Special Circumstances Scheme

The Special Circumstances Scheme funds the reasonable costs of legal representation for Australian or overseas proceedings in special circumstances.

We will only grant assistance in exceptional circumstances.

You can apply for funding to cover reasonable legal fees and disbursements. We will not usually provide funding:

  • if you can meet your legal costs without incurring serious financial difficulty
  • for costs incurred before you apply.

Special circumstances

Special circumstances include (but are not limited to):

  • where no other scheme of legal financial assistance applies, but there is a moral obligation on the Commonwealth to make a grant
  • where a statutory scheme of legal financial assistance applies, but produces an unintended, anomalous, inequitable or otherwise unacceptable result
  • cases where an individual – who has a continuing connection with Australia – is being, or will be, prosecuted for a criminal offence overseas for which they may be punished by a term of imprisonment equal to or longer than 20 years, and the Attorney-General is satisfied that the exceptional circumstances of the case justify the provision of financial assistance by the Commonwealth.

In addition, the Attorney-General may help a person with their legal costs if:

How to apply

The application form you use will depend on whether you are applying for assistance for an Australian legal matter or an overseas legal matter.

Australian legal matter

  1. Download and complete the Application Form for Legal Financial Assistance.
  2. Download and complete the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check form.
  3. Email the completed forms and required documents to finass@ag.gov.au.

Do not submit the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check Form to any other organisation. We will submit it on your behalf as part of your application assessment.

Overseas legal matter

  1. Download and complete the Special Circumstances Scheme Application Form.
  2. Download and complete the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check form.
  3. If you have lived in an overseas country for 12 months or more in the last 10 years or have ever been charged with a criminal offence, obtain an overseas penal clearance certificate (an overseas police certificate) from each country. For information on applying for an overseas police certificate, visit the Department of Home Affairs webpage on Character requirements for visas.
  4. Email completed forms and required documents to finass@ag.gov.au.

Do not submit the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check Form to any other organisation. We will submit it on your behalf as part of your application assessment.

How we assess your application

Your application will be assessed under the:

When we assess your application, we consider:

  • your income, assets, liabilities and expenses (including whether you are able to sell assets or secure a loan against them)
  • whether your legal representative has received or may receive any payment or legal assistance from a third party
  • the estimated cost of the legal proceedings
  • whether the costs of the legal action will cause you financial hardship.

In most cases, we consider that you are unable to meet the cost of the legal action if you receive Centrelink benefits as your main source of income.

We may also consider situations where you are temporarily unable to access your finances due to circumstances outside your control. For example, domestic violence, incarceration or where your assets have been restrained but may be returned to you at a later time.

Assessment timeframe

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. We will not assess incomplete applications.

​​​​Find out more

For consular assistance, visit the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.​

To contact the Legal Financial Assistance Casework team, email finass@ag.gov.au.

If you need an alternative way to contact us, you can leave a message for the team with our department’s switchboard at 02 6141 6666 (or +61 2 6141 6666 for overseas callers). 

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact the department through the National Relay Service and give 02 6141 6666 as the number you would like to call.