Celebrating 50 Years of Clinical Legal Education at the Gala Dinner
On Thursday 23 October, the Monash Law community gathered at the RACV City Club in Melbourne to celebrate a milestone moment: 50 years of the Monash Law Clinical Program. The 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner brought together alumni, students, staff, donors, and supporters for an evening of reflection, storytelling, and hope.
Read more about the history of the Monash Law Clinical Program
Hosted by Professor Steven Vaughan, Dean of the Faculty of Law, the event honoured the legacy of Monash Law’s pioneering clinical program and the thousands of lives it has touched.
Professor Steven Vaughan, Law Dean, opens the 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner.
A legacy of justice, advocacy and transformation
From the outset, Professor Vaughan set the tone for the evening with warmth and humility.
"Tonight, we are here to celebrate something truly extraordinary: 50 years of the Monash Law Clinical Legal Education Program. 50 years of turning possibility into action, theory into impact, and learning into transformation."
Emeritus Professor Adrian Evans, Springvale Legal Service Coordinator 1988 - 1999.
He spoke of the program’s enduring mission to make a difference not occasionally, but "every single day" and described Monash Law as being in "the business of hope."
"It is the hope that law and lawyers matter in democratic societies governed by the rule of law. It is the hope that law schools can foster a sense of justice and responsibility in those we educate and develop. It is the hope that where injustice exists, where the law falls short, where people are left behind, we can step in and try our very best to do something about it."
The numbers behind the impact
Monash Law’s clinical program’s reach is staggering. In the past 20 years alone, over 3,000 Monash Law students and over 1,500 volunteers have helped more than 40,000 clients.
"Every client is real. Every matter is meaningful and the scope is vast: 21 in-house clinics, over 200 external partners. The breadth is enormous."
Professor Vaughan highlighted the diversity of legal support offered from refugee assistance and domestic violence advocacy to social security appeals and regional outreach via the Justice Bus.
Professor Jeff Giddings, Associate Dean (Experiential Education), Emeritus Professor Adrian Evans and Professor Bryan Horrigan (Law Dean 2013-2024).
Read more about the history of the Monash Law Clinical Program
Keynote Address: Commissioner Meena Singh
The 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner keynote was presented by Commissioner Meena Singh, alumna of Monash Law and Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People in Victoria. Her speech was a powerful reflection on justice, storytelling, and the law’s role in shaping lives.
"This is an amazing celebration tonight. 50 years of Monash University's clinical legal education program. And I can proudly say that the program and I are of the same fine vintage."
Commissioner Meena Singh delivering the keynote address at the 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner.
After acknowledging the many important and special guests in the room, Commissioner Singh recognised a special group of alumni and supporters at the event.
“ This includes my mum, Diane, my big sister Jeanette, and my husband Pete, who all support me in everything I do. And they're also all Monash alumni as well. It's a family affair,” she smiled.
Commissioner Singh’s sister Jeanette and mum Diane at the 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner.
Commissioner Singh spoke of the importance of storytelling in legal practice, drawing on her own experiences as a lawyer and commissioner.
"I imagined the thousands of stories that have been told by community members, desperate to be heard. To law students equally keen to help and also learn. Stories that hoped to be elevated beyond 'Im really sorry that happened to you' to 'Yes, we can do something about this.' Maybe even both."
She challenged the notion of law as a "single narrative" and called for a more inclusive, empathetic approach to justice.
" Law is both a single story, but it is also a tool in reinforcing that single story. And if you've witnessed the hatred of the so-called ‘March for Australia’ rallies, you'll see how strongly some people will go to cling to a single story. But storytelling is a two-sided process. It's a process of hope, a process of teller and listener."
Her closing story, honouring her late father and the Hindu festival of Diwali, was deeply moving and just as hopeful.
“ My father, we call him Baba, he passed away in April. He was a practicing Hindu. This week he would've celebrated Diwali, the Festival of lights.”
"Diwali is the triumph of light over darkness, of wisdom over ignorance, of justice over cruelty. For those of you who have been story receivers as part of the clinical legal program, as practicing lawyers in any role where you've supported someone's story to be heard, I hope you see each of those little lights as those individual stories lighting the way to the community and a society where we value every single story and the power of voice."
