For legal aid to be granted for an expert report from a general medical practitioner the following tests must be satisfied:
- the applicant has been provided aid for the substantive matter, and
- the request meets the merits test
If more than four hours is requested or the quote exceeds the four hour grant, the request will be referred to a senior grants officer for consideration.
Requests for an interstate report writer are determined by a Grants Manager.
Documentary requirements
Extension of aid requests received from preferred suppliers or in-house practitioners
When applying for an extension of aid for an expert report in a family law matter the practitioner lodge an extension of aid request through the Grants Online system and advise how the matter meets the merits test.
Grant(s) of aid
There is a set scale of fee for a general medical practitioners. Practitioners should provide a quote for the general medical practitioner to prepare the report.
The grant of aid for a general medical practitioner to prepare a report for all family law matters is MD4.
If the medical practitioners quote is at less than the scale of fees the FOT grant of aid is issued with the relevant amount.
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).