​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 filing fees, 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. However, it is rare for the Court to make this order.

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

    The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia can only make a costs order 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). For this reason, it is a good idea to get legal advice about the strength of your case before you start your case in court.
    • a party did something that was unreasonable (or unreasonably failed to do something) and caused the other side to incur costs. For example, where one party kept unreasonably asking to adjourn (postpone) the 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 your employer pay your costs, you should do this at the time that the Judge tells you that you have won the case. You should prepare an itemised list of your costs and expenses.

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