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.

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Family law guideline changes

An overview of the changes to the grants guidelines for family law matters.

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.

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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.

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