The Australia Office of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES was officially established in the Sydney Central Business District in September 2023. It serves as the firm’s core cross-border professional service platform for the Oceania market and a strategic pillar of its global service expansion. The office’s core team consists of multidisciplinary professionals with deep expertise in both Chinese and Australian legal systems, regulatory frameworks, industrial landscapes and business practices. Backed by a comprehensive local Australian service network and end-to-end execution capabilities, the office operates a seamless service model of “centralised strategic planning by the Chinese headquarters + on-the-ground delivery by the Australian local team”. Focused on the core demands of two-way Sino-Australian cross-border cooperation, it delivers one-stop, full-lifecycle, dual-jurisdiction compliant professional legal services to enterprises, institutions and high-net-worth individuals across both jurisdictions.
This document sets out the official unified fee schedule of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Australia Office for the 2026 financial year. All quoted fees are exclusive of Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is currently levied at a rate of 10% in Australia. Settlement may be made in three freely convertible currencies: Australian Dollar (AUD), Renminbi (CNY) and United States Dollar (USD).
1. Compliant Fee Models of the Australia Office
In strict adherence to the Legal Profession Act, the practice rules and fee guidelines of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Society of New South Wales, and tailored to the cross-border service conventions of Chinese-funded enterprises, we have developed five standardised fee models that fully comply with Australian judicial regulations and international commercial service standards:
1.1 Fixed Fee Arrangement
Applicable to basic legal services with standardised workflows and accurately quantifiable workloads. The total fee is fixed upon contract execution with no subsequent add-on charges, covering standardised matters including the incorporation of commercial entities, basic compliance filings, and the drafting and processing of standard form legal documents.
1.2 Hourly Rate Billing
Applicable to major cross-border investment and M&A projects, complex dispute cases, customised compliance system development and specialised consultancy services. Fees are calculated based on the chargeable working hours of legal practitioners. A detailed timesheet is issued monthly, ensuring full verifiability and traceability throughout the service engagement.
1.3 Transaction Value Percentage Basis
Applicable to pecuniary matters such as cross-border M&A, asset transactions and large-value commercial claims. Tiered fees are charged in proportion to the value of the subject matter, consistent with prevailing industry practice for high-end commercial legal services in Australia.
1.4 Damages-Based Agreement (Risk Retainer)
Permitted within the regulatory framework of Australian legal practice, this model applies exclusively to cross-border debt collection, commercial recovery and tort claim matters. Fees are payable only upon successful recovery of funds or a favourable outcome, with the fee cap set at 25% of the actual amount recovered.
1.5 Annual General Counsel Retainer
Provides enterprises with comprehensive year-round legal support for a fixed annual service fee. A dedicated Chinese-English bilingual service team is assigned, with a 48-hour priority response mechanism, covering full-spectrum compliance management and risk prevention for daily business operations.
2. Hourly Rate Standards for Legal Practitioners at the Australia Office
All practising lawyers at GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Australia Office hold valid practising certificates issued by the relevant Australian legal regulatory authority. The core team is proficient in the legal application rules of both Chinese and Australian jurisdictions and delivers seamless Chinese-English bilingual services. Senior partners hold practising qualifications across multiple Commonwealth jurisdictions and specialise in core practice areas including cross-border investment, international commerce, regulatory compliance and cross-border dispute resolution. A tiered pricing system is in place.
The unified hourly rate range for 2026 is AUD 220 – AUD 700 per hour, covering all levels from junior solicitors, intermediate specialist lawyers, senior partners to cross-border experts based at the Beijing headquarters. The final applicable rate is determined holistically based on case complexity, specialist expertise alignment, project urgency and team configuration.
2.1 Additional Billing Provisions
(a) A travel and fieldwork allowance of 25% to 50% shall be applied to matters handled outside Australia.
(b) A 50% urgency surcharge shall apply to matters requiring 48-hour expedited response or handled on public holidays.
(c) A 20% rate uplift shall apply to cross-border multi-jurisdiction collaborative matters across Oceania.
(d) A 15% rate uplift shall apply to dedicated Chinese-English bilingual court hearing services.
(e) A 10% to 20% rate uplift shall apply to specialised compliance matters involving foreign investment regulation, financial compliance and export control.
