Administrative access policy
Policy statement
Where Legal Aid Queensland (LAQ) acts for you as your lawyer, you are entitled to certain documents held on your legal file(s). You can apply in writing to LAQ for access to those documents by using the Request to access documents held by Legal Aid Queensland form(PDF, 114KB).
This policy is written in the context of the requirements of the Legal Aid Queensland Act 1997, the Right to Information Act 2009, the Information Privacy Act 2009 and the Australian Solicitor Conduct Rules 2012.
This process is for requests for documents, not for individuals wanting answers to questions. Such requests should be directed to the team who handled your matter.
Purpose
This policy explains:
- who can apply
- how you can apply
- which files you can apply for
- which documents you are entitled to access
- requesting other documents
How do I access my file?
You can apply to access your legal file(s) if we acted for you as your lawyer in a matter. The matter could be for criminal, civil or family law.
If we funded your matter but a private lawyer acted for you, we would not hold your legal file(s). You will need to make your request to the private lawyer who acted for you.
If you owe a legal aid contribution, you are expected to pay any money owed to us, or make arrangements to pay the money before documents are made available to you.
How do I apply?
If you would like to request documents from your legal file which is held by LAQ, you must provide your request in writing on the Request to access documents held by Legal Aid Queensland form(PDF, 114KB) and provide evidence of your identity as outlined on that form and also explained in the Forms of ID information sheet.(PDF, 180KB)
You can send your completed Request to access documents held by Legal Aid Queensland form along with your evidence of identity to:
Corporate Legal Services – RTI/IP
Legal Aid Queensland
GPO Box 2449
Brisbane Qld 4001
Email rti@legalaid.qld.gov.au
In your request, you need to identify which file(s) you want to access documents from. If you have a file reference, eg B0001234 please quote this on your request.
Which documents am I entitled to access?
You can only apply for access to documents on file(s) where you are the client. This includes both current file(s) and finalised files. You cannot apply for access to file(s) where someone else is the client, eg LAQ acted as lawyer for your child, partner or the other party in your legal matter.
When a lawyer creates a file, documents on the file may belong to the lawyer, the client or a third party (another person). You are entitled to documents on the file which belong to you. You may also be able to obtain copies of some documents belonging to the lawyer but the lawyer can charge you a fee for the costs of photocopying.
Documents which belong to you
Generally, you are entitled to:
- documents which existed before your lawyer started acting for you and which you gave to you lawyer to hold on your behalf
- documents which came into existence after your lawyer starting acting for you and which were made by your lawyer for your benefit
- documents which came into existence after your lawyer starting acting for you and which were given to your lawyer as your agent.
Documents which belong to your lawyer
Documents prepared by your lawyer for the benefit of the lawyer .
Documents from third parties
Documents are sometimes received by your lawyer from third parties. You are entitled to these documents only if:
- the documents were given to your lawyer as your agent, and
- there is no restriction by the third party preventing your lawyer from giving the documents to you.
- If your lawyer has obtained your QP9 document (also called a 'Court Brief') from the Queensland Police Service (QPS) on your behalf to provide you with legal advice about your proceeding in the Magistrates or Children's court (including committal proceedings) or in the preparation or conduct of a bail application to be heard and determined in the Children's Court of Queensland or the Supreme Court of Queensland, you may apply for a copy of the QP9 document from us. Copies of QP9 documents can also be requested directly from QPS.
Requests for other documents
This administrative access policy aims to make it easier and faster for you to access documents from your client file(s) than under the Right to Information Act 2009 (the RTI Act) or the Information Privacy Act 2009 (the IP Act).
If you do not receive some documents on your file(s) under these guidelines, you may be able to access the documents under the RTI Act or the IP Act.
Legislation and references
- Right to Information Act 2009
- Information Privacy Act 2009
- Legal Aid Queensland Act 1997
- Australian Solicitor Conduct Rules 2012
Last updated 20 September 2024