National Anti-Corruption Commission General Scheme

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) General Scheme funds the reasonable costs of your legal representation if you are:

You may have received a notice or summons from the NACC that includes a non disclosure notation. If so, you should seek the NACC’s advice about who you may tell about your notice or summons before you enquire about or apply for assistance.

Where to seek help first

To apply for this scheme, you need to have exhausted other options for legal financial assistance.

Your options depend on the nature of your employment or former employment.

To seek legal financial assistance for your engagement with the NACC, you must first apply under the NACC Parliamentary Scheme. This is established in Part 5 of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Regulations 2023. Email NACC.parlassist@ag.gov.au for more information and to find out how to apply.

You must first seek legal financial assistance under Appendix E to the Legal Services Directions 2017 from the entity you work or worked for. Contact the entity’s human resources team to find out more information.

If you are or were employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984, you must first seek legal financial assistance under Appendix E to the Legal Services Directions 2017 from your relevant entity. You can contact Ministerial and Parliamentary Services at the Department of Finance by emailing MPSHelp@finance.gov.au for more information.

You should contact the human resources area of the entity you work or worked for. Appendix E to the Legal Services Directions 2017 does not apply, but the entity may still choose to assist you.  

You must have sought legal aid from a legal aid commission in your state or territory before applying under the NACC General Scheme. If you will be receiving legal aid for your NACC matter, we cannot provide you with funding under the NACC General Scheme.

Who is eligible

In accordance with the National Anti-Corruption Commission Regulations 2023, we may provide legal financial assistance to:

  • a person who is summoned to attend a hearing of the NACC
  • a person who is not giving evidence at a hearing and is being represented at the hearing by a legal practitioner with the consent of the Commissioner
  • a person who has applied, or proposes to apply, to the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 for an order in respect of a matter arising under the Act.

To be eligible to apply for help through the NACC General Scheme, you need to have tried the relevant options under Where to seek help first.

How to apply

Email finass@ag.gov.au to obtain a NACC General Scheme application form.

Scan and email your completed application with supporting documents to finass@ag.gov.au.

If you cannot send your application by email, call Legal Financial Assistance Casework on 02 6141 4770 or 1800 117 995 between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday.

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service and give 02 6141 4770 as the number you would like to call.

How we assess your application

We assess applications according to both:

The decision maker may approve legal financial assistance if they are satisfied that either:

  • refusing the application would cause you serious financial difficulty
  • the circumstances of the case are of such a special nature that the application should be granted.

Which costs are covered

We will pay for reasonable costs of legal representation and disbursement that you incur when you:

  • attend a hearing of the NACC
  • apply for administrative review in respect of a matter arising under the Act.

These could include:

  • your solicitor's costs, such as attending hearings or preparing documents
  • disbursements such as solicitor's travel or photocopying.

Your solicitor should invoice us directly by email to finass@ag.gov.au.

For details of what we can pay for and how much we can pay, visit Commonwealth legal financial assistance - Assessment of costs.

Assessment timeframes

If your application is complete, we will assess it within 28 days. If it is incomplete, we will notify you and ask for the missing information.

Payments process

We will only pay after:

  • we have approved your application
  • the work has been performed
  • we have received an invoice.

The Commonwealth legal financial assistance - Assessment of costs sets the maximum amount that we can pay.

Find out more

To contact Legal Financial Assistance Casework:

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service and give 02 6141 4770 as the number you would like to call.

Related links

National Anti-Corruption Commission
Commonwealth Guidelines for Legal Financial Assistance 2012
Addendum to the Commonwealth Guidelines for Legal Financial Assistance 2012: Ad…