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
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7 – State civil law guidelines
- Guideline 1 – general civil claims of $5000 or more
- Guideline 2 – Mental Health Review Board cases
- Guideline 3 – guardianship and/or administration cases in the Guardianship List
- Guideline 4 – coronial inquests
- Guideline 5 – equal opportunity or discrimination cases
- Guideline 5a – Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal cases
- Guideline 6 – family violence protection order cases
- Guideline 6a – personal safety intervention order cases
- Guideline 7 – adoption
- Guideline 8 – State civil law matters that will not be assisted
- Guideline 10 – infringements cases
- Guideline 11 – witnesses appearing before the Chief Examiner or Examiner
- Guideline 12 – social security cases at the ARO and SSAT stages
- Guideline 13 – drought legal assistance package
- 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 2 – Mental Health Review Board cases
VLA may make a grant of legal assistance to a person for a case before the Mental Health Review Board (MHRB) and for an appeal from the board’s decision if the person has a reasonable prospect of either:
- obtaining their release from hospital
- some other improvement in their condition.
Documentary requirements
Applications under this guideline can only be submitted via the standard grants assessment process.
A member of the section 29A practitioner panel or section 30 referral panel seeking a grant of legal assistance should submit an application via ATLAS for assessment, including all of the following documents:
- after referring to guideline 2 and all available material, the lawyer’s assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the matter before the MHRB or the appeal of the board's decision
- if assistance is sought for an appeal from a decision of the MHRB, a copy of the board's decision
- reference to how the matter meets the State reasonableness test
- relevant proof of means.