Care and Protection

We are making the following changes to policy:

• removing the Means and Merit Tests for parents in primary care proceedings (from establishment to final hearing) and for parents responding to section 90 proceedings
• replacing the Means and Merit Tests for third parties in care proceedings with a ‘genuine interest in caring for the children’ policy, and
• removing the Means Test for parents in all post-final orders matters heard in the Children’s Court.

Panel practitioners will have the ability to determine applications in primary care proceedings and section 90 applications.

The new fee scale includes:

• lump sum fees for establishment and placement stages that includes amounts for the preparation of one interim application (including establishment or other interim application) which will be paid whether an application is required or not
• set fees for Court attendances for all interim applications where an application is contested and/or requires judicial determination
• set fees for preparation for the final hearing;
• standalone fees for dispute resolution conferences and preparation for second/subsequent interim applications
• guidelines that clearly set out when extra preparation is payable at the establishment and placement phase and final hearing phrase
• guidelines about when solicitor advocate rates will be paid
• counsel fee rates for work done by counsel, and 
• a new fee for section 90 ‘merit advice’ recognising the work involved in assessing whether a client has merit to submit an application for legal aid.