Note: The lawyer is not required to assess eligibility under this guideline. Applications are submitted to ATLAS for assessment by Victoria Legal Aid (VLA).
Guideline
VLA may make a grant of legal assistance to a person for an appeal in these matters:
- parenting disputes
- child support
- child maintenance
- adult child maintenance
- for an independent children’s lawyer to participate in an appeal.
These matters may be approved for a grant where the criteria under the guideline relating to that matter in the original proceedings is met.
Costs
The lawyer must take into account the provisions of the Federal Proceedings (Costs) Act 1981 (Cth) when conducting an appeal under a grant of legal assistance.
A grant of assistance under this guideline is treated as a new matter for the purposes of family law costs management. This means that VLA will not include the amount of the grant for the substantive matter when calculating the costs ceiling for the appeal.
Documentary requirements
Applications for assistance under this guideline are not administered via the simplified grants process, but are assessed by VLA. Lawyers submitting an application in ATLAS must ensure that evidence supporting the application is uploaded to ATLAS with the application.
Fees available
For information about fees available for a grant under this guideline, see Stage 5 – appeals in the Family Court.
Notes on this guideline
For commentary and examples on the eligibility criteria, grants assessment process, documentary requirements and fees and billing relevant to this guideline, see the Notes on guideline 8.
Updated