For legal aid to be granted for a psychiatric or medical specialist report the following tests must be satisfied:
- the applicant has been provided aid for the substantive matter, and
- the applicant is the independent children’s lawyer, or
- the applicant for aid is currently receiving treatment from a psychiatrist or medical specialist and a report is required to support their case.
- the request meets the merits test.
If the number of hours sought by a medical specialist exceeds 12 hours or, the report writer refuses to accept the scale of fees, the matter will be referred to a senior grants officer for consideration.
If the matter has or will exceed the cap as outlined in guideline 18.2 – limit on costs, the matter 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 suppliers or in-house practitioners
Practitioners seeking a grant of legal assistance should electronically submit an extension for aid request via the Grants Online system along with the appropriate information request, details as to why the report is required, details of the number of hours sought by the psychiatrist or medical specialist to prepare the report and details of the medical specialist's specialisation.
Interpretation
Medical specialists are those doctors who have completed post graduate studies in an area of specialisation such as:
- Allergists
- Anaesthetists
- Cardiologists
- Endocrinologists
- Gastroenterologists
- Geriatricians
- Gynaecologists
- Haematologists
- Immunologists
- Nephrologists
- Neurologists
- Obstetricians
- Oncologists
- Otolaryngologists
- Pathologists
- Physicians
- Psychiatrists (separate request is required for an ICL requested psychiatric assessment report)
- Radiologists
- Rheumatologists
- Surgeons, and
- Urologists.
NOTE: Psychologists, including Clinical Psychologists and Forensic Psychologists are not considered to be medical specialists. Please refer to the Psychological report page for further details.
Grant(s) of aid
The grant of aid for a report from a psychiatrist or medical specialist is MS2.
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).