Australian Government: Attorney-General's Department
Australian Government: Attorney-General's DepartmentAchieving a Just and Secure Society

Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Legal Profession Reform and consumers

The National Legal Profession Reform Taskforce was established at the request of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to draft nationally uniform legislation to regulate the legal profession. The Taskforce has proposed reforms that aim not only to unify, but also to simplify and improve Australian legal profession regulation. The Taskforce’s full consultation package is available from the Attorney-General’s Department website.

The Taskforce’s proposals aim to promote high quality provision of legal services and accessible, efficient dispute resolution where services do not meet expected standards. One of the key areas of uniformity is to deliver consistent rights and remedies to consumers regardless of where they live in Australia.

A consumer survey was available for six weeks during the three month consultation period, which ended 13 August 2010. Responses to the survey are being used to create a consumer report to be considered by the Taskforce.

The key proposals identified by the National Legal Profession Reform Taskforce as being of interest to consumers are:

Legal costs

Practitioners will be obliged to ensure that they charge no more than fair and reasonable costs and that they provide consumers with sufficient information to allow them to make informed decisions about legal costs.

This is intended to promote cost disclosure that is tailored to each client’s needs.

The relevant provisions in the consultation package are:

Complaints and dispute resolution

A more flexible, efficient and consumer focused complaints system is intended to be established in the National Legal Services Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman will have new powers to handle consumers’ issues or disputes with their lawyers, separately from considering whether disciplinary proceedings are appropriate. They will also have the power to deal with small costs matters.

The Ombudsman will be able to determine consumer matters where agreement cannot be reached, regardless of whether disciplinary action is also taken. The Ombudsman will also have the power to initiate disciplinary proceedings in the appropriate tribunal.

Complaints functions will be handled by local representatives of the Ombudsman in each State and Territory, while the Ombudsman’s oversight will ensure consistent consumer protection.

A single, national telephone and website contact point will improve accessibility.

The relevant provisions in the consultation package are:

Fidelity funds

The National Law contains a legislative principle that will require that claims against a fidelity fund must be determined independently, at arm’s length from the profession.

The relevant provisions in the consultation package are: