Preferred supplier newsletter — November 2023

This month:

Appeal cost fund

Amendments were recently made to the Appeal Cost Fund Act 1973. Most significantly for Legal Aid Queensland (LAQ), it removed the ability to seek reimbursement of costs from the Appeal Cost Fund in legally aided matters. In summary:

  • LAQ can no longer lodge applications for reimbursement through the fund and
  • LAQ applications before the Appeal Cost Fund board not yet considered or decided will not receive a reimbursement.

In legally aided matters, there is therefore no further need to obtain an indemnity certificate from the trial judge in mistrials and no further need to prepare the paperwork for an Appeal Cost Fund application in mistrials and retrials.

Publications and resources

LAQ produces more than 100 publications and resources from factsheets to posters, brochures, wallet cards and comprehensive legal information guides on a range of topics. You can check out the publications on the LAQ website and they can be ordered online at no cost

For more information about our publications or to order copies of the duty lawyer session report form, email publications@legalaid.qld.gov.au.

Continuing professional development (CPD)

Looking for professional development opportunities to boost your CPD points? Many of our CPD seminars are recorded and available on Grants Online under the Information Resources tab.

Feedback

We welcome feedback and comments from clients, the community, and our suppliers. As preferred suppliers you play an important role in helping us to provide quality legal services to disadvantaged Queenslanders. If you would like to provide comments or suggestions about our services, policies, processes or staff members, you can complete a contact form or email us at complaints@legalaid.qld.gov.au at any time. We ensure a senior staff member investigates all issues thoroughly and we also analyse all feedback regularly to improve our policies, processes, and services. View our Feedback and Complaints Policy.