VPRS 11393 Litigation Files - Closure of Northland and Richmond Secondary Colleges

Full description

These records relate to the Legal Unit's handling of the closure of the Northland and Richmond Secondary Colleges and the subsequent Equal Opportunity Board hearing and Full Court Appeal which resulted from the proposed closure.

The files were not maintained in any real order by the Legal Unit. In most cases like material was filed together to aid in retrieval of information.

The records have been arranged by subject, following some consultation with the Legal Unit. Subject headings are :
1. Northland Secondary College
2. Richmond Secondary College
3. Legal / Security Costs
4. Legal Costs Only
5. Equal Opportunity Board Hearing
6. Full Court Appeal
7. Miscellaneous
8. Background Papers

1. Northland Secondary College material comprises briefings to the Minister and to the Director, correspondence, student lists, reports, press articles, opinions from solicitors, maintenance funding, Supreme Court appeal decisions, memorandums, enrolment projections and notices of intention to enrol. Some of these files contain numbered item lists at the front of the file that index the file contents.

2. Richmond Secondary College material comprises statements to the Equal Opportunity Board, lists of enrolments of ex-Richmond Secondary College students, reports on suspended students, school timetable, media reports, documents relating to the protest at Richmond Secondary College, correspondence, memorandums, Richmond-Malvern merger. The amount of material in these files is of far less volume than that in the Northland files

3. Legal / Security Costs material comprises one folder containing F.O.I. requests for Departmental documents relating to Richmond Secondary College, accounts for security services, general claim forms (L2As), invoices from security providers and legal firms, briefings to the Minister, briefings to the Director, photocopies of cheques, State Tender Board documentation relating to the engagement of solicitors.

4. Legal Costs Only material comprises one folder for each of Northland and Richmond Secondary Colleges, containing general claim forms (L2As), accounts/invoices, briefings to the Minister, briefings to the Director, correspondence, memorandums, legal advice, summonses, authorisations by Minister for legal representation, State Tender Board documentation.

5. Equal Opportunity Board material comprises submissions to the Board from complainants, submissions to the Board from respondents (D.O.E.), affidavits, orders of the Board, Boards reasons for decisions, memorandum of advice from the Solicitor-General, legal opinions, briefings to the Minister, legal documents requested by subpoena, witness statements.

6. Full Court Appeal material comprises documents regarding an appeal pursuant to section 49(4) of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984, Supreme Court Orders, affidavits, exhibits, internal memorandums, court documents, comments from the Solicitor-General, briefings to the Minister, correspondence, legal advice, submissions of the appellants, submissions of respondents, summary of facts.

7. Miscellaneous material is that which is not applicable to the other subject headings and comprises reports on Aboriginal Education, census data on Koori students, evidentiary material, school maintenance information.

8. Background Papers material comprises media reports, curriculum material, reports to the Department on provision of education and material on school re-organisation.