Knowing the difference between fees
and costs may affect your decision to bring or continue
a proceeding in the Federal Court of Australia. A general
outline is given here – if you have any further
queries you should seek legal
advice.
Fees
Fees are set out in the Federal
Court of Australia Regulations 2004. The
Regulations are made by the Federal Government. They
impose filing fees, setting down fees and hearing fees
for an application or appeal filed in the Court.
A party may be exempt from payment of these fees in
certain circumstances. Payment of these fees may also
be waived if certain criteria are met. You can get a
form to ask the Court to waive or grant an exemption
from the fee from the Registry or from this
website.
These Court fees are different from the fees that lawyers
charge their clients.
Parties may employ lawyers (barristers or solicitors)
to represent them in a proceeding. These lawyers usually
charge their clients for their services (fees) and expenses
that they have paid on the client’s behalf (disbursements).
Disbursements may include court fees. Together these
charges are known as costs.
The usual rule is that at the end of a proceeding the
unsuccessful party pays the costs (ie the fees and disbursements)
of the other party. For example, in a migration matter,
if the applicant is unsuccessful, the usual rule is that
they will be ordered to pay the costs of the Minister.
If the Minister is unsuccessful, the usual rule is that
the Minister will be ordered to pay the costs of the
applicant.
A person who is exempt from payment of Court fees or
who has had these fees waived can still be ordered to
pay the costs of another party.
The amount of costs that an unsuccessful party will
be ordered to pay is usually limited to the amount set
out in the scale found in Schedule
2 of the Federal
Court Rules. A Registrar of the Court will usually be involved
in the calculation of this amount.
