A person who is applying for a grant of legal assistance will come within the Commonwealth’s ‘special circumstances’ if:
- the application is for a criminal offence or offences under Commonwealth law and the person meets one of the State's special circumstances
- in a non-urgent Commonwealth family law matter:
- there is, or is a likelihood of, family violence, especially if an allegation of family violence has been made
- there are concerns as to the safety, welfare and psychological wellbeing of a child have been identified and require further investigation
- the applicant has a language or literacy problem
- the applicant has an intellectual, psychiatric or physical disability
- it is difficult for the applicant to obtain legal assistance because the applicant lives in a remote location
- the child/children are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, as defined under section 4 of the Family Law Act 1975.
Note: the National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services(PDF 540KB) lists the special circumstances under Schedule A.
See also Commonwealth civil law guideline 1.2 for assistance for disadvantaged clients in some types of Commonwealth civil law matters.
Reviewed 21 February 2022
In this section
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- Handbook
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- 3 – Criminal law guidelines
- Guideline 1.1 – ‘not guilty’ plea in the Magistrates’ Court
- Guideline 1.2 – ‘guilty’ plea in the Magistrates’ Court
- Guideline 1.3 – Assessment and Referral Court List matters
- Guidelines 1.4 and 1.5 – social security prosecutions
- Guideline 2 – traffic offence charges in the Magistrates’ Court
- Guideline 4.1 – County Court and Supreme Court pleas
- Guideline 5.1 – proceedings in the Criminal Division of the Children’s Court
- Guideline 6 – bail applications in the Children's, Magistrates’, County and Supreme courts
- Guideline 7.1 – criminal appeals to the County Court
- Guideline 7.2 – interlocutory appeals to the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.3 – appeals to the High Court
- Guideline 7.4 – leave to appeal against sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.5 – appeal against sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.6 – leave to appeal against conviction/conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.7 – appeal against conviction/conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.8 – election to renew leave to appeal against conviction and/or sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 8 – stay applications under the Criminal Procedure Act
- Guideline 9 – hearings under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act
- Guideline 10 – Serious Offenders Act 2018
- Guideline 11 – Supreme and County Court breach proceedings
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- 4 – Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
- Notes on the Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
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- Guideline 3 – international child abduction
- Notes on Guideline 3
- Guideline 3.1 – litigation in matters involving international child abduction
- Guideline 3.2 – FDRS in matters involving international child abduction
- Guideline 3.3 – appointment of an ICL for litigation relating to international child abduction
- Guideline 3.4 – appointment of an ICL for FDRS in matters involving international child abduction
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- Guideline 5 − child support and child maintenance
- Guideline 5.1 – advice and negotiation for adults in child support matters
- Guideline 5.2 – litigation and administrative review for adults in child support matters
- Guideline 5.3 – advice and negotiation for adults in child maintenance and adult child maintenance matters
- Guideline 5.4 – FDRS in adult child maintenance matters
- Guideline 5.5 – litigation for adults in child maintenance and adult child maintenance matters
- Legal assistance for children in child support and child maintenance matters
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- Guideline 7 − special medical procedures involving children
- Guideline 7.1 – litigation for adults for special medical procedures involving a child
- Guideline 7.2 – appointment of an ICL in litigation relating to special medical procedures involving a child
- Guideline 7.3 – litigation for child litigants for special medical procedures involving them
- Family law costs management
- Important information about FDRS
- Jurisdiction of family law proceedings
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- 5 – Commonwealth civil law guidelines
- Guideline 1 – general guideline for Commonwealth civil matters
- Guideline 2 – social security and other benefits: administrative appeals
- Guideline 3 – assistance for migration cases
- Guideline 4 – equal opportunity and discrimination cases
- Guideline 5 – war veterans' matters
- Guideline 6 – other Federal Court and High Court proceedings
- Guideline 7 – Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
- Guideline 8 – extradition proceedings
- Guideline 9 – NDIS administrative appeals
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- 6 – State family guidelines
- Introduction to state family guidelines
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- Guideline 7 – judicial review of the Family Division of the Children's Court, County Court or Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision
- Notes on Guideline 7 – judicial review of the Family Division of the Children’s Court, County Court or Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision
- Notes on fees and other costs payable in State family law matters
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- 7 – State civil law guidelines
- Guideline 1 – general civil claims of $5000 or more
- Guideline 2 – Mental Health Tribunal cases
- Guideline 2a – supervised treatment orders
- Guideline 3 – guardianship and/or administration cases in the Guardianship List
- Guideline 4 – coronial inquests
- Guideline 5 – equal opportunity or discrimination cases
- Guideline 5a – Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal cases
- Guideline 6 – family violence protection order cases
- Guideline 7 – adoption
- Guideline 8 – evictions at VCAT
- Guideline 9 – Supreme Court
- Guideline 10 – infringements cases
- Guideline 11 – witnesses appearing before the chief examiner or examiner
- 8 – Public interest and strategic litigation
- 9 – Standard grants assessment process
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- 16 – Applying for a grant of legal assistance
- How to apply
- Does a person need a lawyer to help them apply?
- Helping a client apply for a grant of legal assistance
- How to fill in the application form
- Giving false information or omitting relevant information in the application
- Late applications and time limits
- How to apply for further assistance, or additional assistance
- Submitting the application
- Urgent applications
- Applications by children
- Applications to take legal action against VLA
- Applications by VLA staff for a grant of legal assistance for themselves
- 19 – Standard terms and conditions
- 20 – Abandoning legal assistance
- 21 – Finalising grants of legal assistance
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- 23 – Payments to lawyers and service providers
- Professional costs
- Counsel's fees
- Payments to agents
- Duty lawyer schemes
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- Disbursements
- Interim claims for authorised disbursements
- Table OO – VLA rates for reimbursement of authorised disbursements/expenses
- Table Q – Expert reports and court attendances in family law matters
- Table S – Expert reports and court attendances by psychologists and psychiatrists in criminal matters
- Cost ceilings
- Stage of matter limits
- Lump sum fees
- 26 – Complaints and feedback
- Invoice, forms and worksheets
- Handbook archive
- Contact us