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Table of contents
- 1 – Introduction
- 2 – Types of matters that may be assisted
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3 – Criminal law guidelines
- Guideline 1.1 – ‘not guilty’ plea in the Magistrates’ Court
- Guideline 1.2 – ‘guilty’ plea in the Magistrates’ Court
- Guideline 1.3 – Assessment and Referral Court List matters
- Guidelines 1.4 and 1.5 – social security prosecutions
- Guideline 2 – traffic offence charges in the Magistrates’ Court
- Guideline 3.1 – committal proceedings involving homicide, consent or identification
- Guideline 3.2 – committal proceedings in other cases
- Guideline 4 – trials in the County or Supreme courts
- Guideline 4.1 – County Court and Supreme Court pleas
- Guideline 5.1 – proceedings in the Criminal Division of the Children’s Court
- Guideline 6 – bail applications in the Magistrates’, County and Supreme courts
- Guideline 7.1 – criminal appeals to the County Court
- Guideline 7.2 – interlocutory appeals to the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.3 – appeals to the High Court
- Guideline 7.4 – leave to appeal against sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.5 – appeal against sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.6 – leave to appeal against conviction/conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.7 – appeal against conviction/conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 8 – stay applications under the Criminal Procedure Act
- Guideline 9 – hearings under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act
- Guideline 10 – Serious Sex Offenders (Detention and Supervision) Act
- County Court breach proceedings
- Guideline 11 – two-counsel policy
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4 – Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
- Guideline 1 – early intervention and dispute resolution
- Guideline 2 – litigation
- Guideline 3 – parties who are not parents
- Guideline 4 – assistance for applications to discharge or vary parenting arrangements
- Guideline 5 – independent representation of children
- Guideline 6 – child support and child maintenance
- Guideline 7 – spousal maintenance
- Guideline 8 – arrears of spousal or child maintenance or child support
- Guideline 9 – parentage
- Guideline 10 – special medical procedures involving children
- Guideline 11 – recovery, location and information orders
- Guideline 12 – nullity of marriage
- Guideline 13 – assistance after final court orders are made
- Guideline 14 – appeals
- Guideline 15 – contravention and enforcement of court orders and contempt of court
- Guideline 16 – international child abduction matters
- Guideline 17 – family law costs management
- Family law trials and final hearings
- Jurisdiction of family law proceedings
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5 – Commonwealth civil law guidelines
- Guideline 1 – general guideline for Commonwealth civil matters
- Guideline 2 – social security and other benefits: administrative appeals
- Guideline 3 – assistance for migration cases
- Guideline 4 – equal opportunity and discrimination
- Guideline 5 – war veterans' matters
- Guideline 6 – other Federal Court and High Court proceedings
- Guideline 7 – Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
- Guideline 8 – extradition proceedings
- Guideline 9 – appeals
- 6 – State family guidelines
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7 – State civil law guidelines
- Guideline 1 – general civil claims of $5000 or more
- Guideline 2 – Mental Health Review Board cases
- Guideline 3 – guardianship and/or administration cases in the Guardianship List
- Guideline 4 – coronial inquests
- Guideline 5 – equal opportunity or discrimination cases
- Guideline 5a – Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal cases
- Guideline 6 – family violence protection order cases
- Guideline 6a – personal safety intervention order cases
- Guideline 7 – adoption
- Guideline 8 – State civil law matters that will not be assisted
- Guideline 10 – infringements cases
- Guideline 11 – a public interest case or a test case
- Guideline 12 – witnesses appearing before the Chief Examiner or Examiner
- Guideline 13 – social security cases at the ARO and SSAT stages
- Guideline 14 – drought legal assistance package
- 8 – Standard grants assessment process
- 9 – Simplified grants assessment process
- 10 – Referral and practitioner panels
- 11 – Means test
- 12 – Commonwealth merits test
- 13 – State reasonableness test and interests of justice test
- 14 – Special circumstances
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15 – Applying for a grant of legal assistance
- The application forms
- Does a person need a lawyer to help them apply?