3. Specific Fee Schedule for Core Practice Areas
This fee schedule focuses on the core practice areas of the Australia Office, tailored to the essential needs of Chinese-funded enterprises, institutions and high-net-worth individuals seeking to develop in Australia. All services align with the requirements of Australian regulatory bodies including the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), and are fully compliant with the Australian domestic legal system. Details are set out below:
3.1 Full-Process Legal Services for Sino-Australian Cross-Border Investment and M&A: AUD 1,200 – AUD 78,000
(a) Full-process representation for Chinese enterprises investing in Australia, including target screening and legal due diligence, industrial policy assessment, foreign investment compliance screening, investment structure design, transaction document drafting and negotiation, and end-to-end closing management.
(b) Supporting legal services for Australian capital and enterprises investing in China, including market access advisory, joint venture structure design and localised operational compliance support.
(c) Specialised legal services for core sectors of two-way Sino-Australian investment, including mining, energy, agriculture, real estate, technology, healthcare and high-end manufacturing.
(d) Post-investment compliance management, asset operation support, equity restructuring, entity ongoing compliance maintenance, and dedicated services for cross-border enterprise deregistration and liquidation.
(e) Full-process support for Australian tax incentive application and compliance implementation, and cross-border investment foreign exchange compliance services.
3.2 Commercial Compliance and Corporate Operational Legal Services: AUD 3,800 – AUD 65,000
(a) Full-process agency for the incorporation, alteration and deregistration of Australian commercial entities, development of enterprise internal control compliance systems, and full-dimensional compliance building for anti-bribery and anti-fraud.
(b) Interpretation of and dynamic response to Sino-Australian regulatory policies, and specialised services for foreign investment compliance, import and export trade compliance, and data protection and privacy compliance.
(c) Specialised legal services for Sino-Australian cross-border tax compliance management, tax planning, tax risk identification and tax audit response.
(d) Response to Australian government regulatory inspections, reply to regulatory inquiries, and administrative penalty defence and remedy services.
(e) Annual general counsel services for enterprises, including daily legal consultation, legal document review, compliance training and risk emergency plan formulation.
3.3 Cross-Border Wealth Management and Family Succession Legal Services: AUD 900 – AUD 52,000
(a) Specialised legal services for cross-border asset allocation planning, asset holding structure design and risk isolation.
(b) End-to-end services for the establishment, operation and administration of Australian family trusts and the development of family governance frameworks.
(c) Sino-Australian tax resident status planning and cross-border tax holistic compliance services.
(d) Full-process representation for estate planning, cross-border intergenerational wealth succession, and cross-border family disputes and estate inheritance dispute resolution.
(e) Compliance management, risk screening and compliance optimisation services for cross-border assets of high-net-worth individuals.
3.4 Sino-Australian Trade and Cross-Border Supply Chain Legal Services: AUD 5,000 – AUD 75,000
(a) Full-chain compliance review of Sino-Australian import and export trade, and customised drafting and risk management of international trade contracts and supply chain agreements.
(b) Specialist advisory on Australian customs compliance, import and export control and tariff planning, as well as trade barrier response and compliance handling.
(c) Cross-border trade qualification processing, cross-border supply chain structure design, customs clearance compliance support, and cross-border settlement and foreign exchange compliance advisory.
(d) Supporting legal services for Sino-Australian bilateral industrial and commercial resource matching, as well as pre-litigation mediation of trade disputes, contract breach handling and full-process non-litigation dispute resolution services.
(e) Compliance operation of cross-border e-commerce platforms in Australia, and specialised services for merchant onboarding, product compliance and consumer rights protection.
3.5 Cross-Border Status Planning and Settlement Support Legal Services: AUD 300 – AUD 22,000
(a) Full-process representation for all categories of Australian visa applications, including scheme customisation, document preparation and application follow-up for business investment visas, skilled migration visas, family reunion visas and student visas.
(b) Compliance review of real estate purchase and leasing for foreign nationals in Australia, and legal risk management of asset transactions.
(c) Settlement support legal services for relocation to Australia, including property purchase compliance advisory and legal support related to children’s education planning.
(d) Specialist representation for visa renewal, variation and appeal, as well as immigration regulatory compliance risk identification and response.
(e) Full-process compliance representation services for cross-border business travel and long-term residence status applications.
3.6 Brand Overseas Expansion and Intellectual Property Protection Legal Services: AUD 280 – AUD 32,000
(a) Full-chain compliance services for Chinese brands expanding into the Australian and Oceania markets, including market entry strategy development and localised operational compliance support.
(b) Full-process agency for the registration, renewal and alteration of Australian trademarks, patents, designs and copyrights across all jurisdictions.
(c) Intellectual property infringement investigation, cross-border evidence collection, and full-case representation for Australian administrative complaints and judicial enforcement.
