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As part of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide 2 legal assistance mechanisms will be provided. This includes:

• A national legal advice service for legal advice and information about engaging with the Royal Commission
• Legal financial assistance for entities giving evidence or formally engaging with the Royal Commission

National legal advice service

A national legal advice service has been established for people who want to engage with the Royal Commission.

Funded by the Australian Government, National Legal Aid and Legal Aid New South Wales are delivering the Defence and Veterans Legal Service (DAVLS).

DAVLS provides legal advice and information to assist Australian Defence Force personnel and veterans, their families, carers and supporters to access and engage with the Royal Commission. It is an independent, trauma-informed, culturally safe and accessible service. Assistance is available to people to understand their legal rights and options in engaging with the Royal Commission.

The legal advice service can also provide referrals to counselling and other support services to ensure a holistic and cooperative approach to assisting people to engage with the Royal Commission. The legal advice service does not require the individual to be a formal witness of the Royal Commission.

The service will run for the duration of the Royal Commission.

Legal financial assistance scheme

They administer legal financial assistance for entities giving evidence or other forms of formal engagement with the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

Eligibility for legal financial assistance:

They may provide legal financial assistance to an entity for their reasonable legal representation and disbursement costs in the following situations:

• They are called, or granted leave to appear, as a witness at a public or private hearing, or attend a private session (if the Royal Commission authorises legal representation to be present) of the Royal Commission.
• They are requested to attend or are attending an interview of the Royal Commission.
• They are requested to provide a written statement that will be used as evidence of the Royal Commission.
• They are required to comply with a notice to produce issued by the Royal Commissioner.

If your organisation has been called by the Royal Commission, the organisation will be assessed to determine whether it can meet the cost of its legal representation without incurring serious financial difficulty.

If you have been called in your personal capacity, you will be exempt from an assessment of financial circumstances.

The International Child Abduction Respondents Scheme (ICARS) may provide funding to an individual who is responding to a 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction application seeking the return of a child under the Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Regulations 1986 (the Regulations) in an Australian court.

You may be eligible for ICARS if you are:

• defending or proposing to defend an application filed in an Australian court under the Regulations seeking a return order for a child (or children)
• appealing or proposing to appeal a return order made by an Australian court under the Regulations
• responding to or proposing to respond to an appeal against a non-return decision made by an Australian court under the Regulations.

ICARS applications can be made for proceedings filed under the Regulations on or after 1 January 2024.