Under the State civil law guidelines Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) may make a grant of legal assistance in relation to:
- some general civil law matters if the amount of the claim is $5000 or more and the matter otherwise satisfies the relevant guideline (State civil law guideline 1)
- proceedings before the Mental Health Tribunal or an appeal from the tribunal's decision (State civil law guideline 2)
- supervised treatment order hearings at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (State civil law guideline 2a)
- guardianship and/or administration cases in the Guardianship List at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (State civil law guideline 3)
- coronial inquests (State civil law guideline 4)
- equal opportunity or discrimination cases (State civil law guideline 5)
- Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal cases (State civil law guideline 5a)
- family violence protection order cases (State civil law guideline 6)
- personal safety intervention order cases (State civil law guideline 6a)
- representation of a child in adoption proceedings (State civil law guideline 7)
- evictions at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (State civil law guideline 8)
- civil law cases in the Supreme Court (State civil law guideline 9)
- infringements cases (State civil law guideline 10)
- witness assistance – Chief Examiner/Examiner (State civil law guideline 11).
Other matters: special circumstances
If a person seeks a grant of legal assistance from VLA for a State civil law matter which is excluded by the State civil law 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.
Updated