Crown Proceedings Act 1992

The Attorney-General may represent the Crown in any action, proceeding or matter (whether civil or criminal) in which the Crown is a party.

The Attorney-General may intervene, on behalf of the Crown, in any proceedings—

in which the interpretation or validity of a law of the State or Commonwealth is in question; or

in which—

legislative or executive powers of the State or Commonwealth, or of an instrumentality or agency of the State or Commonwealth are in question; or

judicial powers of a court or tribunal established under the law of the State or Commonwealth are in question; or

in which the Court grants permission to intervene on the ground that the proceedings raise issues of public importance, for the purpose of submitting argument on issues of public importance.

The Attorney-General has the same right of appeal in proceedings in which he or she intervenes under subsection (2) as a party to those proceedings.

Where the Attorney-General intervenes in proceedings under this section, and there are in the opinion of the court special reasons for making an order under this subsection, the court may make an order for costs against the Crown to reimburse the parties to the proceedings for costs occasioned by the intervention.

In this section references to the Attorney-General extend not only to the Attorney-General for this State but also to the Attorney-General for any other State or the Commonwealth and references to the Crown have a correspondingly extended meaning.