Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

1. The National Archives of Australia (NAA) has spent $484,628.14 on legal costs arising from appeals against access decisions in the period May 2018 to 10 January 2020.

2. From 1 June 2016 to 10 January 2020 the NAA has spent $682,692.05 on this matter.

3. As the matters mentioned in the answer to Question 2 are still before the Court, the NAA is unable to estimate remaining legal costs in relation to AA1984/609.

4. All expenditure for these matters relate to professional services from the Australian Government Solicitor (AGS). Expenditure covers services such as drafting and reviewing correspondence, research and court attendance.

5. From October 2019, the NAA and the Attorney-General's Department (AGD) agreed to split the legal costs 75/25 relating to the matters raised in question 2. To date, the AGD has incurred costs amounting to $23,105.41 for AGS services. The NAA is unaware of any other legal costs that may have been incurred by any other Commonwealth entity in relation to the Hocking matter.

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