Post by Victorian Bar

The Victorian Bar today welcomed 15 delegates from the Pacific region who are participating in the 2026 Train the Trainer program, an initiative of the Bar’s International Advocacy Training Committee. This is the third time the program, which is designed to build advocacy skills that will assist participants in their court appearances, has been held in Melbourne.   This year’s delegates are from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, and the Solomon Islands. Over the next two weeks, their intensive training will include shadowing and mentoring sessions with some of Melbourne’s leading barristers and members of the judiciary, who have volunteered their time and wisdom. Among guests at the welcome ceremony were her Honour Judge Suzanne Kirton of the County Court of Victoria and his Honour Magistrate Ross Maxted from the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria.   For more than 30 years, members of the Victorian Bar and judiciary have assisted the legal profession in the Pacific by providing advocacy training to lawyers. We are grateful to the Papua New Guinea Centre for Judicial Excellence, the Australia-Papua New Guinea Law and Justice Partnership, the New Zealand Pacific Justice Program, and the Fiji Director of Public Prosecutions for partnering with us to deliver the program.