New South Wales Consolidated Acts

VICTIMS SUPPORT AND REHABILITATION ACT 1996 - SECT 35

35 Costs of applications for compensation and proceedings before Tribunal

(1) The Tribunal or a compensation assessor may award an applicant for statutory compensation his or her costs in respect of the application (whether or not proceedings are taken before the Tribunal on appeal or otherwise) in accordance with such scale of costs as may be prescribed by the rules.

(2) An applicant may, if the Tribunal or a compensation assessor so directs, be awarded costs under this section even if the application for compensation is dismissed.

(3) The Tribunal or a compensation assessor may award an applicant costs in excess of the maximum amount provided for in the scale of costs referred to in subsection (1) if of the opinion that the special circumstances of the case justify such an award being made.

(3A) The Tribunal or compensation assessor may decline to make an award of costs or may award costs of a lesser amount than the maximum amount provided for in the scale of costs referred to in subsection (1).

(4) Despite any Act or law to the contrary, but subject to any order of the Tribunal or compensation assessor, an Australian legal practitioner is not entitled to charge or recover, by way of costs in respect of an application for statutory compensation or of the proceedings of the Tribunal in respect of such an application, any amount in excess of the amount awarded under this section.

(5) The Tribunal or a compensation assessor may disallow any costs incurred in connection with a medical report prepared for the purpose of an application for statutory compensation or proceedings before the Tribunal. In that case, the Tribunal or Director may cause a complaint to be made to:

(a) the Health Care Complaints Commission, or

(b) any other relevant body concerned with the practice of medicine,

if of the opinion that the fees charged by a medical practitioner in connection with the report are grossly excessive for the services to which they relate.

(6) A provision of any agreement (whether in writing or not and whether entered into before or after the commencement of this section):

(a) under which the operation of subsection (4) is excluded, modified or restricted, or

(b) which has the effect of excluding, modifying or restricting the operation of subsection (4),

is void.

(7) An award of costs under this section may be made payable:

(a) to the applicant, or

(b) to any other person for the benefit of the applicant.

(8) This section does not apply in relation to an application for Victims Assistance except in a case where the application has been determined as an application for Victims Assistance because of the operation of section 29 (1AA).

Note: As a consequence of this subsection, the Tribunal or a compensation assessor does not have any discretion to award costs relating to an application for Victims Assistance except where the application has been determined in accordance with section 29 (1AA).

(9) In any such case, the Tribunal or a compensation assessor may award an applicant his or her costs in respect of the application, and in such amounts as the Tribunal or assessor thinks fit, if the Tribunal or assessor is of the opinion that the special circumstances of the case justify such an award being made.