Grants Publications Education Annual Report 2010/11 Victoria Law Foundation Helping Victorians understand the law and use it to improve their lives Contents From the Chair 2 From the Executive Director 4 About Us 6 Our Strategic Priorities in 2010/11 7 The Year at a Glance 8 Strategy One — Reaching out to our community 10 Strategy Two — Engaging students with the law 14 Strategy Three — Better legal information 18 Strategy Four — Best practice grants 22 Strategy Five — Excellence in management 28 Financial Report 31 1 Victoria Law Foundation Annual report 2010/11 From the Chair In the reporting year 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 three notable events occurred. First, in November 2010 there was a change in the office of Attorney-General. The previous Attorney-General, the Honourable Rob Hulls MP, was succeeded by the Honourable Robert Clark MP. I pay tribute to the support of the Foundation provided over more than a decade by Mr Hulls. The Foundation acknowledges it and warmly wishes Mr Hulls well. I acknowledge and welcome the support to and interest in the Foundation provided by Mr Clark, shown with readiness since his accession to office. I look forward to working with Mr Clark hereafter and warmly wish him well in the office of Attorney-General. Second, in June 2011, the Victoria Law Foundation Act 2011 came into operation. Essentially it amended the constitution and membership of the Foundation by providing that the Chairperson of the Foundation shall be the Chief Justice or her nominee, and the Foundation shall consist of six members (previously not less than six and not more than eight members). The reduction in Board members was effected by the Ministerial appointments being reduced from up to four (in 2010 in fact four) to two. This was I pay tribute to the members of the Board and the consistent with the Minister’s public statements Executive Director, Ms Joh Kirby, and staff of the that it was consonant with Board independence Foundation. The Foundation is fortunate to have that the quantum of Ministerial appointments to a talented and thoughtful Board and Executive the Board be reduced. By the transitional provisions Director and a committed and able staff. In 2010 of the 2011 Act, the terms of office of all the members Ms Kirby was awarded a Churchill Fellowship of the Board were preserved to their expiry date which she undertook in 2011 visiting Canada, of 30 June 2012. I wish to record that each of United States, Sweden and England to study the nominees under the 2009 Act always acted methods of delivery of community legal information. independently. In conclusion, I wish to record my thanks to the The third event is that the work of the Foundation Chief Justice of Victoria, the Honourable Marilyn has grown, matured and prospered during the Warren AC, for her continuing interest in and reporting year. This Report reveals, and is a record support of the Foundation. of, that development. I commend the Report to you. The Honourable P.D. Cummins Chair August 2011 2 Victoria Law Foundation Annual report 2010/11 Our Board Foundation Board Grant Subgroup Left to right Brendan Sydes The Foundation is governed by an eight-person Mick Hall Chair nominee of the Attorney-General Board with the Executive Director. Members Erin Dolan (resigned in October 2010) serve on a voluntary basis. Member James W.S. Peters SC Joh Kirby nominee of the Victorian Bar Four members are appointed by the Attorney- Member The Honourable P.D. Cummins General of Victoria with reference to their specialist Sophia Panagiotidis Chair skills in key areas of the Foundation’s work. The Member Victoria Law Foundation other four members are appointed on the nomination nominee of the Chief Justice Kim Webster of the following bodies respectively: the Chief of Victoria Member Justice of Victoria, the Victorian Bar (peak body for Joh Kirby Mark Woods barristers), the Law Institute of Victoria (peak body Executive Director Member for solicitors) and the Federation of Community Legal Victoria Law Foundation Centres (peak body for community legal centres). Brendan Sydes Audit, Finance nominee of the Federation and Investment As is stated in the Chair’s letter, on 23 June 2011 the of Community Legal Centres Victoria Law Foundation Amendment Act 2011 came Subgroup Sophia Panagiotidis Mark Woods into operation. It will reduce the number of Board nominee of the Chair members appointed by the Attorney-General Attorney-General Sally Finlay from four to two. Absent Member Mark Woods The Foundation is an independent statutory body. nominee of the Joh Kirby Law Institute of Victoria Member Its Annual Report is tabled in Parliament each year. Sally Finlay Sophia Panagiotidis nominee of the Member Attorney-General Brendan Sydes Kim Webster Member nominee of the Stephen Roche Attorney-General Co-opted Member 3 Victoria Law Foundation Annual report 2010/11 From the Executive Director In 2010/11 the Foundation cemented its role helping Victorians understand the law and their legal system. Our new strategic plan builds on the Foundation’s work in past years, focussing our