Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund (ECCCF) 2021–22

Overview

The Australian Government is inviting legal aid commissions to apply for grant funding under the Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund (ECCCF) 2021–22 program. The objective of the program is to provide funding to support legal aid commissions (LACs) with costs incurred defending clients in: serious, high cost, Commonwealth criminal matters (such as drug importation, people smuggling, terrorism, fraud and slavery) Commonwealth post-sentence orders (such as control orders and continuing detention orders). The intended outcomes of the program are to ensure: LACs have sufficient resources to provide an adequate legal defence for people who cannot afford private legal representation where they have been charged with serious Commonwealth criminal offences or are subject to an application for a post-sentence order LACs do not need to reallocate funding away from other Commonwealth service priorities, such as family law matters, to meet the cost of expensive Commonwealth criminal law matters Serious Commonwealth criminal law proceedings are prevented from being adjourned, postponed, or stayed in accordance with the principle established by the High Court’s decision in Dietrich v The Queen (1992) 177 CLR 292 due to a lack of legal representation for an indigent accused Commonwealth post-sentence order matters are prevented from being adjourned or stayed, and/or the defence of an indigent in Commonwealth post-sentence order matters is cost-effective for the Commonwealth.