On this page:
Note: this page provides only basic information on changes to the family law guidelines. Practitioners should refer to the VLA Handbook for lawyers for the relevant guidelines.
Changes on 3 July 2017
On 3 July 2017, Victoria Legal Aid introduced redrafted Commonwealth Family Law guidelines. This was one of the recommendations from our Family Law Legal Aid Services Review.
We redrafted the family law guidelines to make them clearer, more consistent and easier to navigate. Apart from some minor expansions of eligibility criteria and a condition added to fees for the first day of trial in the Family Court, the changes are largely structural and not substantive in nature. An extensive glossary of key definitions has been included, the fee tables have been consolidated (resulting in some changes to fee numbers), and hyperlinks have been added for ease of use.
A video resource will walk you through the July 2017 changes to the guidelines, ATLAS and the Notes to the guidelines.
Read an overview of the changes Ready reckoner – Overview of Commonwealth family law guideline changes.
More information
Refer to Archived versions of the Handbook for a list of changes over time to the VLA Handbook for Lawyers.
Contact
For more information please call our Grants and Quality Assurance on (03) 9606 5355.
Disclaimer: The material in this print-out relates to the law as it applies in the state of Victoria. It is intended as a general guide only. Readers should not act on the basis of any material in this print-out without getting legal advice about their own particular situations. Victoria Legal Aid disclaims any liability howsoever caused to any person in respect of any action taken in reliance on the contents of the publication.
We help Victorians with their legal problems and represent those who need it most. Find legal answers, chat with us online, or call us. You can speak to us in English or ask for an interpreter. You can also find more legal information at www.legalaid.vic.gov.au
Reviewed 18 March 2022
In this section
-
- How we can help
- Help at court
- Help before court – for criminal charges
-
- Help in your language
- Amharic/አማርኛ
- Arabic / عربي
- Bosnian/Bosanski
- Burmese/ျမန္မ
- Chinese Traditional/繁體中文
- Croatian/Hrvatski
- Dari/دری
- Dinka/Thuɔŋjäŋ
- Easy English
- English
- Farsi/فارسی
- Filipino/Filipino
- Greek/Ελληνικά
- Hindi/हिंदी
- Italian/Italiano
- Khmer/ខ្មែរ
- Korean/한국어
- Macedonian/Македонски
- Malay/Bahasa Malaysia
- Nuer/Thok Nath
- Oromo/Oromoo
- Pashto/پښتو
- Polish/Polski
- Punjabi/ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
- Russian/Русский
- Serbian/Cрпски
- Sinhalese/සිංහල
- Somali/Soomali
- Spanish/Español
- Tamil/தமிழ்
- Thai/ภาษาไทย
- Tigrinya/ትግርኛ
- Turkish/Türkçe
- Ukrainian/Українська
- Urdu/اردو
- Vietnamese/Tiếng Việt
- Support if you are deaf or find it hard to hear or speak on the phone
- I need legal information about ...
- Legal issues we can't help with
- Partner firms we work with that provide legal aid
- My safety - options before and after relationship separation
-
- I need legal information about ...
- Arson, fires and fireworks
-
- COVID-19 coronavirus
- COVID-19 and fines
- COVID-19 and being unable to work
- COVID-19 and delaying starting your new job
- COVID-19 and discrimination at work
- COVID-19 and losing work
- COVID-19, mandatory vaccines and work
- COVID-19 and safety at work
- COVID-19, work and caring for others
- COVID-19 and working from home
- Other support
- Defamation
-
- Discrimination
- Discrimination and victimisation
- Racial vilification and acts of racial hatred
- Disability discrimination
- Disability discrimination and employment
- Pregnancy and parental discrimination at work
- Sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination
- Making a complaint about discrimination
- Remedies to a complaint about discrimination
- Other support
-
- Employment
- Difference between employees and contractors
- Employment contracts and conditions
- Minimum rates of pay and getting paid properly
- Giving notice to end employment
- Termination of employment
- Superannuation and complaints
- Workplace safety
- Workplace bullying and discrimination
- Speaking to your employer about discrimination
- Other support
-
- Going to court
-
- Going to court for a criminal charge
- Community corrections orders
- Going to court – pleading guilty
- Going to court – pleading not guilty
- Going to court – diversion
- Going to court – rehearings
- Possible outcomes for criminal offences
- Representing yourself in a criminal case
- Serious criminal charges
- Appealing a Magistrates' Court decision
- Going to court – writing a character reference
- Going to court – what I want to say in court
- Criminal records
- Demerit points
- Going to court to get a divorce
- Going to court as a witness
- Going to court for a sexual assault case
- Going to court to divide property
- How to behave in court
- Other support
- Guns and other weapons
- How to run a family law case
-
- Mental health and disability
- Mental health and your rights
- Having control over your treatment
- Rights of people receiving compulsory treatment
- Compulsory treatment orders
- Electroconvulsive treatment
- Going to the Mental Health Tribunal
- When police are called because of your mental health condition
