Law Week 2024: Melbourne Magistrates' Court Tour for Disability Advocates

Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service invites disability advocates with lived experience of disability to join us for a day at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court during Law Week.

You will have the opportunity to tour the Magistrates’ Court and learn about access to justice issues relevant to your advocacy.

To start the day, registry staff and managers from the Assessment and Referral Court and Court Integrated Services Program will talk to you about their respective programs and how you can support your clients to access them.

Then you can observe the Assessment and Referral Court (ARC) in action. The ARC is a therapeutic court which can refer people with cognitive disabilities who have been charged with a crime to services that could help them.

This event is an excellent opportunity to understand the options which may be available for your clients who have a matter before the Magistrates’ Court and how best you can support them.

There will be opportunities to ask questions, so please come prepared with anything you would like to ask!

Court will break for lunch at 1:00 pm, participants can elect to return at 2:00 pm to continue observing the ARC if they wish.

Please let us know if you have any questions or accessibility requirements.