VCAT Fees 2026: Application Fees by Claim Amount, the Corporate Rate and Fee Relief in Victoria

The VCAT application fee for a goods and services claim of up to $15,000 is $67.40 at the standard rate, as at 1 July 2026. Above $15,000 it rises to $222.80. Businesses with a turnover of $300,000 or more pay the corporate rate, which is roughly three times the standard fee, and holders of a Health Care Card, Pensioner Concession Card or DVA Gold Card pay nothing to lodge. Hearing and mediation fees can come on top. If you are about to apply, Claim Done’s Tribunal Application drafts the claim from your evidence for a flat A$97, and you lodge it yourself through myVCAT.

Every figure below comes from VCAT’s own pages, retrieved on 27 September 2026. Fees change every 1 July, so check the live table on VCAT’s goods and services application page before you pay.

The fee table, as at 1 July 2026

These are the application fees for disputes under the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012, the Act that covers consumer and trader disputes in Victoria.

Source: VCAT, apply for a goods and services dispute, fee from 1 July 2026 as labelled on the page.

One oddity is worth knowing about. The same table carries a second column headed “Fee from 27 June 2026”, with slightly lower amounts: $65.60 and $216.80 at the standard rate, $196.70 and $655.60 at the corporate rate. VCAT’s page does not explain what that column is for. Writing in late September 2026, we would budget on the 1 July figures. The gap is small anyway, $1.80 on a small claim and $6 on a larger one.

Fees are set by the Victorian Government under the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Fees) Regulations 2026, and VCAT’s fees page says they are updated on 1 July each year. An article that quotes last year’s number is simply wrong now.

Which rate you pay: standard, corporate or concession

The rate depends on who is applying, not on how big the dispute is.

Standard rate. Individuals, sole traders, partnerships, not-for-profits, and businesses with a turnover under $300,000 in the last full financial year.

Corporate rate. Businesses with a turnover of $300,000 or more in the last full financial year. On a claim of $15,000 or less that means $202.10 instead of $67.40. Above $15,000 it is $673.50.

Concession. Holders of an Australian Government Health Care Card, a Commonwealth Pensioner Concession Card or a Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card. For goods and services applications the concession column reads “No fee” in both bands.

A practical point for small businesses: the $300,000 test looks at turnover, not profit, and it looks at the last full financial year. A business whose trading has dropped this year still pays corporate if its last full financial year crossed the line.

Why $15,000 matters more than the fee

$15,000 is the number that changes three things at once, and the fee is the least of them.

First, the fee band. A claim for $15,400 costs $222.80 to lodge at the standard rate, $155.40 more than a claim for $15,000. At the corporate rate the jump is $471.40.

Second, the definition of a small claim. Under section 183 of the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012, a “small claim” is a consumer and trader dispute for money or work not exceeding $15,000. That is usually what people mean by the small claims tribunal in Victoria: VCAT hearing a consumer and trader claim of that size.

Third, representation. VCAT’s page on legal and professional representation says that if your claim is about goods and services and is under $15,000, you generally can’t have a lawyer or other professional representative. Both sides run their own case. For most applicants that is the whole appeal of VCAT: the fee is modest and neither side can usually bring in a paid advocate.

On the monetary limit question: VCAT’s goods and services pages do not publish an upper cap, and we are not going to invent one. $15,000 is a fee band and a small-claim threshold, not a ceiling. If your claim is large, read VCAT’s page for your case type before you lodge.

Fees on top of the application fee

The application fee opens the file. It is not always the last payment.

VCAT’s fees page says hearing fees and appropriate dispute resolution fees (mediation or a compulsory conference) may also apply, and that they must be paid at least 5 business days before your first hearing day. The amounts are not in the goods and services fee table, so check the fees page for the figure that applies to your case rather than relying on a number from a blog, including this one.

Two other costs sit outside VCAT altogether. Serving the application is your job, and whatever it costs you to serve it is yours to carry. And if you win and the other side still doesn’t pay, enforcement of a money order of $100,000 or less goes through the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, which charges its own fee. Our guide to enforcing a VCAT order sets out that stage.

What does not cost anything is the portal. VCAT says myVCAT is free to use for applicants and respondents in goods and services applications lodged on or after 6 December 2023. Free to use is not the same as fee-free, though: the application fee still applies.

Fee relief if you can’t afford it

VCAT’s fees page lists groups who automatically pay no fees, including people represented by Victoria Legal Aid or a community legal centre and people under 18. Everyone else who is experiencing financial hardship can apply to have fees waived, reduced, or paid later. That is a separate application, and the fees page explains how to make it.

