Own your story.
Vanessa Ash and Associates Lawyers
Letting the legal system dictate how your story ends is a recipe for disaster. You need someone guiding your case through the system, with nothing but your best interests at heart.Â
Get a great lawyer who knows the system, the people who work in it, and will delve into every angle of your story. Make the most of decades of practical law experience and a passion for winning.
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Get in touch so we can help you
What’s the difference between jail and prison in Victoria?
Understanding the difference between jail and prison is usually related to short or long-term stays.
You might also need:
- Understanding remand in Victoria
- Going to prison in Victoria
- Victorian Courts get direct digital link for video conferences with prisoners
- The difference between civil and criminal law in Victoria
- Suspended sentences are no longer a thing (in Victoria)
- All the penalties that could be applied to you in Victoria
- Community Corrections Orders in Victoria
Dealing with traffic fines in Victoria
There are a few options for dealing with infringement fines in Victoria, though there are some exceptions to the rules.
You might also need:
- Your rights when dealing with the police – Victoria
- The ins and outs of fines and infringement notices in Victoria
- Getting through court for traffic offences in Victoria
- What happens after your traffic offence in Victoria
- Traffic Offences
- Speeding offences in Victoria
- What you need to know about breathalyser tests in Victoria
Public transport compensation claims in Victoria
If you have been injured on public transport, you can make a claim with TAC. Here’s how.
You might also need:
- Making a TAC claim in Victoria
- What does ‘personal injury’ mean in Victoria?
- Public liability compensation claims in Victoria
- Asbestos compensation claims – Victoria
- Car or motor vehicle accident compensation claims in Victoria
- Workers’ compensation claims in Victoria
- Medical negligence compensation claims in Victoria
Getting married in Australia – legal requirements
There are specific laws surrounding marriage in Australia.
You might also need:
- How to change a child’s name legally in Queensland
- Annulling a marriage in Victoria
- How to change a child’s name legally in Victoria
- The ins and outs of legal defence in Victoria
- The legal age a child can inherit in Victoria
- How to change a child’s name legally in South Australia
- How to change a child’s name legally in Western Australia
Drug driving by professional drivers
How child support payments and custody intersect in Victoria
Custody arrangements and child support payments are detailed and sometimes hard to figure out. We examine the most common combinations.
You might also need:
- Court considerations for parenting orders in Victoria
- How to change a child’s name legally in Western Australia
- Understanding child support in Victoria
- Child custody in Victoria
- How your child’s age impacts custody and care arrangement outcomes in Victoria
- Different types of custody arrangements in Victoria
- The process of applying for custody or access to your children – Victoria
Suing your employer for negligence – Victoria
Usually, you can’t sue your employer for negligence (or there is no need), because WorkCover takes care of everything. You can sue for lost income and superannuation.
Spousal maintenance in Victoria
Maintenance payments are not mandatory, but in some circumstances they will be court ordered. Get the facts before you agree to anything.
You might also need:
- Settlements – understanding financial agreements in Victoria
- Divorce settlements – Victoria
- How to get a divorce in Victoria
- How your stuff is divvied up after a divorce in Victoria
- My partner died but I am not in the will – what do I do? – Victoria
- De facto separations in Victoria
- Understanding child support in Victoria
Calls for teen sexting not to be a crime in Victoria
Sexting laws are now involved in a parliamentary committee to really delve into teenagers’ developing sexuality and mobile phones.
You might also need:
- Sex and the law – age of consent, pregnancy, abortion in Victoria
- Revenge porn soon to be illegal in Victoria
- Sexting laws in Victoria
- Victoria Police’s shonky information release policies
- What the law states regarding sexual offences in Victoria
- How do we define a ‘crime’ in Victoria?
- Applications to access the proceeds of crime in Victoria
Changes to Victoria’s drink driving laws (from 2014)
Drink driving laws changed in late 2014 so now an interlock condition is mandatory for certain circumstances.
You might also need:
- Drink driving penalties – Victoria
- New drink and drug driving offences set out in Victoria
- The Great Victoria Police Drink Driving Bungle of 2015
- The drink driving law change that the government forgot to tell Victoria Police
- Drink driving offences in Victoria
- Blood tests for drink and drug driving
- Hoon driving and impoundment laws in Victoria
What you need to know about breathalyser tests in Victoria
Understand your rights and obligations when being breath tested by police.
You might also need:
- Defences for refusing to take a breath test in Victoria
- Common questions regarding defending drink driving charges
- Riding your bike drunk – what does the law actually say? – Victoria
- Drug driving offences in Victoria
- Blood tests for drink and drug driving
- Cannabis drug tests returning false results, study finds
- The drink driving law change that the government forgot to tell Victoria Police
New drink and drug driving offences set out in Victoria
There is a new drink and drug driving law on the block. Find out what it means and why it is here to stay.
You might also need:
De facto couples and death or separation, and how that affects stepchildren – Victoria
New updates to old laws now recognise the relationship between stepchildren and a stepparent after their parent has died.
You might also need:
- LGBTQ? Be perfectly clear with your loved ones in Victoria
- Unmarried partners and inheritances in Victoria
- Your rights as a child in Australian inheritance laws
- My partner died but I am not in the will – what do I do? – Victoria
- My step-parent died without a will – what next? – Victoria
- De facto separations in Victoria
- Why you need to plan for your death in Victoria
Young drug offender charges – Victoria
There are some key ways in which teenagers get involved in drugs, with some more serious than others.
