Criminal fee rates

The following hourly rates apply to legal aid services performed in criminal law proceedings effective from 1 July 2022 (GST exclusive).

		Level of experience
Minimum required Criminal Provider Approval Level (PAL) (see below for explanation of categories)	Other ($/hr)	Level 1 ($/hr)	Level 2 ($/hr)	Level 3 ($/hr)
PAL1		103	108	119
PAL2		108	134	139
PAL3		130	139	150
PAL4		146	161	178
Court of Appeal/Supreme Court		146	161	178
Travel time (pre-5 November 2012)		48	58	68
Travel time (post-5 November 2012 Disbursement Policy)	63
Supervised Providers	103
Qualified legal executives	82
Non qualified legal executives / paralegals	72
Law clerks	72

Minimum required Criminal Provider Approval Level (PALs)

PAL 1

Means any proceeding

• for which the procedure for trial is the Judge-alone trial procedure; and
• that is not a Crown prosecution; and
• any proceeding in a Youth Court

PAL 2

Means any proceeding

• that is a Crown prosecution; and
• where the person charged may be liable to a penalty of no more than 10 years’ imprisonment

PAL 3

Means any proceeding

• that is a Crown prosecution; and
• where the person charged may be liable to a penalty of more than 10 years’ imprisonment; and
• that is not an approval level 4 criminal proceeding

PAL 4

Means any proceeding where the person charged with—

• an offence listed in Schedule 1 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011;(external link) or
• any offence not listed in that schedule that is punishable by imprisonment for life; or
• may be liable to a sentence of preventive detention; or
• would, if convicted, be subject to additional consequences under section 86D(external link) of the Sentencing Act 2002.

The rates apply to the PAL of the case, except that a provider cannot be paid at a higher rate than their own approval level. (For example, a PAL4 provider assigned a PAL1 case is paid at the PAL1 rate of the case, while a PAL1 provider delegated activities to perform on a PAL4 case is paid at their PAL1 rate)

Experience required for each PAL

PAL 1 – An applicant must have at least 12 months of recent experience in criminal law practice; and have appeared as counsel with substantial and active involvement in at least 3 trials in criminal proceedings.

PAL 2 – An applicant must have at least 24 months of recent experience working on approval level 1 criminal proceedings; and have appeared as counsel with substantial and active involvement in at least 3 trials in proceedings that are Crown prosecutions.

PAL 3 – An applicant must have at least 36 months of recent experience working on approval level 2 criminal proceedings; and have appeared as counsel with substantial and active involvement in at least 4 approval level 3 or 4 criminal proceedings where

• at least 1 charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment or more; or
• the person charged is likely to face cumulative sentences of more than 10 years’ imprisonment.

PAL 4 – An applicant must have at least 24 months of recent experience working on approval level 3 criminal proceedings; and have appeared as counsel with substantial and active involvement in at least 4 approval level 3 or 4 criminal proceedings where at least one of those proceedings is an approval level 4 criminal proceeding.

Level of experience

Level 1 – A person with up to 4 complete years of litigation experience.

Level 2 – A person with at least 4 and up to 9 complete years of litigation experience.

Level 3 – A person with at least 9 complete years of litigation experience.

This page was last updated: 05th January 2023