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
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15 – Applying for a grant of legal assistance
- The application forms
- Does a person need a lawyer to help them apply?
- Helping a client apply for a grant of legal assistance
- How to fill in the application form
- Giving false information or omitting relevant information in the application
- Late applications and time limits
- How to apply for further assistance, or additional assistance
- Submitting the application
- Urgent applications
- Applications by children
- Applications to take legal action against VLA
- Applications by VLA staff for a grant of legal assistance for themselves
- Interstate matters
- 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
The application forms
There are two ‘Application for a grant of legal assistance’ forms:
The difference between the application forms
The standard application form is for use by:
- people who are applying directly to VLA for a grant of legal assistance (that is, without the help of a lawyer)
- people who are applying to VLA for a grant of legal assistance through a lawyer and whose application VLA will process through its assessment unit.
The simplified application form is for use by people who are applying to VLA through a lawyer who is a member of one of VLA’s section 29A panels.
Where are the application forms available?
Links to electronic copies of both application forms on this site are above. The standard application form is also available from:
- any VLA office
- most private lawyers’ offices
- community legal centres.
Multiple copies of the application forms can be ordered by completing VLA’s online order form.