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
How income is calculated
When VLA calculates the net disposable income of the person applying for a grant of legal assistance, VLA subtracts allowable deductions from their income.
What is the purpose of calculating the person’s income?
VLA uses the amount of net disposable income to decide:
- whether VLA will make a grant of legal assistance to the person
and, if so, - the amount of any initial contribution VLA may require the person to pay.
Providing information and documentary proof
The person applying for a grant of legal assistance must always give VLA any necessary information about their income and any allowable deductions.
The person must also give their lawyer (if applying using the simplified grants assessment process) or VLA (if applying using the standard grants assessment process), documentary proof of their (and any financially associated person’s) income.
See also: Documentary proof of means.