Preferred supplier newsletter – June 2025
Stay up to date with the latest news and information for law firms that provide legal aid services.
In this issue:
Grants Online unavailable – 6pm Monday 30 June to 9am Tuesday 1 July
Grants Online will be unavailable from 6pm Monday 30 June to 9am Tuesday 1 July while IT Services carry out end of financial year updates.
Please do not try to log in during this time.
A notice will be posted on the For Lawyers page once the system is back online.
Meet the team at Carswell and Company
Samantha Mackay from Carswell & Company
During Law Week 2025, LAQ shone a spotlight on Carswell & Company Solicitors in Maryborough on the Fraser Coast.
Samantha Mackay, Principal Solicitor (pictured), told us the firm started doing legal aid work in the community to ensure as many people as possible have access to legal assistance.
Samantha joined Carswell & Company Solicitors’ Maryborough office in February 2004. Sam initially worked in administrative support roles such as a clerk, secretary, and conveyancing paralegal.
She then completed her Bachelor of Laws at the University of Southern Queensland and received her Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from Bond University. Sam was admitted as a solicitor in July 2013 and became the principal of Carswell and Company, Maryborough, in July 2019.
Sam practices in the areas of family law, estate planning and commercial litigation matters and has been providing legal aid services for 12 years.
While Sam describes the legal practice as “something I fell into”, she finds it very rewarding.
“Legal Aid is about ensuring all have access to legal assistance. Not everyone can afford legal services and especially at times when they are at their most vulnerable,” she said.
“Legal Aid gives you an opportunity to be a part of the community. It can be difficult work that needs to be managed correctly but very worthwhile.”
From LAQ’s perspective, we value our long term partnership with Carswell & Company Solicitors, Maryborough, and thank them for their contribution towards ensuring all Queenslanders have access to justice.
Whether you are new to LAQ or an established preferred supplier, we would love to feature your firm in our newsletter or social media. To register your interest, please email partner.engagement@legalaid.qld.gov.au.
District Court Sexual Violence Case Management Pilot in Brisbane and Ipswich
In response to the recent practice direction regarding sexual violence case management and the pilot underway, we have created an additional grant of aid for practitioners to meet their additional case management requirements.
The additional grant of aid applies to all sexual violence offence proceedings in the District Court which are part of the Sexual Violence Case Management Pilot in Brisbane or Ipswich.
The new grant of aid for the pilot, SVDC, is available once the matter has been listed on the District Court Sexual Violence Case Management list. This grant of aid includes:
- the completion of the Case review hearing form and Trial readiness form
- the appearance of solicitor at the case review hearing
- the appearance of solicitor and counsel at the mediated case conference.
The grant of aid is a maximum fee grant which allows $525 for solicitors and $420 for barristers.
In addition to the new grant of aid created for the pilot, the following grants are also available:
- CG - District Court examine depositions, conference and negotiation (available as soon as a matter is committed from the Magistrates Court)
- CPTD – District Court day one of a pre-trial/pre-record hearing (available when the matter is listed for a pre-trial or pre-record hearing)
- CY - District Court day one of trial (available as soon as signed instructions to go to trial are obtained)
- CY1 - District Court additional days of trial or pre-trial hearing.
Mentions, negotiations, and group conferences can also be claimed under the CG grant of aid.
Additional preparation fees may also be available where the matter is complex. For further information, please refer to the Grants Handbook page for extraordinary and expensive case grants.
Further information about LAQ’s response to the practice direction for sexual violence case management can be found on LAQ’s website.
Cybersecurity – a shared responsibility
We are committed to maintaining strong cybersecurity across all LAQ systems, including the valuable interactions we have with partner law firms. Given the cyberattacks reported by partner law firms recently and the potential impacts to clients, we ask that firms affected immediately notify the Business Partnerships team: psupp.coordinator@legalaid.qld.gov.au and LAQ IT team: it.servicedesk@legalaid.qld.gov.au for further assistance.
We ask all suppliers to remain vigilant and mindful when accessing LAQ systems and data. Good cybersecurity starts with awareness. Simple actions like using strong passwords and reporting anything suspicious help us all stay protected.
