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Appeal Costs under the Independent Legal Assistance and Review Service (ILARS) for workers compensation Court matters

The Independent Review Office (IRO) is implementing a new funding policy applying to grants of ILARS funding for appeals to a Court.  

The IRO funds some appeals from the Personal Injury Commission (Commission) to the Supreme Court of New South Wales including the Court of Appeal and any other relevant superior Court of record. The funding is administered under ILARS. 

The IRO developed the new Appeals Funding Policy:  

  1. In response to a recommendation of the ILARS Review. 
  2. To clarify and formalise some aspects of the ILARS Funding Guidelines (Guidelines) as they apply to such appeals.  
  3. To improve the IRO’s oversight of costs in Court appeal matters.  

The new Appeal Cost Funding Policy can be found here and will come into effect as of 12 August 2024.  

The policy will guide IRO's procedural expectations in relation to appeals funding. These will be reflected formally in the Guidelines in due course and will operate as follows:  

  1. Approved Lawyers, when acting for a worker who has been successful on appeal, are to seek an order for costs to be paid by an insurer.  
  2. Costs payable by IRO will be paid on a time-costing basis.  
  3. Adopt the Attorney-General’s rates for the provision of legal services where costs of an appeal are ultimately paid by IRO. 
  4. Where the amount of work in an appeal is likely to exceed 30 hours Approved Lawyers are required to inform the ILARS grant manager and to provide sufficient information, on an ongoing basis, to assist the grant manager in assessing whether IRO should limit payment of costs at the conclusion of the appeal.  
  5. Approved Lawyers may apply for a complexity uplift on costs payable by IRO. 

If you are a Lawyer seeking a grant funding, or an extension of a grant of funding, in respect of an appeal to a Court, and you have any questions about the policy, please contact the ILARS Principal Lawyer administering your grant of funding.