You might also need:
- Unregistered firearms offences – Victoria
- Drug offences in Victoria
- Review of sentencing options for drug-related offending in Victoria – LIV
- New drink and drug driving offences set out in Victoria
- Claim of Right Defence in Child Stealing Charges in Victoria
- Charges we can help you quash in Victoria
- Incorrect Charges Defence in Victoria
Unlicensed Firearm Offences in Victoria
You’ll need legal advice to defend gun charges, which can range in severity. A good defence is essential, as gun offences can turn bad fast.
You might also need:
Being sexually harassed at work – accused or accuser in Victoria
If you are being sexually harassed at work, you need to know what the law is and how to operate within it to solve the problem.
You might also need:
- Law regarding bullying and discrimination at work in Victoria
- Who inherits the copyright to your work when you die?
- Harassment, discrimination, and bullying laws in Victoria
- The difference between civil and criminal law in Victoria
- The ins and outs of fines and infringement notices in Victoria
- Victoria Police’s shonky information release policies
- The Great Victoria Police Drink Driving Bungle of 2015
When social media is used to incriminate you in Victoria
Yes, your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts can – and will – be used against you, taken out of context, and cause you worlds of pain.
You might also need:
- Do we still need jurors? The court of public opinion and social media in Victoria
- Why what you post online matters, legally in Victoria
- Young drug offender charges – Victoria
- Provocation Defence in Victoria
- Your rights when dealing with the police – Victoria
- Calls for teen sexting not to be a crime in Victoria
- Fagin’s Law – adults getting kids to do their crimes (new law for 2017) in Victoria
Insurance company disputes – your rights – Victoria
Learn the process of getting what you believe you are entitled to from your insurer.
You might also need:
- Motor Vehicle Accidents and Insurance Company Disputes
- Been in an accident and insurance won’t pay? – Victoria
- Superannuation and your default insurance cover in Victoria
- How to avoid inheritance disputes in Victoria
- Managing disputes between an executor and beneficiary of a will in Victoria
- Getting through a police interview and your rights in Victoria
- Your rights when dealing with the police – Victoria
The difference between civil and criminal law in Victoria
Criminals get punished, civil suits award damages.
You might also need:
- Vanessa Ash fights for your freedom – criminal and civil law in Victoria
- What happens if you breach an intervention order – Victoria
- Civil Law
- What’s the difference between jail and prison in Victoria?
- Criminal Law
- Fagin’s Law – adults getting kids to do their crimes (new law for 2017) in Victoria
- What having a criminal record actually means in Victoria
Sex Offences – Consent Defence – Victoria
Consent can be a tricky topic, and the law has certain definitions so everyone is on the same page.
You might also need:
- Changes to rape law in Victoria as of 1 July 2015
- What the law states regarding sexual offences in Victoria
- Sexual offences in Victoria
- The ins and outs of legal defence in Victoria
- Sex and the law – age of consent, pregnancy, abortion in Victoria
- Understanding consent orders and parenting plans – Victoria
- The defence of self defence in Victoria
General power of attorney vs an enduring power of attorney vs enduring power of guardianship in Victoria
A general power of attorney is set while you can still make your own decisions, while an enduring power of attorney is set for when you lose capacity to make your own decisions.
You might also need:
- What is enduring power of guardianship in Victoria?
- What is enduring power of attorney in Victoria?
- What is a general power of attorney in Victoria?
- An explanation of Australian wills and estate planning
- What are advance care directives (a living will) in Victoria?
- Why you need to plan for your death in Victoria
- Binding Death Beneficiary Nominations (BDBNs) explained
Sexual offences in Victoria
Sexual offences are amongst the most serious, and require a solid legal team.
You might also need:
- Sex Offences – Consent Defence – Victoria
- Child abuse offences in Victoria
- Sexting laws in Victoria
- Sexual Assault Offences in Victoria
- What the law states regarding sexual offences in Victoria
- ‘Failure to disclose’ child sexual abuse offence introduced 2014 – Victoria
- Sexual, physical and psychological child abuse – legal time limits lifted in Victoria 2015
Public drunkenness (including cycling) in Victoria
Being drunk in public is illegal, particularly if mixed with antisocial behaviour or violence.
You might also need:
- Riding your bike drunk – what does the law actually say? – Victoria
- All the penalties that could be applied to you in Victoria
- False reports to police offences in Victoria
- New drink and drug driving offences set out in Victoria
- Summary Offences in Victoria
- Unlicensed Firearm Offences in Victoria
- Public Disorder Offences in Victoria
Annulling a marriage in Victoria
Annulments are very specific forms of dissolving a marriage that was deemed not lawful.
You might also need:
- Getting married in Australia – legal requirements
- How your stuff is divvied up after a divorce in Victoria
- Surrogacy, IVF, step-children, adoption: who are legally my parents? – Victoria
- Sex Offences – Consent Defence – Victoria
- Spousal maintenance in Victoria
- Prenups and postnups – binding financial agreements in Victoria
- De facto couples and death or separation, and how that affects stepchildren – Victoria
Understanding probate in Victoria
Probate is the agreement by the courts that whatever a will says goes.
You might also need:
- How to appoint your next-of-kin in Victoria
- Managing disputes between an executor and beneficiary of a will in Victoria
- What or who is the executor of a will? – Victoria
- Making a family provision claim on a deceased estate in Victoria
- Who is my next of kin, and what does that mean? – Victoria
- Next-of-kin in Victoria
- Wills, Probate and Estate Planning Law