programs on activities that reach out to the community, engage secondary and tertiary students with the law, and improve the quality of legal information available to Victorians. This year, the structure of the Annual Report reflects this new focus and demonstrates how each department within the Foundation has responsibilities for delivering on these strong themes. For a small organisation with a relatively modest budget of around $2 million, the reach of our work is considerable. In 2010/11 we distributed over 155,000 publications. The most widely distributed publication was once again the Law help guide, helping more Victorians than ever navigate their way to appropriate legal assistance. Publishing easy-to-understand information for the community continues to be a key area of our work. This year we launched the Better Information Handbook, a guide to plain language publishing for community organisations. I personally expanded my knowledge in this critical area through a Churchill Making the most of our funding is only possible Fellowship, travelling to Canada, the United States, through a continued dedication to maintaining Sweden and England to learn from the experiences the highest standards in financial management, of plain language experts overseas. This work will administration and planning. be built upon in 2011/12. Our significant achievements this year are due, in Our Grants Program continued to support a range large part, to the passion and dedication of our staff. of projects, and for the first time this year priority I thank them for their continued commitment to consideration was given to projects that supported making a difference to the lives of Victorians. our strategic direction. While many other factors Our staff are fortunate to be fully supported by our were considered in the grant-making process, the Board and Chair, the Honourable P.D. Cummins. addition of these new, strategic considerations has I would like to thank them for their exceptional sharpened the focus of the Grants Program. skills and hard work over the past 12 months. Law Week, a central feature of our Education I look forward to the year ahead. Program, was once again very successful with a more cohesive program of events designed to attract the public. Highlights included the Law Week Oration delivered by Mr George Brouwer, speaking on the topic of ‘Achieving integrity: do we judicialise too much?’, the Courts Open Day, and the inaugural Law Week launch event at The Wheeler Centre Joh Kirby (featuring speakers Alan Attwood, Debbie Mortimer SC, Julian Burnside QC, and Robert Stary in a Executive Director, Victoria Law Foundation spirited discussion of human rights). August 2011 4 Victoria Law Foundation Annual report 2010/11 Left to right Absent Our Staff Emma Mellon Lorin Clarke The Foundation employs a dynamic staff with Publications Manager Projects Coordinator specialist skills across a range of areas including Jasmine Pettersen Melinda Crimp grant-making, education, publishing, communications, Publications Officer Acting Publications Manager plain language and management. Cherry Tunnock Erin Dolan Finance and Grants and Awards Manager Administration Officer Ian Elsum Cristina Gutierrez Finance Officer Officer Coordinator (seated) Kathy Hope Melanie Rygl Education Programs Manager Grants and Allyson Hose Administration Officer Publications Officer (Web) Joh Kirby Sally Johnston Executive Director Education Officer Paul Bateman Anna Murphy Communications and Teacher-in-Residence Media Coordinator David Thomson Jacinta Hanrahan Teacher-in-Residence Finance Manager Fiona Viney Projects Officer Stephanie Williams Publications Officer 5 Victoria Law Foundation Annual report 2010/11 — About Us About us Victoria Law Foundation is a not-for-profit statutory All our programs offer services that support the body established under legislation in 1967. Our legal sector in providing for the Victorian public. mandate is to help Victorians understand the We offer specialist teaching advice, tailored law and ultimately use it to improve their lives. publishing support, and training for those developing community legal information. We connect with the Victorian public through our Grants, Education and Publications Programs. The Foundation is funded by the Legal Services Board Public Purpose Fund, whose funding source Our Grants Program enriches the important is the interest on solicitors’ trust accounts. relationship between the legal sector and the public by offering funding, support and advice for innovative Further information on Foundation programs community projects. These collaborations inject new and how to apply for our grants can be found skills and knowledge into the legal sector. at www.victorialawfoundation.org.au The Foundation’s Education Program inspires high school and university students – as well as members of the broader public – to engage and interact directly with the justice system. Our Publications Program develops resources to help Victorians navigate the legal sector, gain a greater understanding of the justice system, and help solve common legal problems.