- What happens at the police station if you have a cognitive disability
- Insurance discrimination – your rights if you have a mental health condition
- Other support
- Owning a dog
-
- Parenting arrangements, child contact and child support
-
- Parenting arrangements and child contact
- If you agree on parenting arrangements
- Parenting orders
- Applying for parenting orders
- Living with parenting arrangements
- Relocating or travelling with children
- What the court considers when making a parenting order
- Supervised time between parents and children
- Caring for children when you are not their parent
- Abduction
- Airport watch list order kit
- Recovery order kit
- Other support
- Sexual harassment
- The ban on Nazi symbols and gestures in Victoria
-
- Violence, abuse and personal safety
-
- Family violence and family violence intervention orders
- Applying for a family violence intervention order
- Evidence to support your application
- Going to court for a family violence intervention order – affected family members
- Getting a lawyer for cross-examination in a family violence intervention order hearing
- If an application has been made against you
- Family violence intervention orders to protect children
- When a family violence intervention order starts
- Conditions in a family violence intervention order
- Breaking an intervention order
- Changing a family violence intervention order
- What the police do about family violence
- Family violence safety notices
- Options for dealing with a family violence intervention order
- Child protection
- Violent behaviour
- Commonwealth Family Violence and Cross-Examination of Parties Scheme
- Other support
-
- Videos about the law
- Australia's legal system
- Buying a car
- Car accidents - what's the law?
- Centrelink debts – what's the law?
- Child protection and parenting – what's the law?
- Consumer issues – what's the law?
- Dealing with door-to-door sales – videos
- Discrimination – what's the law?
- Driving – what's the law?
- Employment – what's the law?
- Fines – what's the law?
- Police and my legal rights – what's the law?
- Rental agreements – what's the law?
- Separation and parenting arrangements – what's the law?
- The unexpected side-effect of pregnancy: discrimination
-
- About us
-
- Our organisation
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Child Safe Standards
- Disability action plan
- How we treat victims of crime – our commitment to the Victims’ charter
- Our Board
- Our vision, purpose and values
- Senior leadership
- What legal and community leaders say about legal aid
-
- How we are improving our services
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Learning Strategy
- Aboriginal Services Strategy 2020–25
- Benefits of funding legal assistance
- Better justice, every day
- Chambers review
- Child Protection Legal Aid Services Review
- Client-first strategy
- Client Priority and Capability Policy
- Community Legal Services Program Reform Project
- County Court Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court Pilot
- Criminal Appeals Review
- The Data Discovery Tool
-
- Delivering high quality criminal trials
- Action 2: retain instructing lawyers in trials
- Action 1: establish a preferred trial counsel list
- Action 3: introduce new quality tools
- Action 4: introduce brief analysis and case strategy fee
- Action 1: establish a preferred trial counsel list
- Action 2: retain instructing lawyers in trials
- Digital Legal Aid
- Education Strategy project
- Equitable briefing strategy
- First Nations Cultural Capability Framework project
- Flexible Forum Test guideline
- Summary crime evaluation
-
- What we do
- Who is eligible for help
- Early Resolution Service for family violence matters
- Family Advocacy and Support Services
- Independent Family Advocacy and Support
- Independent Mental Health Advocacy
- Victims Legal Service
- Specialist sexual harassment and discrimination law services
- Access and equity
- Civil justice
- Chambers
- Criminal law
- Family law
- What to expect from our services
- Managing the quality of our services
-
- For lawyers
-
- Doing legal aid work
- Briefing Victoria Legal Aid Chambers
- Our pilot Equity and Diversity List for barristers and advocates
-
- Duty lawyer services
- Accreditation guidelines for duty lawyers
- Private practitioner duty lawyers' responsibilities
- Payments and records management for private practitioner duty lawyers
- Payments and records management for Children’s Court Family Division
- Duty lawyers in the Family Division of the Children's Court (child protection matters)
- Duty lawyer and Help Before Court guidelines for criminal charges in the Magistrates’ Court
- Co-ordinators and reporting offices for duty lawyers
- Private practitioner duty lawyer scheme to deal with conflicts
- Duty Lawyer Guidelines for personal safety intervention orders
- Private Practitioner Short Service Scheme Contracts
- Invoicing for legal aid work by barristers
- Legal assistance for the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants
- Seeking and recovering costs in legal aid matters
- The mixed model of service delivery
- Log in to Atlas
- Grants enquiries
- Handbook for lawyers
- Improving our services
- Law reform
- Staff only