Fifteen of Hume City's brightest young legal minds have been recognised as part of the Victorian Bar Foundation's Student Achievement Awards.
Each of the award winners, from a variety of Hume secondary schools, received $1000 from the Foundation and $500 from Hume City Council.
Victorian Bar Foundation Chairman, The Honourable Justice Digby paid tribute to the students at a ceremony at the Richard Griffith Law Library in Melbourne.
"The Foundation encourages students considering a career in the law, emphasising the Victorian Bar is open to all based on merit, irrespective of socio-economic circumstances, ethnic background, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability.
Mayor of Hume Councilor Carly Moore said Council welcomed the opportunity to work with the Victorian Bar and celebrate local academic excellence.
"The students should feel very proud of what they have been able to achieve - it is a reminder that success requires hard work," Cr Moore said.
"All of the recipients have demonstrated positive values, including respect, collaboration, and willingness to engage - these are skills everyone interested in a career in law must have.
"These students will be thr future leaders, thinkers and employees in our community; we are so proud of everything they have achieved."
"Providing pathways for, and working with, the next generation of legal minds is inspiring," said Victorian Bar President Dr Matt Collins AM QC.
"With 40 per cent of Hume's 200,000 residents speaking a language other than English, it is important that students can see the intellectual curiosity and diversity within our profession, which is represented by more than 37 languages spoken among the Victorian Bar membership," he said.
To be eligible for the awards, students had to be enrolled in a secondary college in Hume City, have the highest grades in units 1 and 2 of Legal Studies, be currently undertaking units 3 and 4 and demonstrate consistent academic excellence in Year 11.
The Victorian Bar Foundation Student Achievement Award winners:
- Jesse Prior - Aitken College
- Angela Younan - Craigieburn Secondary College
- Joshua Hamill - Gladstone Park Secondary College
- Amanda Robson - Hume Anglican Grammar
- Aaima Chaudhry - Hume Central Secondary College
- Ahmad Hazim - Ilim College
- Amanda Ferrao - Kolbe Catholic College
- Cathy Auswin - Mount Ridley College
- Bawlina Khammoo - Penola Catholic College
- Daniel Caud - Roxburgh College
- Mia Dawson - Salesian College
- Azra Lekovic - Sirius College
- Flupater Hanna - St.Mary's Coptic Orthodox College
- Sarah Hansen - Sunbury College
- Holly Evans - Sunbury Downs College
About the Victorian Bar:
The Victorian Bar's 2,100 practising barristers have a hard and well-earned reputation for furthering the administration of justice, upholding the rule of law and acting fearlessly and independently in the interests of their clients.
The Victorian Bar is an independent college of specialist advocates, proud of its heritage but at the same time modern, accessible and committed to principles of equality and diversity. The Bar is increasingly culturally diverse - 15 per cent of Victorian barristers were born overseas in more than 30 countries and members speak more than 37 languages. Women now comprise 29 per cent of Victorian barristers compared to less than six per cent in 1980. More than 40 per cent of barristers under both 10 and 15 years' call are women.
Victoria's barristers are required to display the highest standards of professional conduct and integrity at all times. The Victorian Bar has a robust disciplinary regime, which is administered without fear or favour.
Reflecting the core values that have always defined the Victorian Bar - particularly, independence, excellence and leadership - make the Victorian Bar an integral and irreplaceable part of our system of justice.
About Hume City Council:
Hume City Council is one of Australia's fastest-growing cities and is home to more than 198,000 residents.
Spanning a total area of 504 square kilometres, the City is located in Melbourne's northern fringe, just 15 kilometres from the centre of Melbourne.
Hume is built around the established suburbs of Broadmeadows, Tullamarine and Gladstone Park in the south, the developing residential suburbs of Craigieburn, Greenvale and Roxburgh Park in the north-east and the Sunbury township in the north-west.
Today, Hume residents come from more than 160 different countries and speak approximately 140 languages - with two out of every five residents speaking a language other than English.