Through our Cybersecurity Uplift project, we are exploring opportunities to support our network through upcoming cybersecurity webinars aimed at strengthening knowledge and confidence in this space.
The Queensland Law Society has developed a printable checklist for law firms subjected to a cyber incident.
The Queensland Law Society also provides resources to help your firm plan and address cybersecurity-related issues. Here are some helpful links, organised by topic:
Action
- I have an active or suspected incident
- Cybersecurity First Response Checklist
- QLS support with Cyber Essentials Insurance
Prevention
- QLS Guide: Cybersecurity risk assessment tool for small firms
- Cybersecurity for WFH
Articles
- Cybersecurity basics: Passwords
- Do password policies reduce data loss?
- Password policy template
- Verification of client identity
You may also like to check out the small business cybersecurity guide. Thank you for partnering with us to keep our systems secure and client information safe.
Protected counselling correspondence applications (Counselling Notes Protect)
If your firm has received notice from the ODPP of a likely protected counselling correspondence (PCC) application, a grant of legal assistance is available for the proceeding. The appearance at an early court mention of the matter depends on the timing of the notification from the ODPP of a PCC application and the timeliness of lodging a funding request for legal aid.
Grants of legal assistance are available to clients for representation at domestic violence and criminal law proceedings for protected counselling notes matters. Please refer to the Grants Handbook for further information.
Note: PCC matters will be allocated to LAQ’s in-house practice or Women’s Legal Service (WLS) in the first instance. If the in-house practice or WLS is unable to represent the applicant due to a conflict, lack of capacity, or the applicant is located a distance away, matters will be referred to practitioners on the Counselling Notes Protect panel. If your firm would like to be on this panel, please email counsellingnotes.protectservice@legalaid.qld.gov.au for further information.
Visit the practice direction webpage to stay up to date with all the guidelines issued by judges in Queensland courts.
Counselling Notes Protect decisions database materials
This month we are featuring LAQ’s Counselling Notes Protect decisions database to help you with your legal research.
The database contains decisions about disclosure of confidential counselling notes.
For guidance using the database, refer to our new tip sheet and video tutorial demonstrating how to get relevant results from your search. Both resources have been developed by our library team to make it easier for your firm to research case law.
The resources and database are also available through Grants Online. You will find them under the Information Resources tab. Need assistance? Contact the library at library@legalaid.qld.gov.au.
Invoices and end of 2024-25 financial year
As the end of the financial year fast approaches, we want to let you know when you will need to submit your invoices to be paid by 30 June 2025.
LAQ’s last pay run for end of 2024-25 financial year will be on Monday 30 June 2025. We will need to receive your firm’s invoices by Monday 23 June 2025 to be paid on Monday 30 June 2025.
Invoices received between Tuesday 24 June and Thursday 26 June 2025 will be paid in an additional pay run on Thursday 3 July 2025. All other invoices will be paid via our usual pay run on Tuesday 8 July 2025.
If you are submitting duty lawyer invoices for travel, these will need to be received by the following dates:
- Monday 23 June 2025 to be paid by Monday 30 June 2025
- Thursday 26 June 2025 to be paid by Thursday 3 July 2025.
Thanks for your understanding and we look forward to receiving your invoices. If you have any questions about invoicing or payments, you can contact Grants Team 10 via email at grantsteam10@legalaid.qld.gov.au or phone 07 3917 0996.
If you have questions about duty lawyer payments, please email your relevant duty lawyer contact: criminallaw.dutylawyer@legalaid.qld.gov.au or dv.dutylawyer@legalaid.qld.gov.au.
Commonwealth Family Violence and Cross-Examination of Parties Scheme
LAQ has administered the Commonwealth Family Violence and Cross-Examination of Parties Scheme since 2019 on behalf of the Commonwealth Government. Did you know our Grants division has a dedicated Cross-Examination Scheme Grants team?
The scheme provides legal representation for individuals involved in family law proceedings where personal cross-examination is prohibited due to allegations of domestic or family violence.
The Cross-Examination Scheme Grants team is here to help you with your family violence cross-examination scheme questions. They also manage the ongoing funding for these matters, as well as inviting parties to apply to the scheme if personal cross-examination has been banned in their proceedings, and they manage referrals of new cross-examination scheme matters to approved practitioners.
