Judicial ephemera collection shows personal objects kept by judges and entrusted to College
The Judicial College of Victoria has shared that it tabled its annual report for 2024–25 in Parliament, which addressed recent leadership and membership changes, the participating judicial officers’ education and publication efforts, and the judicial ephemera collection.
According to the College’s news release, in the 2024–25 term, 157 judicial officers or 30 percent of the judicial population across the state’s six jurisdictions volunteered their time and shared their knowledge to design peer-led judicial education and publications, in collaboration with College staff.
The news release added that judicial officers assumed roles on steering and editorial committees and served as chairs and presenters at educational programs.
The College’s more than 50 programs included sessions on bail reform, judgment writing, oral decisions, cultural awareness of First Peoples, and leadership development and wellbeing to promote a respectful workplace culture.
In its news release, the College said it maintained or updated over 20 publications and resources. Specifically, it entirely rewrote the serious injury manual and altered the criminal charge book and Victorian sentencing manual.
In a message in the annual report, Richard Niall noted that this was the first annual report since he became the state’s 13th chief justice and assumed his role as the College’s chair last February.
According to Chief Justice Niall, in recent years, he has contributed to the courts and tribunals as workplaces program, which has continued building upon the foundations set by retired Chief Justice Anne Ferguson.
Niall said he opened the 2025 judicial management forum, which highlighted the importance of judges’ relationships with associates and court staff members, supported new judges in fulfilling leadership responsibilities, and covered matters such as mentoring, wellbeing, and workflow.
In his message, Niall also referred to the judgment writing program last February and the conversation on First Peoples’ legal traditions.
The annual report included images and stories relating to a collection of judicial ephemera. For this project, judicial officers entrusted small, personal items that they had kept to the College’s care.
The collection included seemingly mundane as well as historically significant objects, such as a pencil, handwritten notes, a piece of origami, pottery, a chess set, a miniature liquor bottle, and spectacles.
The College said the project aims to provide glimpses into the lives of those holding judicial roles, as rarely reflected in formal records. The College added that the collection reveals themes of collegiality, culture, tradition, inheritance, and family.
“The artefacts convey the tone, texture and details of judicial working life – intellectual, reflective, poignant and sometimes humorous,” explained Samantha Burchell, the College’s CEO, in a message in the annual report. “These offerings remind us that the judiciary is not only an institution, but a community of human beings.”
“The life of the courts is shaped not just by rules and structures but by the people, stories and histories that give our work its meaning,” Niall said in his message.
