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From the Equality VPsJessica Rae & Jenny Jiang Your friendly equality representatives for 2008
Equality Portfolio 2008
I. Introduction No legal system is perfect and it is only through recognising and changing the shortcomings that improvements can take place. At the very heart of the law’s function in assisting society towards greater justice is ‘equality’. The innate human ability to recognise inequality and injustice is what triggers all reform and improvement. It is our aim as the Equality Vice Presidents for 2008 to encourage all students to recognise and think about both the inequality in access to the law as well as inequality in the substance of the law. The future equality of the law will undoubtedly be improved through engaging the consciousness of intelligent and innovative law students such as your selves. II. Equality beyond the Law School Two annual initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of inequality issues are the Beyond Collins Street Seminar Series and the Equality Handbook. Beyond Collins Street is a series of lunchtime seminars held in first semester that inform students of career pathways that their legal degrees can lead into outside of the corporate sector. It aims to promote student consideration of careers in areas and organisations that directly contribute to achieving greater equality of the law. In 2007 we heard speakers from areas such as Environment & Land, International Law and Development. Whilst there is a relative abundance of information and guidance for students seeking a corporate career there is considerably less for the non-corporate sector and the BCS seminars aim to address this. As well as informing students about their particular area of expertise and the relevant equality issues, speakers will often share a little about themselves and how they came to be involved in their organisation. The series is usually concluded with an inspirational address, followed by a night of mingling with our guest speakers. Whilst the Beyond Collins Street Seminar Series brings in legal professionals from the non-corporate sector, the Equality Handbook is filled with the experiences and opinions of our fellow students who are passionate about or involved in (or both!) a particular issue of social justice. Volunteering experiences, suggestions for reform and raising awareness levels of a less well known issue are common topics covered. The Handbook is both an informative resource as well as a source of inspiration – you would be surprised at just how many students are involved in as many important and worthwhile causes. At the back of the Handbook there is also a Volunteers’ Directory which is invaluable to those students looking to make a practical contribution. III. Equality within the Law School As the representative of the student body on the Equal Opportunity Committee and facilitator of the Living Book Scheme, the portfolio works towards greater equality within the law school itself. The Living Book Scheme provides textbooks and course materials to students experiencing financial difficulty. All law students may also raise issues such as discrimination and access to education with the faculty through the Equality Vice Presidents who act as the student representatives on the Law School Equal Opportunity Committee. As your Equality Vice Presidents for 2008, we extend our invitation to all law students to join us in educating and informing ourselves of equality issues in the law with a view to greater equality both within and beyond the walls of our law school. Please feel free to contact us at lss-equality@unimelb.edu.au if you have any comments or suggestions, or just want to have a chat about equality-related concerns or issues!
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