Paragraph 11.1(ba) of the Legal Services Directions 2017, issued by the Attorney-General under the Judiciary Act 1903, requires Chief Executives of agencies subject to the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 to ensure that their agencies’ legal services purchasing, including expenditure, is appropriately recorded and monitored and that, by 30 October each year, the agency makes publicly available records of the legal services expenditure for the previous financial year.
This obligation was included in the Directions to enhance the transparency of legal services expenditure recording and reporting in line with the findings of the Australian National Audit Office in its report on Legal Services Arrangements in the Australian Public Service (Report No. 52 of 2004-05).