The Judicial College of Victoria’s Annual Report 2024–25 has been tabled in Parliament. This year, the Report is also the backdrop for the College’s Judicial Ephemera collection.
Education and publications
Throughout 2024–25, 157 judicial officers (or 30% of the judicial population) across all six jurisdictions volunteered their time and expertise, and collaborated with College staff to create peer-led judicial education and publications. The judicial officers took up expert roles on steering and editorial committees and as chairs and presenters at education programs.
Highlights of the year’s 50-plus programs included sessions on:
- the law, including bail reform
- judicial skills, including judgment writing and oral decisions
- First Peoples cultural awareness, and
- leadership development and wellbeing to strengthen respectful workplace culture.
The College also maintained and updated more than 20 trusted publications and resources, including a complete rewrite of the Serious Injury Manual and updates to the Criminal Charge Book and Victorian Sentencing Manual.
Judicial ephemera
Beyond the official institutional narrative, the Annual Report showcases a collection of small personal objects that judicial officers have chosen to keep. Entrusted to the College for this project, these treasures – captured through images and stories – reveal aspects of judicial life rarely seen in the formal record.
Ranging from the everyday to the historically significant, the objects have been curated as metaphors of permanence and transience, and as reflections of collegiality, culture, tradition, inheritance and family. Together, they offer glimpses of the people who occupy the judicial role and the human dimension of judging.
We invite you to explore the full Report to learn more about the College’s work and the Judicial Ephemera collection.