Table of contents
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Table of contents
- 1 – Introduction
- 2 – Types of matters that may be assisted
- 3 – Criminal law guidelines
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4 – Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
- Guideline 1 – priority for urgent matters
- Guideline 2 – family dispute resolution services
- Guideline 3 – independent representation of children
- Guideline 4 – parenting orders
- Guideline 5 – child maintenance and child support
- Guideline 6 – spousal maintenance
- Guideline 7 – arrears of spousal or child maintenance or child support
- Guideline 8 – parentage
- Guideline 9 – special medical procedures involving children
- Guideline 10 – recovery, location and information orders
- Guideline 11 – divorce and nullity of marriage
- Guideline 12 – property
- Guideline 13 – assistance after final court orders
- Guideline 14 – appeals
- Guideline 15 – enforcement of court orders
- Guideline 16 – contempt of court and breach of court orders
- Guideline 17 – international child abduction matters
- Guideline 18 – family law costs management
- Family law trials and final hearings
- Jurisdiction of family law proceedings
- 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
Guideline 14 – appeals
VLA may make a grant of legal assistance for an appeal in relation to a family law order or a child support order, including for an independent children’s lawyer to participate in an appeal, if the matter is one which VLA may assist under these Commonwealth family law guidelines.
No means test for children requiring separate representation in court proceedings
VLA does not apply the means test to any child requiring separate representation by an independent children’s lawyer in family law court proceeding, including appeals.
Federal Proceedings (Costs) Act
Before VLA provides a grant of legal assistance for an appeal, the provisions of the Federal Proceedings (Costs) Act 1981 must be taken into account.
An appeal is a ‘new matter’
VLA will treat an appeal as a new matter for the purposes of the family law costs management methodology. See Commonwealth family law guideline 18.
Documentary requirements
Applications under this guideline can only be made via the standard grants assessment process.
A member of the section 29A practitioner panel or section 30 referral panel or other person seeking a grant of legal assistance should forward the following documents to VLA for assessment:
- a completed VLA application form
- if the application is made via a lawyer, the lawyer’s assessment of the case and the client’s instructions
- a copy of the orders to be appealed and reasons for judgment.