Financial Legal Assistance Schemes

# Financial Legal Assistance Schemes The Attorney-General's Department offers various statutory and non-statutory **Financial Legal Assistance Schemes** to provide support for legal matters of Commonwealth public interest and specific situations. This includes the Commonwealth Public Interest and Test Cases Scheme, Disbursement Support Scheme, Overseas Child Abduction Scheme, Serious Overseas Criminal Matters Scheme, and Special Circumstances Scheme. Assistance is also available under specific sections of numerous Commonwealth Acts, such as the *Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984*, *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975*, *Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986*, and *Privacy Act 1988*, among others. ## 🎯 Eligibility Criteria **General exclusions:** The schemes generally **do not cover** criminal charges within Australia, legal matters under state or territory laws, or overseas legal actions unless specifically covered by the Serious Overseas Criminal Matters, Overseas Child Abduction, or Special Circumstances Schemes. Funding is typically not granted to individuals who can meet their legal costs without serious financial difficulty, nor for costs incurred before an application is made, unless explicitly allowed by the scheme. Applicants should contact their local legal aid office for Australian criminal or state/territory law matters. ## 📝 Application & Funding This is a **Demand Driven** program with **Total Available Funding** of **$3,006,000**. Applications can be submitted online or by downloading and emailing completed forms to finass@ag.gov.au. Required attachments vary by scheme. Relevant forms and guidelines, including the *Commonwealth Guidelines for Legal Financial Assistance* and *Legal Financial Assistance Assessment of Costs*, are available in the GO Documents section. All applications are confidential. If assistance for legal representation is granted, invoices from lawyers should be emailed directly to finass@ag.gov.au and are typically paid within 28 days for complete submissions. **Keywords:** legal aid, financial assistance, Attorney-General's Department, legal services, Commonwealth law, public interest cases, test cases, overseas child abduction, criminal matters overseas, disbursement support, statutory schemes, legal funding.