- Helping a client apply for a grant of legal assistance
- How to fill in the application form
- Giving false information or omitting relevant information in the application
- Late applications and time limits
- How to apply for further assistance, or additional assistance
- Submitting the application
- Urgent applications
- Applications by children
- Applications to take legal action against VLA
- Applications by VLA staff for a grant of legal assistance for themselves
- Interstate matters
- 16 – Decision to grant or refuse assistance
- 17 – Reconsideration and review of decisions
- 18 – Standard terms and conditions
- 19 – Contributions and overdue payments
- 20 – Abandoning legal assistance
- 21 – Finalising grants of legal assistance
- 22 – Allocation of work to lawyers and law firms
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23 – Payments to lawyers and service providers
- Professional costs
- Counsel's fees
- Payments to agents
- Duty lawyer schemes
- Disbursements
- Cost ceilings
- Stage of matter limits
- Lump sum fees
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Costs payable in criminal law matters
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Fee Schedule 1 – Lump sum and other fees payable in criminal law matters
- Conditions for paying lump sum fees in criminal law matters
- Principles applying to payment of preparation fees to solicitors
- Summary criminal proceedings
- Table A – Fees for summary criminal proceedings
- Table B – Lump sum fees for bail applications in the Magistrates’ Court and in the Criminal Division of the Children’s Court
- Table C – Lump sum fees for bail applications in the County Court
- Table D – Lump sum fees for bail applications in the Supreme Court
- Principles applying to payment of fees for Magistrates' Court stage of indictable matters
- Table E – Lump sum fees for Magistrates’ Court stage of an indictable crime matter
- Principles applying to payment of fees for the County or Supreme court stage of an indictable crime matter
- Table F – Lump sum fees for County Court and Supreme Court stage of an indictable crime matter
- Table F(i) – Lump sum and other fees for serious indictable crime matters in the Children’s Court
- Table G – Lump sum fees for sentence appeals in the County Court
- Table H – Lump sum fees for appeals against sentence and conviction in the County Court
- Table J – Lump sum fees for County Court breach matters
- Table K – Lump sum fees for appeals to the Court of Appeal
- Table K(i) – Lump sum fees for appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions to the Court of Appeal
- Table K(ii) – Lump sum fees for interlocutory appeal
- Table L – Lump sum fees for criminal appeals in the High Court
- Table NN – Circuit fees for committals and bail, pleas and appeals in the County Court and solicitor out-of-office fees for trials
- Fee Schedule 1A – Fees payable in criminal matters if an Appeal Costs Certificate has been granted
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Fee Schedule 4 – Counsel’s fees in criminal trials
- Principles applying to payment of preparation fees to counsel
- Table ZZ – Hourly rates for counsel’s preparation fees and conferences in indictable criminal trials
- Table RR – Counsel’s circuit fees
- Table M – Guide to fees in criminal trials if two counsel briefed
- Table Z – Fees for applications and reviews in Serious Sex Offender (Detention and Supervision) Act proceedings
- Table T – Counsel’s fees in Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act matters
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Fee Schedule 1 – Lump sum and other fees payable in criminal law matters
- Costs payable in State family matters
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Costs payable in Commonwealth family law matters
- Principles applying to family law matters generally
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Fee Schedule 1M – Family law stage of matter limits
- Stage 1 – negotiations/Roundtable Dispute Management
- Stage 2 – litigation
- Stage 3 – preparation for trial
- Stage 4 – trial costs for lawyer in the Family Court and the Federal Magistrates Court
- Stage 5 – appeals in the Family Court
- Counsel’s fees – trial costs
- Annulment proceedings
- Independent children’s lawyer proceedings – Family Court
- Independent children’s lawyer proceedings – Federal Magistrates Court
- Counsel’s fees – independent children’s lawyer
- Assistance for child support matters
- Fee Schedule 3 – Counsel’s fees in family law matters
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Costs payable in civil law matters
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Fee Schedule 2 – Professional costs, lump sum and other fees in civil law matters
- Preparation fees for counsel in civil law matters
- Table N – Lump sum fees for coronial inquests
- Table O – Lump sum fees for hearings before the Mental Health Review Board, the Forensic Leave Panel and the Guardianship List
- Table V – Social security reviews and appeals
- Table V(i) – Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal
- Table W – Equal opportunity cases
- Table X – Lump sum fees for Infringements Court cases
- Table Y – Lump sum fees for Chief Examiner or Examiner (Witness Assistance) court cases
- Principles applying to payment of fees in Personal Safety Intervention Order Act 2010 matters
- Fee Schedule 5 – Fees in migration cases
- Fee Schedule 6 – Fees in war veterans’ cases
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Fee Schedule 2 – Professional costs, lump sum and other fees in civil law matters
- 24 – Compliance reviews
- 25 – Privacy protection
- 26 – Complaints and feedback
- Topic index
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Invoices, worksheets and forms
- General forms
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Family law tax invoices
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Independent children's lawyers' tax invoices
