Legal services expenditure 2013-14

Paragraph 11.1(ba) of the Legal Services Directions 2005 (the Directions) provides:

“The Chief Executive of an FMA Agency is responsible for ensuring that:

…

(ba) the agency’s legal services purchasing, including expenditure, is appropriately recorded and monitored and that by 30 October each year, the agency makes publicly available records of its legal services expenditure for the previous financial year”

This is a statement of legal services expenditure by the Australian Public Service Commission for the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014, published in compliance with paragraph 11.1(ba) of the Directions.

The Commission's total legal services expenditure (internal and external) for 2013-14 was $721315.

The Commission's external legal services expenditure for 2013-14 was $336481 excluding GST.

The Commission's internal legal services expenditure for 2013-14 was $384834 (excluding GST). This expenditure includes the following items:

• indirect salary costs (super, leave entitlements);
• direct overhead (cost of desks, computer, stationery);
• indirect overhead (apportioned rent, electricity, etc); and
• legal unit overhead (specialist software licences, cost of law library).

Explanatory notes

Figures for external legal expenditure are an approximation only given the need to move from a GST inclusive, cash based report to a GST exclusive accruals based report. The figure also includes $78400 in disbursements to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, not previously captured in reports.

The two employees in the Commission’s legal section performed a variety of duties, some legal and some non-legal (such as administration of freedom of information requests). It is not possible to identify separately the time spent by these employees on legal matters. The costs reported above assume they are performing legal roles at all times.