For legal aid to be granted for a psychologist to conduct a neuropsychological assessment and prepare a report the following tests must be satisfied:
- The report directly relates to the proposed plea and it is likely to result in a significant reduction in the sentence that might otherwise be expected, and
- The material cannot be presented to the court without obtaining the report, and
- the applicant has been provided aid for the substantive matter, and
- the applicant meets the merits test.
If the report writer refuses to accept the scale of fees to prepare the report or appear as a witness, the request will be referred to a grants manager for consideration.
Requests for an interstate report writer are determined by the Assistant Director Grants.
Requirements
Extension of aid requests received from preferred supplier or in-house practitioner
Practitioners seeking a grant of legal assistance should electronically submit an extension of aid request via the Grants Online system and include details of the number of hours sought to prepare the report. The practitioner must also provide information to support the merits test with regards to the “appropriateness of spending limited public Legal Aid funds" test, and the "prudent self-funding litigant" test.
Interpretation
For aid to be granted for a psychologist to conduct a neuropsychological assessment, the practitioner would need to certify that:
- The clients history discloses that he/she were involved in an accident and as a result appears to have suffered brain damage, or
- The client appears to have a severe intellectual disability.
Supporting documentation must be retained on the practitioner file for audit purposes.
Grant(s) of aid
The grant of aid for a psychologist to conduct a neuropsychological assessment and prepare a report is PY7