​ሕግንና ደንብን በተመለከተ እርዳታ ማግኘት ይፈልጋሉን? - Amharic | هل تحتاج لمساعدة قانونية؟ - Arabic | ܤܢܝܼܩܵܐ ܝ݇ܘ̤ܬ ܠܗܲܝܵܪܬܵܐ ܩܵܢܘܿܢܵܝܬܵܐ؟ - Assyrian | Need Legal Help? - Auslan | Treba li vam pravna pomoc? - Bosnian | Burmese â Need Legal Help? | 需要法律帮助吗? - Chinese Simplified | 需要法律幫助嗎? - Chinese Traditional | Trebate li pravnu pomoć? - Croatian | ضرورت به کمک قانونی دارید؟ - Dari | Wïc Kuɔɔny në Wɛ̈t Löŋ? - Dinka | آیا به کمک حقوقی نیاز دارید؟ - Farsi | Gadreva na Veivuke Vakalawa? - Fijian | Kailangan ninyo ba ng tulong na panglegal? - Filipino | Besoin d’aide juridique ? - French | Χρειάζεστε βοήθεια σε νομικά ζητήματα - Greek | क्या आपको कानूनी सलाह चाहिए? - Hindi | Butuhkan Bantuan dalam Masalah Hukum? - Indonesian | Hai bisogno di assistenza legale? - Italian | ត្រូវការជំនួយលើបញ្ហាផ្លូវច្បាប់ឬទេ? - Khmer | 법적인 도움이 필요하십니까? - Korean | Ви треба ли помош со правни работи? - Macedonian | कानूनी सहयोग चाहिएको छ? - Nepalese | Necessita de ajuda com questões jurídicas? - Portuguese | Вам нужна юридическая помощь? - Russian | E Manaomia Fesoasoani i Mea Tau Tulafono? - Samoan | а ли вам треба помоћ у правним питањима? - Serbian | Ma u baahan tahay Caawimmad xagga sharciga ah?- Somali | ¿Necesita ayuda con cuestiones jurídicas? - Spanish | சட்ட உதவி தேவையா? - Tamil | ท่านต้องการความช่วยเหลือทางด้านกฎหมายไหม? - Thai | Fiema’u ha tokoni Fakalao? - Tongan | Yasal Danışmaya İhtiyacınız mı var? - Turkish | Cần Được Giúp Đỡ Về Luật Pháp? - Vietnamese |

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Costs

What are costs?

Costs are:

  • lawyers fees, and
  • the expenses involved in running a case, such as fees for subpoenas, witnesses, and getting copies of records and expert reports.

If someone wins a case, they may ask for an order that the other side pay their costs.

When can the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia order costs?

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia can order costs in general protections cases where:

  • someone went ahead with a case when it was clearly weak and they had no chance of winning (this is called a 'frivolous or vexatious' case)
  • someone did something that was unreasonable (or unreasonably failed to do something) and caused the other side to incur costs. An example of this might be where one party kept asking to postpone (adjourn) the case.

You should get legal advice about the strength of your case. You should also get legal advice if your employer tells you they are going to ask the Court for a costs order.

Applying to be paid your costs

If you want to ask the Court for orders that the employer pay your costs, it is possible to do this at the time that the Judge tells you that you have won the case.

Alert icon  You must apply for a cost order within 28 days of a final order being made in your case. You should contact the Court if you forgot to ask the Judge about costs when they made their decision about your case.

For answers to commonly asked questions, see Going to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia - Frequently Asked Questions.