Table of contents
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Table of contents
- 1 – Introduction
- 2 – Types of matters that may be assisted
- 3 – Criminal law guidelines
- 4 – Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
- 5 – Commonwealth civil law guidelines
- 6 – State family guidelines
- 7 – State civil law guidelines
- 8 – Standard grants assessment process
- 9 – Simplified grants assessment process
- 10 – Referral and practitioner panels
- 11 – Means test
- 12 – Commonwealth merits test
- 13 – State reasonableness test and interests of justice test
- 14 – Special circumstances
- 15 – Applying for a grant of legal assistance
- 16 – Decision to grant or refuse assistance
- 17 – Reconsideration and review of decisions
- 18 – Standard terms and conditions
- 19 – Contributions and overdue payments
- 20 – Abandoning legal assistance
- 21 – Finalising grants of legal assistance
- 22 – Allocation of work to lawyers and law firms
- 23 – Payments to lawyers and service providers
- 24 – Compliance reviews
- 25 – Privacy protection
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26 – Complaints and feedback
- Complaints and feedback about VLA services, staff and private lawyers funded by VLA
- Complaints about VLA’s compliance with the Legal Aid Act
- Topic index
- Invoices, worksheets and forms
- Contact us
Complaints and feedback about VLA services, staff and private lawyers funded by VLA
Contact the Client Relations Officer
If anyone has any complaints or feedback about a VLA service, a VLA staff member (including an in-house lawyer) or a private lawyer who is funded by VLA, then they may contact VLA’s Client Relations Officer:
- by email: clientcomplaint@vla.vic.gov.au
- by phone: 03 9269 0234 or 1800 677 402 (toll free for country callers)
- by fax: 03 9269 0250
- in writing:
The Client Relations Officer
Victoria Legal Aid
GPO Box 4380
Melbourne Vic 3001
The Client Relations Officer will record the complaint or feedback.
For complaints about breaches of privacy see Privacy complaints.
Feedback
If the person is lodging feedback (that is, comments which do not require any resolution), then the Client Relations Officer will pass it on to the relevant person in VLA.
Complaints
If the person is lodging a complaint, then the Clients Relations Officer will discuss with the person how the complaint may be resolved. Then, depending on the nature of the complaint and what the person wants to do, the Client Relations Officer will do one of the following:
- investigate and help resolve the complaint immediately, if possible
- if the complaint is connected to a grant of legal assistance – refer the complaint to the relevant person in VLA's Grants Assessment Unit for action in accordance with the Legal Aid Act 1978
- refer the complaint to the relevant VLA manager or other staff to resolve
- refer the person to another appropriate organisation for action (for example, the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner).
Complaints about the professional conduct of a lawyer
If the person’s complaint is about the professional conduct of a VLA in-house lawyer or of a private lawyer funded by VLA, then the Client Relations Officer may refer the person to the professional standards body at:
Information about the complaints-handling and disciplinary processes of these professional organisations is available on their respective websites.
What will happen next?
If VLA investigates the complaint, then VLA will write to the person who complains to tell them the results of the investigation, as far as possible. However, because of the confidentiality provisions of the Legal Aid Act, VLA may not be able to give the person any details of the investigation if it relates to a grant of legal assistance provided to another person.
If a complaint is about a private lawyer who is with a law firm which is a member of VLA’s Section 29A Practitioner Panel or Section 30 Referral Panel and, after investigation, the complaint is found to be valid, then VLA may remove or suspend that lawyer from the relevant panel.
If a complaint reveals a problem in any of VLA’s systems, then VLA will attempt to fix the problem so it does not happen again.
If the Client Relations Officer has referred a complaint to another appropriate organisation, then the Client Relations Officer will tell the person who is complaining. It is then up to the other organisation to resolve the matter and to keep in contact with the person.
What if the person complaining is still not satisfied?
If the person who complains to VLA is not satisfied with how VLA has dealt with their complaint, then they may write to the Client Relations Officer within 21 days of receiving VLA’s letter requesting a review of the complaint and how VLA attempted to resolve it.
The Client Relations Officer will refer the request to the appropriate VLA manager. The VLA manager will then review the complaint and advise the person of the outcome in writing.