Afghanistan Inquiry Legal Assistance Scheme
The Afghanistan Inquiry Legal Assistance Scheme (AILAS) funds the reasonable costs of legal representation for current and former serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) members who are the subject of, or participating in, criminal investigations and prosecutions relating to matters arising from the Afghanistan Inquiry. This includes advice for the purposes of participating in Australian Federal Police (AFP)/Office of the Special investigator (OSI) investigations, defending charges and giving evidence in court if criminal proceedings are brought in relation to those matters.
You can apply for:
- the reasonable professional costs of a legal practitioner to act for you (such as attendance or preparation of documents)
- the reasonable disbursements incurred by a legal practitioner in the course of acting for you (such as travel and photocopying)
- your reasonable costs of attending a place, either when required by a court or to give evidence to a court.
If you are successful in obtaining a grant of funding under AILAS, this does not prevent you from also getting other assistance to cover any additional costs not covered by the grant.
Eligibility for legal assistance
If you are a member or former member of the ADF, we may provide financial assistance for your reasonable legal representation and disbursement costs if you can demonstrate any of the following:
- The OSI or the AFP has asked you to provide evidence.
- You have been asked or compelled, either by the court, prosecution or defence, to provide evidence in criminal proceedings in relation to matters that are the subject of the AFP/OSI Afghanistan investigation.
- You have been charged with a crime in relation to matters that are the subject of the AFP/OSI Afghanistan investigation.
- You have been served with a Potentially Affected Person (PAP) Notice by the Inspector-General of the ADF, or similar notice by another relevant authority in relation to matters that are the subject of the AFP/OSI Afghanistan investigation.
We can only approve applications that meet these eligibility requirements. Applications that do not meet these eligibility requirements will be refused.
How to apply
- Download and complete the AILAS Application Form.
- Email the completed form and required documents to finass@ag.gov.au.
How we assess your application
Your application will be assessed under the:
- Afghanistan Inquiry Legal Assistance Scheme Guidelines
- Commonwealth Legal Financial Assistance – Assessment of Costs which sets out what is payable and at what rate.
No grants relating to the matters covered by the AILAS Guidelines will be considered under Appendix E to the Legal Services Directions 2017 (the directions) unless we decide otherwise. Any grant made before the commencement of the guidelines relating to the matters covered by the guidelines will continue until the existing grant is exhausted or expired. This includes grants made under Appendix E to the directions before the commencement of these guidelines.
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. We will not assess incomplete applications.
If you receive less than 28 days notice to respond to the AFP/OSI investigation, we will try to assess your application before the date of your appearance.
Payment process
We will only pay after:
- we have approved your application
- the work has been performed
- we have received an invoice and assessed it.
Your legal representative should invoice us directly by email to finass@ag.gov.au.
The Afghanistan Inquiry Legal Assistance Scheme Assessment of Costs sets the maximum amount that we can pay.
Find out more
For more information about the scheme, visit Legal assistance FAQ on the Department of Defence 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.