The Victorian Health Department clocked up legal fees exceeding $6.25 million during the hotel quarantine inquiry, despite a portion of the advice it received from top tier law firm MinterEllison allegedly falling short of legal professional standards.

The $6.25 million bill is also expected to grow, as only “a small number of invoices” had so far been processed, the Health Department revealed in answers to questions on notice from a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the state government’s COVID-19 response.