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Important Information to Read before Booking a Law Day Out in 2025

Law Days Out in 2025 will continue to look a little different to prior years and may change in accordance with directions from the Courts and Sheriffs.

BEFORE BOOKING, please be reminded of the following details:

• There is a Fee for an LDO to partly cover the cost of our Facilitators and administration costs.  The fees (inclusive of GST) are as follows:
  • • Small Groups (for 1 – 15 students) $165
    • Medium Groups (16 – 30 students) $275
    • Large Groups (31 – 45 students) $462
  • Groups have an Office of Sherriff-imposed limit of 45 students per experience. Larger groups who wish to attend will need to make a few bookings to get all students through as we cannot facilitate a group larger than 45 on any day.
  • Court experiences are only available to year 11 and 12 Legal Studies Students. Advice provided by the Courts is that Commerce groups are not able to attend courts across NSW due to issues of compliance with child safety regulations and WHS issues.
  • We strongly recommend that students have studied the Crime unit prior to attending so that they have context for the matters that they observe.
  • Year 11 groups should not attend until later in Term 3 or on Term 4 so that Year 12 students have the opportunity to visit and so that the Year 11 students have context.
  • Groups have an Office of Sherriff-imposed supervision requirement of 1:20 teacher:student. You must always maintain this ratio in the complex.
  • Groups need to arrive at the Downing Centre at 8.20am as our judicial officers need to speak with groups prior to the start of the sitting day. The Law Day Out experience concludes at 11.30am. Groups are welcome to remain on levels 4 and 5 to observe the next session from 12-1pm.
  • Groups are mostly limited to observations in the Local Courts at the Downing Centre due to the requirement that students are not to attend any matters involving children or that are of a sexual nature. Unfortunately, these types of matters make up a large proportion of the District Court workload on a weekly basis. Local Courts are busy and cover a wide range of matters that address the great majority of the syllabus points in the Crime unit, so students will still have a valuable experience. Rule of Law Education Centre staff will try to facilitate some District Court observation where we are able.
  • You may see some civil matters in amongst criminal matters. Even though not in the HSC syllabus, this is still a valuable learning experience for your students as citizens, and more specifically for those who will go on to have a career anywhere in the justice system. The aim of this experience is to create knowledge of and respect for the legal system in operation and to see the rule of law in action.
  • You can find teacher and student information booklets, a sample timeline of the experience, student workbooks, risk management documents and our terms and conditions here: https://www.ruleoflaw.org.au/court-education/court-excursion-documents/
  • Please prepare your students to have questions for the judicial speaker, and be willing to ask your own questions should your students become silent!

   

  Please be aware that the Law Day Out excursions may change in accordance with directions from the Sheriffs and the Courts given circumstances beyond our control.

  There are a wide array of circumstances that influence court operations on any given day. We will have alternative activities and may have alternative speakers for you on the day other than was planned, so will need patience and understanding if plans alter on the day of your experience.

Payment of LDO invoices

As per the Flowchart, payment is required 45 days before the LDO.  For low SES schools or those with smaller groups, the fees may be reduced by approval of the Education Manager.

Supervision Ratios

Courts are high risk environments. The courts have set a supervision ratio for this experience at student:teacher 20:1. We strongly encourage schools to consider bringing additional staff members to enable maximum supervision of students at all times while in courts and in the court complex.

There are offenders present throughout the complex, including offenders on drug supply and child related offences, who are sitting in public galleries in courts with students, attending bathrooms and awaiting proceedings in public seating areas. Schools should attempt to increase supervision where possible to ensure minimal interaction with offenders. The ratio for Law Days Out is consistently under review for compliance with child safety needs.

Please email courtvisit@ruleoflaw.org.au for further information.

Bookings

To make a booking go the the Calendar on the bottom of this page and click on a booking slot that is marked “AVAILABLE” and works with your school calendar. If you make a mistake or try to book on day that has been already booked, it is better if you refresh the page and start again to make a new booking for another date.

PLEASE NOTE: If you wish to be invoiced and pay for the LDO at a later date, please ensure you select the ‘invoice me’ box as seen in the diagram below.  

 If you do not receive a confirmation email within 10 minutes, your booking has not been processed.

Contact us by email at courtvisit@ruleoflaw.org.au if you have any issues.

To access the Booking Calendar On a Mobile Phone, click here