- Stage 1(a) Up to and including 1st court hearing after appointment
- Stage 1(b) Subsequent court hearing
- Stage 1(c) Interim contest hearing
- Stage 1(d) Roundtable Dispute Management (litigation intervention)
- Stage 2(a) Preparation for and days of trial – Family Court
- Stage 2(a) Preparation for hearing – Federal Magistrates Court
- Stage 2(b) Applications in the Family Court or Federal Magistrates Court
- Stage 2(c) Additional preparation fees
- Stage 3 – trial costs
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Non-section 29A panel members' family law tax invoices
- Stage 1 – negotiations/Roundtable Dispute Management tax invoices
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Stage 2 – litigation tax invoices
- Stage 2(e) Initiating application to the Family Court or Federal Magistrates Court
- Stage 2(f) Subsequent hearing – Family and Federal Magistrates courts
- Stage 2(g) Interim contest hearing – Family and Federal Magistrates courts
- Stage 2(h) Roundtable Dispute Management (litigation intervention)
- Stage 2(b) Application for recovery or information order
- Stage 2(c) Initiating court proceedings – State Magistrates' Court
- Stage 2(a) Application in State Magistrates' Court (finding of paternity)
- Stage 3 – preparation for trial tax invoices
- Stage 4 – trial costs for lawyer in the Family and Federal Magistrates court tax invoices
- Stage 5 – appeals in the Family Court tax invoice
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Section 29A panel family law tax invoices
- Stage 1 – negotiations/Roundtable Dispute Management tax invoice
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Stage 2 – litigation tax invoices
- Stage 2(a) Application in State Magistrates' Court (finding of paternity)
- Stage 2(b) Application for recovery or information order
- Stage 2(c) Initiating court proceedings – State Magistrates' Court
- Stage 2(f) Subsequent hearing – Family or Federal Magistrates courts
- Stage 2(e) Initiating application to the Family Court or Federal Magistrates Court
- Stage 2(g) Interim contest hearing – Family or Federal Magistrates courts
- Stage 2(h) Roundtable Dispute Management (litigation intervention)
- Stage 3 – preparation for trial tax invoices
- Stage 4 – trial costs for lawyer in the Family and Federal Magistrates court tax invoices
- Stage 5 – appeals in the Family Court tax invoice
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Child support tax invoices
- Roundtable Dispute Management – child support
- Application in State Magistrates' Court (finding of paternity) – child support
- Initiating or responding to an application in State Magistrates' Court – child support
- Transfer from State Magistrates' Court to Federal Magistrates Court – child support
- Initiating or responding to an application in the Federal Magistrates Court – child support
- Enforcement of court orders – child support
- Appeal to the Social Security Appeals Tribunal – child support
- Appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal – child support
- Stay application in any court – child support
- Annulment proceedings tax invoice
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Independent children's lawyers' tax invoices
- Family law worksheets and checklists
- Children's Court (Family Division) proceedings – tax invoice
- Children's Court (Family Division) worksheets and checklists
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Criminal law tax invoices
- Bail applications – tables B, C and D tax invoice
- County and Supreme court stage of an indictable crime matter – Table F tax invoice
- Children’s Court serious indictable criminal cases – Table F(i) tax invoice
- Appeals – tables G, H, K, K(i), K(ii) and L tax invoice
- Miscellaneous crime – tables J, T, Y and Z tax invoice
- Summary criminal Magistrates' and Children's court proceedings – Table A tax invoice
- Magistrates' Court stage of indictable matter – Table E tax invoice
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Criminal law worksheets and checklists
- Appeals checklist
- Bail traffic consolidation worksheet
- Contested committals – exceeding two days worksheet
- Committals worksheet – State and Commonwealth
- County Court appeal worksheet
- Criminal cases – final report
- Criminal trials and pleas worksheet
- Indictable crime checklist
- Medical report worksheet
- Post-committal negotiation checklist
- Preparation fees worksheet
- Proof of means worksheet – criminal law
- Psychologist/psychiatrist report worksheet
- Summary crime checklist
- Summary crime worksheet
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Civil law tax invoices
- Family Violence Protection Act proceedings – Table A4 tax invoice
- Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act proceedings – Table A5 tax invoice
- Coronial inquest (Table N), and Mental Health Review Board, Social Security Appeals Tribunal and Guardianship & Administration Board hearing (Table O) tax invoice
- War veterans’ cases at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Table U3
- Social security reviews and appeals – Table V tax invoice
- Equal opportunity – Table W tax invoice
- Infringements cases – Table X tax invoice
- Appeals to Federal Court or Federal Magistrates Court (Veterans) – Table U4 tax invoice
- Fees in migration cases – Fee Schedule 5 tax invoice
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Civil law worksheets and checklists
- Administration of war veterans' matters checklist
- Equal opportunity checklist
- Family Violence Protection Act checklist
- Family Violence Protection Act worksheet
- Family Violence Protection Act and Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act matters – final report
- Infringements checklist
- Infringement matters worksheet
- Social security checklist
- Personal safety intervention orders checklist
- Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal checklist
- Forms A-Z
- Contact us
- Archived versions of the Handbook
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Table of contents