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Federal legal spend hits half billion mark
The Attorney-General's Department has this week revealed that the Federal Government spent $555 million on lawyers in the 2008-09 financial year. The revelation follows Senate Estimates hearings…
Lawyers Weekly
The Attorney-General's Department has this week revealed that the Federal Government spent $555 million on lawyers in the 2008-09 financial year.
According to Barnett, the total legal spend included $308 million on external lawyers, and $247 million on in-house legal advice.
He said in a statement released today that the figure amounted to "reckless spending", despite indications from the Attorney-General Robert McClelland earlier this year that Commonwealth agencies should do more to control their legal expenses.
The Senate Estimates hearing found that the largest legal spend came from the Australian Tax office at $75.6 million, followed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on $70.8 million.
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