Western Australia raises Magistrates Court criminal costs by 14 to 16 per cent

The Legal Costs Committee has raised the maximum hourly and daily rates payable for criminal work in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia by generally 14 to 16 per cent, under the Legal Profession (Magistrates Court) (Criminal) Determination 2026. The determination was made under section 133 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2022 and comes into operation on 21 September 2026. It is published in the Government Gazette, WA, No. 119 of 21 September 2026, at pages 1927 to 1931.

The instrument replaces the rates used in the Legal Profession (Magistrates Court) (Criminal) Determination 2024 and applies to the remuneration of fee earners for advice given by legal practitioners in, or for the purposes of, criminal proceedings in the Magistrates Court. It does not apply to costs incurred for work carried out before commencement. The committee said the increases were justified by rising costs of practice, citing inflationary pressures, legal resource subscriptions, technology and cyber security investment, staff skills, and regulatory and compliance costs including integrity obligations affecting legal services from 1 July 2026.

New maximum hourly and daily rates

The increases in Table A are not uniform but were calculated generally in the range of 14 to 16 per cent, with rounding so that each amount is divisible by 11 under the committee’s long-standing policy. The maximum hourly rate for Counsel other than Senior Counsel has been aligned with the Senior Practitioner rate, a change the committee said simplifies the determination and better reflects contemporary litigation practice.

• Senior Practitioner (five years or more on own account): $561 per hour
• Junior Practitioner (less than five years): $440 per hour
• Restricted Practitioner: $319 per hour
• Clerk/Paralegal: $220 per hour
• Counsel: $561 per hour, $5,610 per day
• Senior Counsel: $715 per hour, $7,150 per day

Daily rates cover all work on a hearing or trial day, in or out of court, including preparation of written submissions, and are capped at 10 hours per day. Travel other than minor travel may be charged at no more than half the Table A rates, to a maximum of eight hours in any one day.

Disbursements allowed for the first time

The committee noted that the 2024 determination contained no allowance for disbursements and decided it was appropriate to include one both as between a law practice and client and as between party and party. Under item 8 of Table B, a law practice may charge and be allowed disbursements it incurs unless they are unreasonable in amount or unreasonably incurred, so that it is fully reimbursed; a party may likewise be allowed disbursements necessarily or reasonably incurred.

What the scale allows in practice

Table B, the Magistrates Court Criminal Scale of Costs 2026, sets maximum amounts for individual items, which the committee stressed are not minimum charges:

• Adjournments: one hour at the Senior Practitioner rate, $561
• Bail application for serious offences: 3.5 hours, $1,964; variation of bail conditions: 1.5 hours, $842
• Directions hearing including preparation: four hours, $2,244
• Preparation and half-day trial including Counsel fee: $11,979; second half day: $1,408; each successive day: $5,610
• Other appearances, including remand, mentions and callovers: three hours, $1,683
• Short plea in mitigation: three hours at the Restricted Practitioner rate, $957; long plea: four hours at the Senior Counsel rate, $2,860
• Copying: $0.22 per page

The determination was made by the committee on 31 August 2026 and signed by David Bayly SC as Chair, Craig McKie as Deputy Chair, and members Greg Rickie, Annette Morgan, Carolyn Meighan and Anne Peachey. Before making it, the committee reviewed submissions from The Law Society of Western Australia (Inc), the Australian Lawyers Alliance, the Bar Association of Western Australia, private practitioners and costs consultants, considered a Law Society seminar held on 24 March 2026, examined Australian Bureau of Statistics consumer and wage price index data since 1 July 2024, and held meetings on eleven occasions since 1 July 2024.

The change affects every law practice billing criminal work in the Magistrates Court and every accused person facing summary charges in Western Australia, setting the ceiling for both lawyer-client charges and party-party recovery from 21 September 2026.

Source: Government Gazette, WA, No. 119, 21 September 2026, section I, p. 1927 (official reference: Legal Profession (Magistrates Court) (Criminal) Determination 2026).