(d) Drafting and review of cross-border intellectual property licensing and assignment agreements, and technical cooperation compliance risk management.
(e) Specialist services for intellectual property portfolio development for tech innovation enterprises and intellectual property risk control system building for overseas brands.
3.7 Cross-Border Dispute Resolution and International Award Enforcement Legal Services: AUD 1,500 – AUD 480,000
(a) Full-process representation for mediation and negotiation of Sino-Australian cross-border commercial contract disputes, investment disputes and civil and commercial disputes.
(b) Full-process litigation representation in Australian federal and state courts, and full-case services for international arbitration matters.
(c) Cross-border recognition and enforcement of Sino-Australian court judgments and arbitral awards, and dedicated services for cross-border property preservation.
(d) Cross-border debt collection, arrears recovery, and full-process representation for Australian local enforcement proceedings.
(e) Handling of administrative disputes and commercial tort disputes, as well as cross-border criminal compliance review and supporting legal services.
Special Note: For major cross-border economic crimes, transnational financial violations and serious criminal matters, there is no fixed upper fee limit. Quotations are customised based on case complexity, scale of cross-border collaboration and evidence collection costs.
3.8 Personal Cross-Border Family and Commercial Compliance Legal Services: AUD 800 – AUD 4,800
(a) Legal advisory and compliance representation related to personal business visas and long-term residence visas.
(b) Legal document review and compliance review related to the purchase and leasing of Australian real estate.
(c) Legal advisory and dispute resolution representation for cross-border family disputes, estate inheritance and property division.
(d) Personal cross-border commercial compliance advisory, and legal risk screening and compliance recommendations for cross-border asset allocation.
(e) Specialist legal advisory services related to personal tax compliance and foreign exchange compliance.
4. Key Factors Influencing Legal Fees
4.1 Cross-border compliance complexity: Fees shall be uplifted in line with the difficulty of matters involving dual Sino-Australian jurisdiction application, cross-border evidence collection and multi-party cross-jurisdiction collaboration.
4.2 Industry specialist barriers: Fees for highly specialised sectors such as mining and energy, foreign investment, financial regulation and intellectual property are higher than those for basic civil and commercial legal services.
4.3 Case handling difficulty: Fees for major litigation and arbitration, complex cross-border enforcement and dedicated regulatory response matters shall be adjusted dynamically based on actual circumstances.
4.4 Service urgency: Expedited service initiation and case handling on public holidays are subject to a mandatory urgency surcharge with no room for negotiation.
4.5 Cooperation procurement model: Compared with single-service engagement, the overall cost of packaged annual general counsel retainers is 15% to 25% lower.
4.6 Service team configuration: Fees shall be adjusted accordingly for matters handled jointly by multiple specialists, with headquarters cross-border collaboration and dedicated Chinese-English bilingual team support.
4.7 Case performance risk: The fee ratio for damages-based agreements is directly correlated with the likelihood of success, difficulty of fund recovery and service duration.
5. Third-Party Fees to Be Budgeted Separately
The following fees are separate from legal service fees and shall be reimbursed at actual cost in accordance with official Australian standards or actual disbursements. Our firm does not charge any handling premium for these items.
5.1 Government fees: Official charges levied by Australian authorities, including commercial entity registration fees, visa application fees, court filing fees, arbitration fees, intellectual property official fees and licence registration fees.
5.2 Notarisation and certification fees: Local Australian notarisation and apostille services; Sino-Australian consular certification fees are settled in accordance with official standards on an actual-cost basis.
5.3 Professional translation fees: Chinese-English translation of legal documents and simultaneous interpretation for court hearings, charged per assignment or per word in line with Australian industry standards.
5.4 Expert service fees: Fees for judicial appraisal, industry expert consultation and third-party due diligence providers, settled at actual expenditure.
5.5 Field travel expenses: Transportation, accommodation and fieldwork allowances for case handling within and outside Australia, reimbursed against valid receipts.
5.6 Financial charges: Bank fees arising from cross-border remittances and currency conversion shall be borne by the instructing party.
5.7 Other third-party fees: Fees charged by professional institutions for services such as auditing, valuation and compliance testing, settled at actual entrusted expenditure.
6. Important Notice
All fee standards set out in this document are official benchmark reference prices for 2026 and do not constitute a binding service offer. The final fee for all legal services shall be specified in the written retainer agreement signed by both parties, determined based on the client’s specific requirements, the actual circumstances of the matter, the scope of services and the complexity of the project.