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

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 College2. Richmond Secondary College3. Legal / Security Costs4. Legal Costs Only5. Equal Opportunity Board Hearing6. Full Court Appeal7. Miscellaneous8. Background Papers1. 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 files3. 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.

本批档案涉及法务组处理北兰中学（Northland Secondary College）与里士满中学（Richmond Secondary College）的关停事宜，以及由此引发的平等机会委员会（Equal Opportunity Board）听证会与高等法院（Supreme Court）上诉案件。法务组最初未按合理秩序归档这批档案，多数情况下仅将同类材料归集以便于信息检索。经与法务组协商后，本次按主题对档案进行了分类整理，主题分类如下：
1. 北兰中学相关材料：包含致部长与教育总监的简报、往来信函、学生名册、工作报告、新闻报道、律师意见书、学校运维经费、最高法院上诉裁决、备忘录、招生预测及招生意向通知。部分档案首页附有编号条目清单，用于索引档案内容。
2. 里士满中学相关材料：包含提交给平等机会委员会的陈述书、前里士满中学学生名册、停学学生情况报告、学校课表、媒体报道、与里士满中学抗议活动相关的文件、往来信函、备忘录、里士满-马尔文校区合并事宜相关材料。本批档案的材料体量远小于北兰中学相关档案。
3. 法务与安保经费相关材料：包含一个档案夹，内有涉及里士满中学的部门文件的信息自由法（F.O.I., Freedom of Information）申请、安保服务账单、通用索赔表格（L2As）、安保服务商与律所的发票、致部长与教育总监的简报、支票复印件、与聘请外部律师相关的州招标委员会文件。
4. 仅法务经费相关材料：分别为北兰中学与里士满中学各设立一个档案夹，内含通用索赔表格（L2As）、账目与发票、致部长与教育总监的简报、往来信函、备忘录、法律意见书、传票、部长出具的法律代理授权文件、州招标委员会文件。
5. 平等机会委员会听证会相关材料：包含投诉方提交给委员会的陈述书、被投诉方（教育部）提交给委员会的陈述书、宣誓书、委员会裁决决定书、委员会裁决理由、检察长（Solicitor-General）出具的咨询备忘录、法律意见书、致部长的简报、传票要求调取的法律文件、证人证词。
6. 全院上诉（Full Court Appeal）相关材料：包含依据1984年《平等机会法》（Equal Opportunity Act 1984）第49(4)条提起上诉的相关文件、最高法院裁决书、宣誓书、证物、内部备忘录、法庭文件、检察长出具的意见、致部长的简报、往来信函、法律意见书、上诉人陈述书、被上诉人陈述书、事实概要。
7. 杂项材料：指不适用于上述其他主题分类的材料，包含原住民教育报告、库尔里（Koori）学生人口普查数据、证据材料、学校运维信息。
8. 背景文件相关材料：包含媒体报道、课程教学材料、提交给教育部的教育服务报告以及学校重组相关材料。