Legal System Publications

As part of the 2021-2022 review of the Legislation Act 2003, the Review Committee released this discussion paper which was designed to assist stakeholders to provide feedback and submissions to the review by providing background information and posing questions.

The Annual Certificate of Compliance is a document that agencies complete at the end of each financial year to set out the extent to which the agency believes it has complied with the Legal Services Directions 2017.

Data is collected in accordance with the manual across the legal assistance sector. To ensure that the document remains relevant and is fit-for-purpose we will conduct an annual review in consultation with state and territory governments and the legal assistance sector.

The National Legal Assistance Data Strategy was developed in accordance with the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020-25 (NLAP). It sets the policy framework for the collection, storage, reporting, transmission, and analysis of data that is collected and reported under the NLAP.

In support of its role in monitoring compliance with the Legal Services Directions 2017, OLSC publishes statistical information about non-compliance. This document includes compliance statistics for the 2019-20 financial year.

The Legal Aid Schemes and Services Approval 2023 allows people who receive legal assistance from the organisations listed within it to be exempt from paying court fees.

A statement of the Attorney-General’s Department’s legal services expenditure for the 2019–20 financial year.

The Australian Government is providing additional funding for the legal assistance sector to help address the impact of COVID-19.

The Australian Government is providing additional funding for the legal assistance sector to assist with bushfire response and recovery.

This addendum modifies the operation of the Guidelines with regard to applications for legal financial assistance associated with the inquiries of the National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention (the National Commissioner).

In support of its role in monitoring compliance with the Legal Services Directions 2017, OLSC publishes statistical information about non-compliance. This document includes compliance statistics for the 2018-19 financial year.

The Guide to Managing Sunsetting of Legislative Instruments provides a detailed overview of the sunsetting regime. The guide also includes templates to apply for a variation to an instrument’s sunsetting date, or an exemption from the sunsetting regime.

Legal services providers (LSPs) should use this template to submit the Pro Bono Work Report.

The final report of the review of the National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services 2015-2020 (the NPA) was delivered in December 2018.

The National Legal Assistance Partnership builds on the current trajectory of reform for Commonwealth legal assistance under the National Partnership Agreement and recommendations from the 2018 reviews of the NPA and Indigenous Legal Assistance Program.  

The National Strategic Framework for Legal Assistance provides the policy framework for all government legal assistance funding. This includes an overarching objective and aspirational principles to guide legal assistance policy development, service delivery and sector planning.

AGD administer the NLAP, which is the primary national legal assistance funding agreement with the states and territories. Our stakeholders, which include individual providers in the legal assistance sector, must be able to obtain an up-to-date copy of the NLAP, as it has been amended since 1 July 2020.

This document applies to the assessment of costs relating to Commonwealth Legal Financial Assistance grants and is used to determine whether costs claimed under grants of financial assistance are reasonable.

Office of Legal Services Coordination - Guidance Note 8 - Entities are required to report on legal services expenditure to the Office of Legal Services Coordination (OLSC) within 60 days of the end of financial year using the approved reporting template.

The overarching purpose of the department’s Dispute Management Strategy is to ensure we adopt a coordinated, consistent and effective approach to preventing and managing disputes through development of a Dispute Management Plan.