The Legal Services Division of Services Australia (the Legal Team) is a full-service government in-house legal team supporting Services Australia to deliver essential national government services such as social security, Medicare and child support payments. We also provide legal advice to the Chief Executive Officer and the Senior Management team.
The Legal Team consists of a Chief Counsel, five General Counsel and 90 dedicated lawyers and legal operational staff, based around Australia, providing solution focused legal advice in a fast-paced operational environment that services millions of Australians.
This has never been more apparent than in 2020-21, as Services Australia continued to provide essential support to Australians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Legal Team has worked tirelessly to support Services Australia to assist Australians throughout the pandemic.
Our legal advice and assurance has contributed to the agency’s ability to process a record numbers of COVID-19 related claims, an achievement that Prime Minister Scott Morrison characterised as a “Herculean effort”. In July 2021, Minister Linda Reynolds also acknowledged this work, commenting that “at every stage of the pandemic, Services Australia has worked around the clock to support Australians.”