Changes to filing and other fees in the Federal Court from 1 July 2015

As a result of amendments to the Federal Court and Federal Circuit Court Regulation 2012 made by the Federal Courts Legislation Amendment (Fees) Regulation 2015 some significant changes to filing and other fees in the Federal Court will take effect from 1 July 2015.


Almost all fees have increased by 10% but, other than for some bankruptcy fees, fee categories have been restructured to remove the higher fee tier for publicly listed companies and to reduce fees for public authorities from the corporations rate to that for "in any other case".
 
An additional exemption has been included so that no fee will in future be payable on filing of an application under section 23 of the International Arbitration Act 1974 to issue a subpoena requiring attendance before or production of documents to an arbitral tribunal or both. If an order for the issue of such a subpoena is made the normal fee for issue of that subpoena will still be payable. Otherwise no changes have been made to any of the existing exemptions.


The new filing fees will apply to all documents filed on or after 1 July 2015. The new setting-down, hearing and mediation fees will, however, only apply to hearings and mediations fixed on or after that date. Hearings and mediations which have already been or are fixed up to and including 30 June 2015 will pay the current rates for setting-down, hearing and mediation fees even if the hearing or mediation does not take place until on or after 1 July 2015.