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 7 – arrears of spousal or child maintenance or child support
VLA may make a grant of legal assistance for an application for arrears of maintenance or child support if the person seeking assistance:
- cannot adequately prepare the court application or present the case to the court without legal assistance
and - cannot obtain appropriate legal assistance from another source (see below)
or - the person seeking assistance is also seeking the resolution of another family law matter by the court.
Inability to adequately prepare or present a court application
A person applying for a grant of legal assistance may not be able to adequately prepare or present a court application for payment of arrears of child maintenance or child support because either:
- the person meets one of the Commonwealth’s special circumstances
- the dispute involves complicated financial arrangements (for example, farms, family trusts, small businesses or corporations).
Alternative sources of assistance
If a person can get appropriate assistance elsewhere, then VLA will not make a grant of legal assistance in relation to arrears of spousal or child maintenance or child support.
Appropriate assistance may be available from:
- VLA’s Child Support Legal Service
- some community legal centres.
Child Support Legal Service
VLA has a Child Support Legal Service to help eligible parents who have legal problems in relation to getting or paying child maintenance or child support.
The Child Support Legal Service regularly visits VLA offices and most major regional centres. The service may also help people by telephone.
The Child Support Legal Service can help eligible people by:
- giving advice
- preparing documents
- representing people in court.
Community legal centres
The following community legal centres provide a similar child support service:
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 of the lawyer’s opinion about how the matter meets guideline 7
- where relevant, any document that supports how the person meets one of the Commonwealth’s special circumstances
- confirmation that VLA’s Child Support Legal Service or another service provider cannot assist the client
- a copy of the existing child support or maintenance agreement or order
- 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 child support 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 merits test and guideline 7, if this is not clear from other information on the file
- where relevant, any document that supports how the person meets one of the Commonwealth’s special circumstances
- confirmation that VLA’s Child Support Legal Service or another service provider cannot assist the client
- a copy of the existing child support or maintenance agreement or order
- relevant proof of means.
Lawyers are also encouraged to complete a family law merits worksheet and a proof of means worksheet for their file.