VLA Handbook for lawyers

The VLA Handbook for lawyers sets out how apply for a grant of legal assistance and the guidelines and conditions of receiving a grant. It also explains the payment structure for private lawyers who perform legal aid work.

This version includes:

• changes to the family law guidelines on 1 November 2011
• the 10 per cent fee increase for all private practitioner fees and disbursements on 1 October 2011.

Archived versions

For versions of the Handbook prior to these changes see Archived versions of the Handbook.

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Applying for a grant of legal assistance

• Application form – standard grants process
• Application form – simplified grants process
• Special circumstances
• Applying for a grant of legal assistance
• Privacy protection

Application assessment process

• Means test
• Standard grants assessment process
• Simplified grants assessment process
• Commonwealth merits test
• Reconsideration and review of decisions
• Decision to grant or refuse assistance
• State reasonableness test and interests of justice test

Existing grants of legal assistance

• Finalising grants of legal assistance
• Standard terms and conditions
• Compliance reviews
• Abandoning legal assistance
• Complaints and feedback
• Privacy protection
• Contributions and overdue payments
• Financial statement

Civil law

• Civil law tax invoices
• Civil law worksheets and checklists
• Costs payable in civil law matters
• State civil law guidelines
• Commonwealth civil law guidelines

Criminal law

• Costs payable in criminal law matters
• Criminal law tax invoices
• Criminal law guidelines
• Criminal law worksheets and checklists

Family law (Commonwealth)

• Family law worksheets and checklists
• Costs payable in Commonwealth family law matters
• Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
• Family law tax invoices
• Roundtable Dispute Management

Family matters (State)

• Costs payable in State family matters
• Children's Court (Family Division) proceedings – table A2 tax invoice
• State family guidelines
• Children's Court (Family Division) worksheets and checklists

Practitioners

• Roundtable Dispute Management
• Payments to lawyers and service providers
• Section 29A panel practitioner manual
• Allocation of work to lawyers and law firms
• Finalising grants of legal assistance
• Compliance reviews
• Referral and practitioner panels
• Complaints and feedback
• Invoices, worksheets and forms

  ATLAS+ online grants management  

See the VLA website for more about ATLAS+, including:

• training and help desk support
• key contacts
• easy quick start and system administrator guides.

 Go to ATLAS+      

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