Guideline 1.8 – litigation for child litigants in parenting disputes

Guideline

VLA may make a grant of assistance to a child litigant for litigation in a parenting dispute to:

• apply for or respond to an application for parenting orders

or

• apply for or respond to an application to discharge or vary existing parenting orders

or

• apply for or respond to an application for contravention or enforcement of parenting orders or for contempt of court

where

1. it is appropriate for the child litigant to participate in litigation
   and
2. the parent, or person with parental responsibility, who would otherwise make the application is genuinely unwilling or unable to do so
   and
3. the following threshold tests are met:

• forum test
• substantial issue in dispute test
• Commonwealth merits test.

4. where the person applying for assistance is the person who is making the application to the court, there is evidence kept on the file showing:
   1. that there has been an attempt to resolve the dispute by attending family dispute resolution and that a required section 60I certificate has been issued in relation to the dispute
      or
   2. where a required section 60I certificate has not been issued in relation to the dispute, that it is an urgent matter.

Being issued with a required section 60I certificate doesn’t always mean that a grant of assistance to attend the Family Dispute Resolution Service (FDRS) is inappropriate. Even where a section 60I certificate has been issued, the lawyer must consider whether attendance at FDRS is appropriate and could help the parties to resolve the dispute, before applying for a litigation grant. This doesn’t apply if the matter is an urgent matter.

Other mandatory requirements

As well as the requirements set out in Guideline 1.8, an additional criterion applies in the following circumstances:

Discharge or vary orders

Where the person is applying for assistance to discharge or vary existing parenting orders, there must also have been a significant change in circumstances since the parenting order was made.

If the significant change in circumstances has been caused by the applicant, VLA will consider the circumstances surrounding that change in deciding whether it is appropriate to make a grant of legal assistance to the applicant.