The Legal Costs Committee was first established following the proclamation of the Acts Amendment (Legal Practitioners, Costs and Taxation) Act 1987 on 12 February 1988. Subsequently, the Legal Costs Committee’s jurisdiction was reaffirmed by the Legal Practice Act 2003 and more recently, by Division 9 of Part 10 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2022 (Act). The Legal Costs Committee is responsible under the Act for making determinations for the remuneration of legal practitioners in respect of the matters specified under Division 5 of Part 10 of the Act, as well as other legislation, in the following areas of legal practice:
- Non-contentious business carried out by legal practitioners
- Supreme Court of Western Australia
- District Court of Western Australia
- Magistrates Courts
- Official Prosecutions (Accused’s Costs)
- Public Notaries
- Family Law in Western Australia Courts
- State Administrative Tribunal.
Before the establishment of the Legal Costs Committee, costs and scales of fees, except for a scale for the Court of Petty Sessions in the period prior to the establishment of the Magistrates Court, and that for Public Notaries, were set by the Judges of the Courts, or by the Under Secretary for Law, as the case required.
Since the proclamation of the Acts Amendment (Legal Practitioners, Costs and Taxation) Act, the scope of work undertaken by the Legal Costs Committee has changed in that by virtue of the Magistrates Court Act 2004 and the Magistrates Court (Civil Proceedings) Act 2004, the Local Court and Court of Petty Sessions ceased to exist and were replaced by the Magistrates Court exercising both civil and criminal jurisdiction. In 2009 the Family Court of Western Australia and the State Administrative Tribunal were included as additional jurisdictions requiring determinations. In 2016, Magistrates exercising Family Law jurisdiction was recognised as necessitating a separate determination. In 2020, the continued promulgation of a separate determination for costs associated with appeals to the District Court was discontinued.
