Factsheet: Panel Fee

Whole of Australian Government Legal Services Panel

V2.2, December 2024

What is the Panel Fee? 

The Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) will administer the Whole of Australian Government Legal Services Panel (the Panel) for the benefit of participating Entities. Use of the Panel is mandatory for all non-Corporate Commonwealth entities (NCCEs). Corporate Commonwealth entities (CCEs) and Commonwealth companies are able to opt-in to use the Panel.

In accordance with the government decision, a Panel Fee will be payable by participating Entities to fund AGD’s Panel administration costs on a cost-recovery basis.

This document will provide you with the framework within which AGD determines the Panel Fee that is payable by participating Entities. 

What does your Panel Fee fund?

The Panel Fee will fund AGD’s costs of administering the Panel which include the provision of staffing, hosting and enhancing the information technology platform known as the Legal Services Panel Portal, delivering training and consultancy, and professional services expenses as required. It also includes the costs of reviewing the effectiveness of the Panel and re-tendering the Panel’s replacement at the end of its term. Costs have been averaged over the anticipated 5-year life of the Panel, so a consistent fee is charged each year. The Panel will provide a range of benefits to Entities, as set out below.

Access to AGD support 

AGD will provide a range of services to support the successful implementation and use of the Panel by Entities, including: 

• Managing the Head Agreements between AGD, on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Legal Services Providers (LSPs).
• Hosting and optimising the information technology platform known as the Legal Services Panel Portal.
• Monitoring performance of LSPs and addressing systemic and/or serious performance or compliance issues. 
• Investigating and coordinating a response or providing coordination assistance (where appropriate) to incidents and events involving LSPs that impact the Commonwealth.
• Coordinating access to value-add services offered by LSPs.
• Monitoring the Panel to identify and implement efficiencies for the Commonwealth
• Education and training to enhance entity ability to use and comply with the terms of the Panel.
• Providing high level analysis, reporting and strategic advice to support legal services decision making, planning and delivery across the Commonwealth.
• Administering the Flexibility Framework.
• Reviewing and refreshing the Panel.

Competitive pricing and benefits

LSPs that are available on the Panel provide favourable pricing and beneficial value-add services for users of the Panel. The Panel reduces administration and tendering efforts, and makes it easier and quicker to establish contracts. Participating entities are able to purchase directly from LSPs on the Panel, or undertake further processes to set up more targeted arrangements with one or more LSPs, such as more favourable rates or fixed fee arrangements in order to obtain the best value for money on any given matter.

Flexibility Framework

Acknowledging the benefit in facilitating new and emerging LSPs being able to provide services to the Commonwealth during the term of the Panel, as well as managing the complexity of legal services, the Panel arrangements include specific flexibility mechanisms enabling access to Legal Services Providers not on the Panel. These mechanisms allow participating entities to purchase up to 10% of their estimated external legal services spend from outside the Panel at the entity’s discretion, and for AGD to grant exemptions from using the Panel in exceptional circumstances where it is either not possible or appropriate to utilise the Panel. 

Legal Services Panel Portal

AGD will upgrade, manage and maintain the Legal Services Panel Portal, which is a web-based information technology system available to entities to streamline the use of the Panel. The Portal will assist entities’ legal practice management functions by making it easy to search for Panel LSPs as well as the Australian Government Solicitor (including their approved Areas of Law, rates, and key personnel), issuing Requests for Quote and Orders, reporting and details of Value‑Add Services offered.

Legal Service Provider Performance

In addition to monitoring performance, AGD will collect, and make available to Entities on the Panel Portal, information to assist Entities to determine which LSPs provide the best Value for Money for their needs. This will include:

• legal services expenditure; 
• conflict of interest management;
• security and confidentiality, and how LSPs respond when there has been a breach;
• the LSPs commitment to and plan for environmental sustainability; 
• the pro bono work undertaken by the LSP.

How is your Panel Fee calculated?

AGD has averaged the forecast costs of administering the Panel across the anticipated 5 years term of the Panel. This is intended to give greater certainty to Entities about the approximate Panel Fee payable.

In accordance with the government decision, the Panel Fee will be set by AGD at a rate of between 0.4% and 1% of total external professional legal fee expenditure, which will then be shared proportionately among all participating Entities. In any given year, the same percentage rate will be applied in the calculation of the Panel Fee for all Entities, assessed against their own external professional legal fee expenditure. The percentage rate will be adjusted by AGD annually within the range to ensure that the total Panel Fee collected from all Entities covers AGD’s forecast costs of administering the Panel.

For the purposes of calculating the Panel Fee, external professional legal fees include all external legal services expenditure, excluding: GST, disbursements, counsel, AGS professional fees, professional fees from other government legal services providers, and overseas legal services expenditure. The Entity invoiced by a LSP on the Panel for the legal services will be responsible for the Panel Fee associated with that expenditure.

The Panel Fee in each year will be calculated on the basis of total expenditure on external professional legal fees, and each Entity’s share of the Panel Fee will be calculated based on its such expenditure, as reported to AGD in the most recently reported financial year. The table below sets out the basis for calculation of the Panel Fee:

Government business enterprises and other entities that are exempt from reporting legal services expenditure to the Office of Legal Services Coordination (OLSC) must certify their total external professional legal fee expenditure should they opt-in to the Panel to enable the Panel fee to be calculated.

AGD will invoice Entities each financial year, and entities must pay the Panel fee to AGD within 28 days from the date of issue. If an entity opts-in to use the Panel part way through the year, AGD will charge a pro-rated Panel fee to cover the remaining period of the financial year.

AGD is considered to be making a taxable supply to entities that will pay the Panel fee otherwise than from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and accordingly a GST component may be included.

The Panel Fee will not be charged to an Entity if the Panel Fee for that Entity is calculated to be less than $500.