VLA Handbook for lawyers

The VLA Handbook for lawyers sets out how apply for a grant of legal assistance and the guidelines and conditions of receiving a grant. It also explains the payment structure for private lawyers who perform legal aid work.

Archived versions

For versions of the Handbook prior to these changes see Archived versions of the Handbook.

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Applying for a grant of legal assistance

• Privacy protection
• Applying for a grant of legal assistance
• Special circumstances
• Application form – standard grants process

Application assessment process

• Simplified grants assessment process
• Standard grants assessment process
• Reconsideration and review of decisions
• Decision to grant or refuse assistance
• State reasonableness test and interests of justice test
• Commonwealth merits test
• Means test

Existing grants of legal assistance

• Abandoning legal assistance
• Complaints and feedback
• Privacy protection
• Compliance reviews
• Finalising grants of legal assistance
• Contributions and overdue payments
• Standard terms and conditions
• Financial statement

Civil law

• Civil law worksheets and checklists
• Commonwealth civil law guidelines
• State civil law guidelines
• Costs payable in civil law matters

Criminal law

• Criminal law guidelines
• Criminal law worksheets and checklists
• Costs payable in criminal law matters

Family law (Commonwealth)

• Family law worksheets and checklists
• Costs payable in Commonwealth family law matters
• Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
• Roundtable Dispute Management

Family matters (State)

• Children's Court (Family Division) worksheets and checklists
• State family guidelines
• Costs payable in State family matters

Practitioners

• Complaints and feedback
• Compliance reviews
• Payments to lawyers and service providers
• Allocation of work to lawyers and law firms
• Finalising grants of legal assistance
• Referral and practitioner panels
• Roundtable Dispute Management
• Section 29A panel practitioner manual
• Invoice, worksheets and forms

  Latest Handbook updates  

• Commonwealth family law guideline 1 – early intervention and dispute resolution

  Date: 03 April 2013

• Commonwealth family law guideline 5 – independent representation of children

  Date: 03 April 2013

• State family guideline 2 – parent, guardian or other interested person involved in a case in the Family Division of the Children’s Court

  Date: 10 May 2013

        ATLAS+ online grants management  

See the VLA website for more about ATLAS+, including:

• training and help desk support
• key contacts
• easy quick start and system administrator guides.

 Go to ATLAS+      

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