Welcome to the Old Melbourne Gaol, Crime and Justice Experience ...inspires the heads, hearts and hands of our future decision-makers.

Melbourne's justice hub, integrating the Old Melbourne Gaol with the former City Watch House and Court One of the former Magistrates' Court, is a unique and innovative CBD site that provides learners with a contemporary educational experience. When your students visit the Old Melbourne Gaol, Crime and Justice Experience we will challenge their preconceived notions of human rights, citizenship and justice and in so doing stir them into considering what kind of world they want to live in.

Learning programs cater for students from Year 5 through to VCE, ESL and tertiary groups. To foster active learning partnerships that begin before you visit. All program come with innovative teaching and learning support materials.

Decision-making

Courtroom Dramas based on real cases, both contemporary and historical, highlight issues such as capital punishment and justice for women, young people, indigenous Victorians and asylum seekers. Students actively participate in a trial, experiencing all the drama and values associated with making decisions about human lives in a way that can only happen when immersed in the physical space.

Community

Between 1913 and 1995 the City Watch House was the point of transition between Melbourne's community and the justice system. Incarcerated within its walls, were an ever-changing community of individuals charged with offences ranging from public drunkenness to murder. Students actively explore this confronting place and its people from a number of different perspectives through role-play, multi-media interpretation and self-exploration.

Punishment

Guided tours of the Old Melbourne Gaol will unlock a world of isolation and fear, the conditions of incarceration, punishment (capital and corporal) and 19th century notions of rehabilitation as well as the lives of its most infamous inmates. Students can judge for themselves how far the justice system has moved in relation to crime and punishment.

Program Packages

By combining a number of programs at Old Melbourne Gaol, Crime and Justice Experience students can explore the full story of justice; from being charged with a crime through the decision-making processes and finally freedom or punishment. Students can further investigate justice issues at the on-site multi-media resource centre.

Courtroom Dramas at the Old Melbourne Gaol - Crime and Justice Experience

The former Magistrates' Court in Russell Street now offers a rich learning experience where students become active participants in a researched and scripted trial, experiencing all the drama of a courtroom in a way that can only happen when immersed in the actual physical space.

Set in the heart of Melbourne's former hub of law, order, crime and punishment this new development by the National Trust will soon see the heritage buildings of the former City Watch House, the Magistrates' Court and the infamous Old Melbourne Gaol combined into one exciting visitor experience.

All our programs and presentations will focus on contemporary issues associated with human rights, justice and citizenship.

The interactive Courtroom Dramas are based on real cases. All challenge students to explore the often-confronting complexities of law and justice in present and past Victorian communities, and with a view to the future.

Pre and post visit material is provided for each case, enabling a comprehensive understanding of the case and related issues.

To make a booking phone 9663 7228 or email: caje@nattrust.com.au.