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 – early intervention and dispute resolution
- Guideline 2 – litigation
- Guideline 3 – parties who are not parents
- Guideline 4 – assistance for applications to discharge or vary parenting arrangements
- Guideline 5 – independent representation of children
- Guideline 6 – child support and child maintenance
- Guideline 7 – spousal maintenance
- Guideline 8 – arrears of spousal or child maintenance or child support
- Guideline 9 – parentage
- Guideline 10 – special medical procedures involving children
- Guideline 11 – recovery, location and information orders
- Guideline 12 – nullity of marriage
- Guideline 13 – assistance after final court orders are made
- Guideline 14 – appeals
- Guideline 15 – contravention and enforcement of court orders and contempt of court
- Guideline 16 – international child abduction matters
- Guideline 17 – family law costs management
- Guideline 18 – 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 – Public interest and strategic litigation
- 9 – Standard grants assessment process
- 10 – Simplified grants assessment process
- 11 – Referral and practitioner panels
- 12 – Means test
- 13 – Commonwealth merits test
- 14 – State reasonableness test and interests of justice test
- 15 – Special circumstances
- 16 – Applying for a grant of legal assistance
- 17 – Decision to grant or refuse assistance
- 18 – Reconsideration and review of decisions
- 19 – Standard terms and conditions
- 20 – Contributions and overdue payments
- 21 – Abandoning legal assistance
- 22 – Finalising grants of legal assistance
- 23 – Allocation of work to lawyers and law firms
- 24 – Payments to lawyers and service providers
- 25 – Compliance reviews
- 26 – Privacy protection
- 27 – Complaints and feedback
- Topic index
- Invoice, worksheets and forms
- Contact us
Guideline 8 – arrears of spousal or child maintenance or child support
Victoria Legal Aid (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 has or will also be funded for court proceedings in relation to another family law matter.
The applicant for legal assistance must seek assistance for matters involving arrears of spousal or child maintenance or child support from VLA’s Child Support Legal Service or a community legal centre in the first instance.
VLA will not make a grant of legal assistance to a lawyer for child maintenance or child support matters unless the applicant for legal assistance is unable to obtain appropriate assistance from VLA’s Child Support Legal Service or a community legal centre, or there are compelling circumstances (for example, the practitioner is also acting for the applicant for legal assistance in a parenting matter).
Applicants for legal assistance who are found by a court within the last 12 months to have contravened one of the following:
- a Federal Circuit Court or Family Court of Australia order without reasonable excuse
- a Family Violence Safety Notice or Conditions of Bail relating to family violence offences
- an intervention order made either under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 or Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act 2010
will not be eligible for a grant of legal assistance under this guideline or will have their grant of legal assistance removed.
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 criteria
- the dispute involves complicated financial arrangements (for example, farms, family trusts, small businesses or corporations).
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.
For more information see Child Support Legal Service.
Community legal centres
The following community legal centres provide a similar child support service: