The Attorney-General issues Legal Services Directions (the Directions) under the Judiciary Act 1903 and the Judiciary Amendment Act 1999. The Directions are intended to ensure that the quality of the Government's legal work is maintained and the public interest protected. The Directions are also designed to enable the Attorney-General to manage and reduce risks inherent in the provision of legal services to the Australian Government, and to ensure that these services are of a high standard and consistent with the public interest.
The Directions are made as a statutory instrument by the Attorney-General and have the force of law. Failure to comply with them will result in an agency, and the Commonwealth employees responsible, being in breach of the law.
The Directions also:
• promote and preserve the Commonwealth's responsibility to act as a model litigant
• ensure sensitive work involving machinery of government is not outsourced inappropriately
• set threshold limits for counsel fees, and
• provide guidelines for assisting government officials who are involved in legal proceedings.