Legal Aid Commission of Victoria
 |
|
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | December 1995 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Jurisdiction | Government of Victoria |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | www.legalaid.vic.gov.au |
Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) is an organisation that focuses on helping and protecting the legal rights of socially and economically disadvantaged people in the state of Victoria, Australia. It provides information, referral, advice and legal representation services in family, civil and criminal law within Victoria.
As a statutory authority, VLA operates under the Legal Aid Act 1978 and is funded by the Australian Government for matters that fall under Commonwealth law, and the Victorian state government. The majority of Commonwealth law matters fall within the family law jurisdiction.
Another source of funding is from the public purpose fund, made up of interest paid on money that is collected by the Legal Services Board from solicitors' trust accounts.
VLA also administers Commonwealth and state government funding of Community Legal Centres within Victoria. Community legal centres (CLCs) are independent community organisations that provide free advice, casework and legal education to their communities. VLA administers funding for the majority of CLCs in Victoria and the Federation of Community Legal Centres through the CLC Funding Program, ensuring that centres meet their service agreements. It also focuses on supporting the professional development of the sector through joint training initiatives.
The idea of legal aid is more than 100 years old in Victoria.
Before 1928 only prisoners or very poor people could apply to the Supreme Court for legal aid. In 1928 the government set up the Public Solicitor's Office to make legal aid more easily available. People were eligible if they did not own property worth more than 50 pounds. As more people learnt about legal aid, demand increased. This created a backlog of cases in the Public Solicitor's Office. To provide more legal aid, the Victorian state government passed the Legal Aid Act 1961 which set up the Legal Aid Committee. This committee was run by the legal profession.
In 1969, the state government passed new legislation. This Act made the Legal Aid Committee responsible for civil and minor criminal cases, and made the Public Solicitor responsible for serious criminal cases. In 1974 the Commonwealth government set up the Australian Legal Aid Office. This office provided legal aid for Federal law cases such as family law and bankruptcy. The Australian Legal Aid Office also helped people who the commonwealth had a special responsibility for, such as people receiving social security and members of the armed forces.
...
Wikipedia