Checklist · Legal Aid & Community Legal Practice
Merit and means assessment table for a grant of legal aid (NSW)
Working table for a Legal Aid NSW grant: the published Merit Test, the Means Test, contributions under the Legal Aid Commission Act, and what is still missing before a recommendation.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia, New South Wales
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 2 authorities it cites, for Australia and New South Wales.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when triaging an application for a grant of aid, or when building the merit assessment that goes to the grants officer. It is not the grant. Legal Aid NSW decides eligibility.
Used for these tasks
- Triage a legal aid eligibility and means-test application
- Build a grant-of-aid merit assessment table
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may sort the client's figures and documents into the table. The lawyer decides prospects, benefit and harm, and whether the means material is enough.
AI may
- Place income, assets, dependants and Centrelink details from the client's documents into the means rows
- List the documents still missing against the verification row
- Extract dates, charges or orders from the file into the matter-description row
AI must not
- Must not state that the Merit Test or the Means Test is met or failed
- Must not calculate or state the contribution payable
- Must not describe the content of the jurisdiction, forum or availability-of-funds tests, which are separate published policies
The lawyer checks
- Both Merit Test limbs are addressed: benefit or harm, and reasonable prospects of success
- Means cover the legally aided person and anyone else the Means Test says must be counted, and any change since the application is flagged for reassessment
- The contribution question is left to Legal Aid NSW under s 36, with the facts recorded and no figure invented
- The matter type is one for which aid is available under the current crime, family, civil or AVO policy
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is available after you log in. It is free. When you log in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Legal Aid & Community Legal Practice
- Application for legal aid (Legal Aid NSW): guide to helping a client apply
- Plain-language letter of advice after a one-off advice appointment
- Client consent and authority to obtain information from a third party (Centrelink, a bank, a landlord or an agency)
- Extension request: work already done and the further work sought (Legal Aid NSW)
- Limited-scope (unbundled) retainer letter in plain language
- Community legal centre intake, safety and conflict-check form
- Duty lawyer brief and appearance note (NSW Local Court criminal list)
- Warm referral to another service, with the client's consent to share information
- End-of-service (file closing) letter in plain language
- Appeal to the Legal Aid Review Panel against a refusal or termination of legal aid (NSW)
- Checklist: code a service to the National Legal Assistance Data Standards before reporting
- Sign-off checklist for AI-assisted self-help factsheets and kits
- Client notice and choice: AI-assisted notes, summaries and translation (plain language)
All precedents for Legal Aid & Community Legal Practice · Tasks and AI use in this area