Reviewing our family law fee structure

We are reviewing our fee structure for family law work so that it better aligns with the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia’s (FCFCOA) case management processes. 

We are seeking feedback from practitioners on our family law panel as part of this review.

We know that practitioners on our family law panel are reducing the amount of legally aided work they undertake due to the level of our fees and the additional work required to run family law litigation matters under the FCFCOA’s case management system. 

This is the first targeted review of our family law fee structure since the FCFCOA was established.

Understanding the issues

Practitioners on our family law panel undertake thousands of family law grants each year. 

This wealth of experience means that panel practitioners can provide us with insights about what works and what doesn’t with the current family law fee structure, and how it can be improved to better align with the FCFCOA’s case management processes. 

We will undertake consultations in March and April 2024 to better understand practitioner experiences with our family law fee structure. 

We want to hear from you 

We encourage all family law practitioners to participate in consultations as part of this review – the more feedback we receive, the more we can understand what is and isn’t working with the current family law fee structure. 

Next steps

Once we have compiled feedback from practitioners, we will consider what changes can be made to address the feedback and better align our fee structure with the FCFCOA’s case management processes. We will then aim to implement the highest priority changes. 

More information

If you have any questions about this targeted review or providing feedback, please contact us at FYCLprojects@vla.vic.gov.au.