19095 (2025). Hon Dr Duncan Webb to the Minister of Justice

Written Question

Published date: 07 May 2025

Metadata

Document type:	Written Question
Parliament number:	54
Question number:	19095 (2025)
Question asked:	21 Apr 2025
Member asking:	Hon Dr Duncan Webb
Portfolio:	Minister of Justice
Minister replying:	Hon Paul Goldsmith
Answer received:	03 May 2025
Status:	Question Answered
Reply type:	Reply
Document ID:	WQ_19095_2025
Document guid:	61f713b6-d8e3-40d2-b6a4-b1fd74ef78f7

19095 (2025). Hon Dr Duncan Webb to the Minister of Justice: Has the minister, or the ministry undertaken any analysis to determine whether the quality and cost of providing defence services is better by delivery by the Public Defence Service or by private sector lawyers funded by Legal Aid; if so what are the conclusions and where can they be found?

Hon Paul Goldsmith: Both Public Defence Service lawyers and lawyers in the private profession are required to hold the same Legal Aid approval listings to be able to undertake legal aid assignments. In the 12 months ending February 2025 the average cost of service for Public Defence Service Provider Approval Level (PAL) 1 cases (which are 81% of PDS cases) was $1228.57 and was $1857.49 for the private profession. Therefore, the more cases of this type it can do, the more savings it contributes to the Legal Aid appropriation.