Concession card holders do not need fee relief for the application itself, because the goods and services concession fee is already nil. Where relief comes in is for people in hardship who hold none of the three cards, and for any hearing or dispute resolution fees that apply to your case.

Who serves the application, and what the fee does not buy

Paying the fee does not mean VCAT will hand your claim to the other side. VCAT’s practice note PNCCL1 (effective 27 June 2026) is blunt: “It is the responsibility of the applicant to serve their application on each respondent with all the supporting documents that were filed with the Tribunal.” At the hearing, the applicant gives the Member a signed declaration of service. VCAT separately sends the respondent a notice, but the service itself is yours.

The fee also does not buy speed. VCAT’s apply page says to expect to wait about 52 weeks from applying to mediation or hearing. Two VCAT pages disagree on when the first timetable order arrives: about 16 weeks after VCAT accepts the application on one page, and about 20 weeks after it receives it on the after-you-apply page. Plan for the longer figure. Our guide on what happens after a VCAT application is lodged walks through that timetable.

The time limit is the other thing to keep in view. VCAT says you generally must apply within six years of the dispute.

Civil Claims List or Consumer and Business Disputes?

You will see two names for the same kind of case, and both are official. VCAT’s goods and services pages still say these disputes are heard in the Civil Claims List. Practice note PNCCL1, however, says that from 1 February 2026 new practice areas replaced the former lists, and it calls this one the Consumer and Business Disputes practice area. The current version of that practice note took effect on 27 June 2026 and replaced the version issued on 1 February 2026.

Nothing changes for your fee. The goods and services fee table is the one that applies whichever name you use, and the application form is the same goods and services form in myVCAT. If you are working out which tribunal you need in the first place, our comparison of QCAT, NCAT and VCAT covers the other states.

What the whole claim costs, and where Claim Done fits

Here is the arithmetic for a standard-rate applicant with a claim of $15,000 or less. VCAT’s application fee is $67.40. Claim Done’s Tribunal Application is A$97. Together that is $164.40 before any hearing or mediation fee. If you send a Letter of Demand first (A$49), the total is $213.40. If the letter gets you paid, you never spend the other $164.40.

The Tribunal Application is built from what you tell us: the invoice or contract, the messages, the photos, the timeline. Claim Done’s document engine turns that into a clear statement of what the dispute is about and what you want VCAT to order. You review and approve it before you use it. Then you lodge it through myVCAT, pay VCAT’s fee, and serve it on each respondent yourself. Claim Done is not a law firm, does not lodge anything with VCAT and does not serve documents.

If you are on the other side of a claim, the VCAT respondent guide covers your options, and the step-by-step VCAT application guide covers the lodging itself.

Your next step: start your Tribunal Application on Claim Done. Answer the questions, tell us what evidence you have, and review the draft. Once you approve it, it is sent to you by email and you lodge it through myVCAT. Every service and price is on the pricing page.

Related guides: how to serve a VCAT application and complete the declaration of service; and how to write VCAT Points of Claim.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the VCAT application fee in 2026?

As at 1 July 2026, a goods and services application for $15,000 or less (or not for a sum of money) costs $67.40 at the standard rate and $202.10 at the corporate rate. Above $15,000, or where the sum is not specified, it is $222.80 standard and $673.50 corporate. Fees are updated every 1 July, so confirm the current figure on VCAT's goods and services application page before you pay.

Is VCAT free for concession card holders?

For goods and services applications, yes: VCAT's fee table shows 'No fee' in the concession column for both claim bands. The concession rate applies to holders of an Australian Government Health Care Card, a Commonwealth Pensioner Concession Card or a Department of Veterans' Affairs Gold Card. Hearing and dispute resolution fees are listed separately on VCAT's fees page.

What is a small claim at VCAT?

Under section 183 of the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012 (Victoria), a small claim is a consumer and trader dispute for money or work not exceeding $15,000. The same $15,000 figure is where VCAT's application fee steps up and where the usual rule against lawyers in goods and services claims applies.

Can I have a lawyer at VCAT for a claim under $15,000?

Generally not. VCAT says that if your claim is about goods and services and is under $15,000, you generally can't have a lawyer or other professional representative. Both parties usually present their own case.

Does VCAT send my application to the other party?

No. VCAT's practice note PNCCL1 says it is the applicant's responsibility to serve the application, with all supporting documents, on each respondent, and to hand the Member a signed declaration of service at the hearing. VCAT separately sends the respondent a notice, but serving the application is your job.