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
- 26 – Complaints and feedback
- Topic index
- Invoices, worksheets and forms
- Contact us
State civil law matters
Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) may make a grant of legal assistance to a person in relation to a civil law matter under Victorian law if all of the following apply:
- the matter is a State civil law matter within the State civil law guidelines
- usually, VLA considers the person cannot afford the full cost of private legal services (the means test)
- taking all relevant factors into account, VLA considers it is reasonable to provide a grant of assistance (the State reasonableness test)
- whether (on the various standards of proof existing within a particular guideline) the matter is likely to terminate in favour of the applicant.
State civil law guidelines
The State civil law guidelines set out the conditions under which a grant of legal assistance may be made for the following State civil law matters being heard or determined in Victoria:
- general civil claims
- appeal from a decision of the Mental Health Review Board
- guardianship and administration cases in the Guardianship List at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
- coronial inquests
- equal opportunity and discrimination cases
- family violence protection order matters
- stalking intervention order matters
- representation of a child in adoption proceedings
- Infringements Court proceedings
- public interest and test cases
- Director of Police Integrity/Chief Examiner (Witness Assistance) cases of legal advice and representation to a witness
- social security cases at the Authorised Review Officer stage and the Social Security Appeals Tribunal stage
- Drought Legal Assistance Package matters.