For legal aid to be granted for travel expenses (including parking) and travel time where a service provider uses their own car, the following tests must be satisfied:
- the applicant has been provided aid for the substantive matter, and
- the practitioner is required to travel, and
- travel is undertaken in the most economic manner possible or the costs requested are the most cost effective option, and
- the distance to be travelled by the service provider is more than a 35 kilometres single round trip from the service provider’s office to the location (court, tribunal, conference venue, home visit, site visit etc).
Requests for interstate travel are referred to the Assistant Director Grants for determination.
Requirements
Extension of aid requests received from preferred suppliers or in-house practitioners
Practitioners seeking an extension of aid for travel by car, should electronically submit an extension for aid request via the Grants Online system prior to travelling.
Interpretation
If a service provider travels to the same location on the same day for more than one legally aided matter, travel time, travel expense and car parking expense is payable for one return trip only.
Process servers are unable to claim travel time as the fee paid to process servers includes the travel time required to serve the documents.
Travelling time is not payable in conjunction with the prison visit grants of aid as these grants are designed to compensate the practitioner for the time spent travelling to prison.
Grant(s) of aid
The grant of aid for travel time is TT for solicitors or BOT for counsel.
The grant of aid for travel expenses is TE for solicitors or BOT for counsel.
The grant of aid for car parking expenses is PARK.
Review of decisions
A decision to refuse legal aid for this type of matter may be appealed to the external review officer (refer to review of decisions).