Auditor General
Dr Caralee McLiesh PSM
Australian National Audit Office
GPO Box 707
Canberra ACT 2601
AUSTRALIA

23 May 2025

Dear Auditor-General,

Re Federal Court including internal legal services

I write to ask for consideration in the forward work plan of the ANAO for a review of the expenditure and disclosures of the Federal Court.

This request is made in the context of a number of instances of misleading and apparently inconsistent information provided by the Federal Court. I’ve most recently experienced this in the context of internal legal services expenditure by the Court.

In a previous round of Senate Estimates I asked the Federal Court of Australia about its internal legal services expenditure for the 2023-24 financial year. The Court had claimed that it spent $0 on internal legal expenses.

Not satisfied with the Court's answer I pressed the Court for a comprehensive response at the most recent round of Senate Estimates and was advised the amount was $706,897. See question AE25-070 - Federal Court: Internal legal services expenditure annexed here. In requesting this I relied on paragraph 12 of the Office of Legal Services Coordination's Guidance Note 8 - reporting on legal services expenditure, the Office of Legal Services Coordination expects that non-corporate Commonwealth entities calculate the full cost of internal legal services.

It appears this was not correct either with the Court's recent update to its website showing that the Federal Court of Australia spent $933,409 on internal legal expenses in the 2023-24 financial year: https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/about/corporate-information/legal-services-expenditure

Formal responses have not been provided to the Senate in response to the questions put during budget estimates 2025-26, but it would appear that the Court is already conceding that the Senate was mislead with the $708K figure. I annex a copy of the last question here, it is Portfolio question number: BE25-034

I have received advice informally from some in the agency that the $933,000 figure falls well below the actual amount spent.

This may seem a relatively marginal matter but it follows a pattern across agencies who consistently claim they are unable to account for their internal and external legal costs thereby significantly reducing public scrutiny of these costs. Clearly any reasonable accounting system in a Government agency should be able to provide an accurate snapshot of these costs.

Internal legal costs can be a particularly useful indicator of issues within an agency, including staffing disputes, and ensuring there is accurate reporting is therefore of
real importance.

It is also clearly undesirable for accurate information on a matter like internal legal expenditure to only be provided in response to extremely detailed and technical questions. This is a real and significant obstacle to reasonable access to information and sets an poor example for other agencies. The Federal Court failing to properly disclose its internal legal expenses raises concerns with transparency in an agency that is responsible for ensuring open and just decisions including in appeals under FOI and similar accountability legislation.

The Office of the Auditor General uniquely has the power to investigate this matter and through that provide much needed transparency and accountability for the expenditure of public funds.

I am of course available to discuss this matter further.

Kind regards,

David Shoebridge
Greens Senator and Justice Spokesperson