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 1 – priority for urgent matters
1.1 – urgent matters
The family law priorities in the Commonwealth Legal Aid Service Priorities generally have equal priority. However, VLA will give the highest priority to an urgent family law matter involving an application to the court for an interim order or injunction.
A family law matter is urgent if VLA determines that any of the following apply:
- a child’s safety or welfare is at risk
- the applicant’s safety is at risk
- there is an immediate risk of removal of a child from Australia or to a remote geographic region within Australia
- there is a need to preserve matrimonial property
- other exceptional circumstances exist that require urgent legal assistance.
1.2 – non-urgent matters
In non-urgent matters, a grant of legal assistance should not be made until the relevant parties have been separated for a sufficient period of time (usually at least six weeks) to enable them to be sure that there are real issues in dispute. This is sometimes called ‘the six-week rule’.
Guideline 1.2 does not apply to a non-urgent matter where VLA considers that a grant of legal assistance is warranted to apply for an interim order or injunction prior to the passing of the sufficient period of time referred to above.
In prioritising funds available for non-urgent matters and deciding whether a grant of legal assistance is to be made and, if so, the nature and extent of that grant, VLA may take into consideration whether:
- there is, or is a likelihood of, domestic violence, especially if an allegation of family violence has been made
- concerns about 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.
Documentary requirements
Applications under this guideline are within the simplified grants assessment process or the standard grants assessment process.
Standard grants assessment process
Lawyers or other applicants seeking a grant of legal assistance via the standard grants assessment process should forward all of the following documents to VLA for assessment:
- a completed VLA application form
- the client’s instructions (if the application is made via a lawyer)
- a statement about how the matter meets guideline 1
- a statement of the issues that are in dispute
- copies of any relevant court documents and reports if the matter has previously been the subject of court proceedings
- relevant proof of means.
Simplified grants assessment process
Lawyers seeking a grant of legal assistance via the simplified grants assessment process should submit a completed simplified VLA application form and a family law checklist only after ensuring that the following documents are retained on file unless they are requested by VLA for assessment:
- their client’s instructions
- a brief statement of the lawyer’s opinion about how the matter meets the Commonwealth’s merits test and guideline 1, if this is not clear from other information on the file
- a statement of the issues that are in dispute
- relevant proof of means.
The lawyer’s file should also contain copies of any relevant court documents and reports if the matter has previously been the subject of court proceedings.
If a lawyer chooses to recommend, or seek, that VLA makes a grant of legal assistance or a further grant of legal assistance contrary to a third-party opinion (whether of an independent children’s lawyer or of a family report), then the compelling reasons for doing so must be clearly documented and identified on their file.
Lawyers are also encouraged to complete a family law merits worksheet and a proof of means worksheet for their file.