The team operates independently from your assigned Grants team, which remains your primary point of contact for substantive Legal Aid matters.
If you are a practitioner who receives referrals for Cross-Examination Scheme matters and need assistance with scheme-related enquiries, please reach out to the Cross-Examination Scheme Grants team via email: crossexamination.scheme@legalaid.qld.gov.au
In the coming weeks, these firms will receive a quick-reference flyer with direct contact details for the Cross-Exanimation Scheme Grants team.
How we help people navigate child support challenges
Financially disadvantaged Queensland parents can get help from LAQ’s in-house practice to navigate child support arrangements and to prove parentage.
LAQ’s Child Support team provides legal information and advice so people can understand the child support system, their rights, responsibilities and next steps with child support and parentage issues.
Claiming child support from the other parent can be difficult if that person is not named on the child’s birth certificate or has not completed a statutory declaration.
In this case, a DNA test to prove the parent’s identity is the first step to claiming child support and getting the right family tax benefits. It is best for parents to do this as soon as possible because child support payments usually cannot be back dated.
LAQ can help people to legally prove who the other parent is and, where needed, to get a court order to claim child support.
Our lawyers can also help clients with the process of proving paternity, and in some cases represent people in legal proceedings to establish or challenge parentage.
LAQ’s specialist lawyers can also support parents with:
- understanding the child support system
- challenging or changing child support assessments and enforcing payments where needed
- private child support agreements.
If your clients need legal help with these issues, please contact our child support paralegal on (07) 3917 0469. For more information and resources to help with child support and proving paternity visit the Legal Aid Queensland website.
New survey for court services
If you work in the specialist Domestic and family violence Courts, your feedback is being sought about the court reception services, designed in the interest of continual improvement.
The survey is anonymous, has less than 15 questions and is expected to take no more than 15 minutes to complete. Participation is voluntary and by completing and submitting the survey you are giving your consent to participate in the impact review.
You can access the survey here.
If you have any questions about the survey project, please contact: Maaike Wallace, Impact and Strategic Projects Manager, email at maaike@courtnetwork.com.au
LAQ Board meet and greet
L-R: Peter Delibaltas, Senior Executive Director (Legal Practice), LAQ, Christiane Mullins, Acting Regional Manager, ATSILS and Kelly Camden, Senior Executive Director (Corporate Services), LAQ
Thank you to everyone from the justice and legal assistance sectors who joined us at our Board Meet and Greet in Toowoomba in May 2025.
Our board and executive leadership team hold meetings at our regional offices twice a year and take the opportunity to meet with our justice and legal assistance sector colleagues, including many representatives from partner law firms, to discuss issues affecting our clients and how we can improve service delivery in the regional areas of our state. It was also great to catch-up with our hardworking Toowoomba office staff and practitioners and judiciary from the region. We hope to see you at the next event!
CPD and training opportunities
This month we are offering CPDs and specialist training, which are available to LAQ partner law firms. Event details including registration links are sent to the email address nominated by each LAQ partner firm. Please speak to your local team to access LAQ professional development and training emails.
Sessions to book in June
Managing challenging client interactions
Date: Thursday 26 June
Time: 1–2pm
1 CPD point, suggested CPD category is PS
Sessions to book in July
Enhancing practice in Counselling Notes Protect matters: tools, standards and practical support
Date: Thursday 3 July
Time: 3–4pm
1 CPD point, suggested CPD category is PS (self-assessed)
Date: Friday 11 July
Time: 1–2pm
1 CPD point, suggested CPD category is PS (self-assessed)
Navigating the first mention in domestic violence proceedings - preparation, court presence, and post-court care
Date: Friday 4 July
Time: 2–3pm
1 CPD point, suggested CPD category is SL, PLE or PS
Recorded CPD sessions
If you cannot make a session, most CPD sessions are recorded so you can watch them in your own time. You can access recorded CPD sessions via Grants Online under ‘Information Resources’ and then ‘Continuing Professional Development’. Please note, sessions may take up to 3 weeks to appear following the event.