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For lawyers
- ATLAS+ information and updates
- VLA Handbook for lawyers information
- Panels
- Private duty lawyer schemes
- Roundtable Dispute Management
- Trial Counsel Development Program
- Lawyers' news
- Specialist accreditation
- Criminal and children’s law professional legal education opportunities
- Contact VLA's Assignments Unit for grants information
VLA Handbook for lawyers information
The VLA Handbook for lawyers sets out how to apply for a grant of legal assistance and the guidelines and conditions of receiving a grant. It also explains the payment structures for private lawyers who perform legal aid work.
VLA Handbook for lawyers website
The Handbook has recently moved from PDF format to an online resource. You can search, browse by topic, or explore the Handbook sections via the links below:
- Introduction
- Types of matters that may be assisted
- Criminal law guidelines
- Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
- Commonwealth civil law guidelines
- State family guidelines
- State civil law guidelines
- Standard grants assessment process
- Simplified grants assessment process
- Referral and practitioner panels
- Means test
- Commonwealth merits test
- State reasonableness test and interests of justice test
- Special circumstances
- Applying for a grant of legal assistance
- Decision to grant or refuse assistance
- Reconsideration and review of decisions
- Standard terms and conditions
- Contributions and overdue payments
- Abandoning legal assistance
- Finalising grants of legal assistance
- Allocation of work to lawyers and law firms
- Payments to lawyers and service providers
- Compliance reviews
- Privacy protection
- Complaints and feedback.
Forms
Application forms, tax invoices, worksheets and checklists for lawyers, and other forms relating to grants of legal assistance have moved to the Handbook. See Invoices, worksheets and forms for:
- General forms (including the application forms, financial statement, recipient-created tax invoice agreement and Centrelink consent and authority form)
- Family law tax invoices
- Family law worksheets and checklists
- Children's Court (Family Division) proceedings – tax invoice
- Children's Court (Family Division) worksheets and checklists
- Criminal law tax invoices
- Criminal law worksheets and checklists
- Civil law tax invoices
- Civil law worksheets and checklists
- A-Z forms index.
Grant application forms
If you are not registered to use ATLAS+ you can get a grant of legal assistance by using the applicaiton forms. See the Handbook to download the:
- Grants of legal assistance – guide and application form (please dispose of any versions of the application form published prior to July 2011)
- Simplified grants process – application form.
The application forms include a guide to a grant of legal assistance, our privacy statement and our feedback and complaints policy.
Handbook site feedback
If you have any feedback about the VLA Handbook for lawyers website, or want to report any technical problems, please complete the Website feedback form. For all other Handbook queries, contact the relevant area of VLA.