Law Talks travels to Wodonga

Students explore the law first-hand  

Our popular Law Talks program travelled to Wodonga last month, connecting high school students from the region directly to guest speakers from Victoria's legal sector.  

Over an action-packed two days, representatives from Victoria Legal Aid, Victorian Electoral Commission, Victorian Ombudsman, and the Victorian Law Reform Commission, organised by VLF, gave local young people a first-hand understanding of how their organisations operate with and within the legal sector. The talks were followed by a tour of the local court, with further presentations from Juries Victoria.  

Wodonga's unique location can create confusion around some areas of state law. As a result, students were keen to clarify their rights and responsibilities. For example, the legal age to drive is different between Victoria and New South Wales, affecting those in attendance who need to drive as part of upcoming apprenticeships. Getting information directly from the source is invaluable in helping students navigate these differences.  

A team effort

VLF Education Manager Fabiola Superina reflected on the collaborative effort behind the program, highlighting the importance of accessibility and offering students a broad range of practical information.

“We want to reach out to the smaller regional schools and the smaller towns and help facilitate them being able to attend the program,” she says. “It's also a matter of reaching out to a lot of different speakers. We like to have talks that are relevant to the curriculum, talks that are relevant to their legal rights and responsibilities as young adults, and talks that are good in terms of their civics engagement in the democratic process.”

Hear from Fabiola in our wrap-up video:  

Understanding legal need on the border

Throughout the two days, we also took the opportunity to connect with local community, legal, and justice sector professionals while in town.  

The VLF Education team visited Felltimber Community Centre, where local Neighbourhood House managers, committees, volunteers and participants gathered to share what’s happening in their local community, and discussed legal referral pathways, community education opportunities, and potential next steps. Hearing from those on the ground helps us to better understand how we can offer support through future programs and information sharing.  

Further insights into local legal need were shared at our Knowledge Exchange event at Wodonga Library, where professionals from legal, health, community, family, employment, and support services came together to talk about what they are seeing and experiencing.  

What we could all wholeheartedly agree on is that the mission of access to justice is multifaceted and requires a coordinated approach. Information sharing across various sectors builds a clearer picture of how legal need shows up in communities and how services can better connect around the people who need support.  

We'd like to thank everyone from Wodonga, the broader border region, and the professionals from the organisations who all contributed to making the Wodonga Law Talks a success.  

These events were run as part of our Law Talks program. To hear about upcoming programs and events, subscribe to our newsletters.

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