions 2005 (as amended 1 July 2008)
• Guidance Notes
• Superceded Directions and Guidelines 

The Legal Services Directions are a set of binding rules issued by the Attorney-General about the performance of legal work for the Commonwealth (whether performed in-house, by AGS or by other external legal service providers). The Directions commenced on 1 March 2006 (an earlier version of the Directions commenced on 1 September 1999). The CEO of an FMA Agency is responsible for ensuring that their agency adopts appropriate management strategies and practices so as to achieve compliance with the Directions.

The Attorney-General is responsible for the administration of, and advice in relation to, the Directions, which were issued under section 55ZF of the Judiciary Act 1903.

The Office of Legal Services Coordination (OLSC) in the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department administers the Directions. We can assist you to comply with the Directions, but do not give general legal advice.

The Directions help to ensure that Commonwealth agencies receive consistent and well coordinated legal services that are of a high standard, that uphold the public interest and that are sensitive to their context of Commonwealth interests which are broader than any one agency. In turn, this approach protects the Commonwealth's legal and financial position. They were issued after most Australian Government legal work was opened to competition, as prior to that time agencies had been required to obtain legal services from the Australian Government Solicitor which up until September 1999 was a part of the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department.

Since OLSC was established in 1997, there have been a number of requests for assistance, complaints and queries. In light of this experience we have developed a Compliance Strategy for Enforcement of the Legal Services Directions. The strategy has three aspects - education, prevention and enforcement.