3. Do I need to pay anything for the service under the Duty Lawyer Scheme?

You do not need to pay any fee for the first court hearing of your case. For the subsequent court hearing(s) of your case, after you have successfully passed the means test, you need to pay a fixed handling charge of $540. This is the only charge you have to pay, no matter how long the trial lasts.

The Administrator of the Duty Lawyer Service has the discretion to waive the handling charge in cases of genuine hardship. Defendants receiving public assistance (e.g. Comprehensive Social Security Assistance) are normally exempted from payment of the handling charge.