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 – 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
6 – State family guidelines
State family matters are applications under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005. Under the State family guidelines VLA may make a grant of legal assistance to:
- a child in proceedings in the Family Division of the Children’s Court (State family guideline 1)
- a person such as a parent, guardian or other interested person involved in proceedings in the Family Division of the Children’s Court if that person did not make the application and the matter otherwise satisfies that guideline (State family guideline 2).
Other matters: special circumstances
If a person seeks a grant of legal assistance from VLA for family proceedings in the Children’s Court or an appeal in the County Court or Supreme Court which is excluded by the State family guidelines, then VLA may make a grant of legal assistance only if the person meets both:
- the means test (if relevant) and the State reasonableness test
- any of the State’s special circumstances.