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 17 – international child abduction matters
VLA may make a grant of legal assistance for a person to:
- defend a court application made under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction for:
- the return of a child who has been removed from a convention country to, or kept in, Australia
- access to a child living in Australia.
- make an application to the court under the Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Regulations 1986 (Cth) for a declaration that the removal of a child from Australia to a convention country, or the retention of a child in a convention country, is wrongful within the meaning of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
- apply to court under a bilateral agreement in relation to a child who has been wrongfully removed to Australia.
No assistance to intervene in proceedings about the return of a child
However, VLA will not make a grant of legal assistance to a person to intervene in proceedings relating to the return of a child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
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
- the lawyer’s assessment of the case (if the application is made via a lawyer), and their client’s instructions
- copies of any documents prepared or filed in the matter.