Launching the Book: 50 Years / 50 Voices
A centrepiece of the 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner was the launch of a commemorative book, 50 Years / 50 Voices: Learning Law and Changing Lives, a collaborative project involving 50 current students interviewing 50 alumni.
Professor Steven Vaughan shared with a smile that one of the fun things about being a dean is that you can sometimes ask for audacious things.
"I said, 'Lets write a book to celebrate our 50th anniversary. Let's make sure it's printed and ready for the Gala. Let’s have 50 students interview 50 alumni about how clinics shaped their lives.' I then dropped the mic and just four months later, it was done. Beautifully designed, beautifully written."
Justice Jane Dixon at the 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner.
The book was gifted to attendees as a tangible memory of a spectacular celebration and a physical representation of the Monash Law Clinical Program’s legacy.
"As you read the book, a common theme emerges: clinical legal education transforms lives - the lives of our clients, our students, our staff, and the alumni who carry their clinical experiences forward."
Monash Law Clinical Program alum Jacqui Lisle with her mum, Professor Trish Livingston, at the 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner.
Professor Vaughan highlighted one sentence from the book that captures the transformative power of Monash Law Clinics perfectly.
“One interviewer wrote: ‘The clinic didn't just teach him how to practice law, it showed him why it mattered’. That is what our clinics do. That is why we celebrate them tonight. That is why for 50 years our program has shaped those thousands of students, alumni, and clients.”
Read more about the history of the Monash Law Clinical Program
Honouring philanthropic partners and alumni
Professor Vaughan paid tribute to the Cybec Foundation, represented at the 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner by the Riordan family, whose renewed partnership in 2024 included a transformational gift to bolster legal support services in regional Victoria.
He also acknowledged scholarship donors and alumni, including Geraldine Johns-Putra, Deborah Glass OBE, and Georgia Barbayannis, for their generous support of student opportunities.
"I am immensely grateful. Thank you very much indeed."
Voices of the Clinics: Alumni Reflections
The evening concluded a night of storytelling with a short video featuring founders, supervisors, lawyers and leaders sharing their earliest memories and most meaningful moments in Monash Law Clinics.
The alumni, donors, partners and supporters in the room cheered and applauded when each speaker appeared on screen.
Professor Jeff Giddings, Associate Dean (Experiential Education) and alumni of Monash Law Clinics was the first voice in the video and summarised the experience of so many clinics students.
"My earliest memories are of the dynamism of the place. The law went from black and white in the books, to technicolour."
Monash Law Clinics legal practice manager, Jennifer Lindstrom highlighted the grateful reaction from a support seeker who personally benefited from the access to justice.
" One client reflected that she just wanted to shout from the rooftops and tell everybody about our service and the way that the students treated her respectfully and really helped her navigate the system, and she was really grateful for that. Another said ‘I didn't realise there were people out there that would listen to me, and that it's free’."
Looking to the future, legal practice manager Fay Gertner shared her confidence that the Monash Law Clinical Program will continue to transform the lives of students and clients.
"The core of the program is about student outcomes, client outcomes. If that core remains the same, then whatever it looks like in 50 years, the essence will still remain."
Watch the video celebrating 50 years of the Monash Law Clinical Program.
Looking Ahead: The Business of Hope
In his closing remarks, Professor Vaughan toasted the pioneers and the voices who shaped the Monash Law Clinical Program.
"We are proud of what we have achieved, but we are not complacent. We are hopeful about what comes next, about where we can go, where we will go. We are committed to doing more and doing better, and we'll lead the way as we've done for the last 50 years.”
“Here is to the next 50 years. Here is to learning law and changing lives. And here's to the business of hope in action."
The 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner was a celebration shared by the few who represented the many. Throughout the night, current students and alumni reflected on the clients they’d supported personally and the thousands who had benefitted from access to justice over the past 50 years. It was a reaffirmation of purpose, a recognition of legacy, and a declaration that the Monash Law Clinical Program will continue leading with courage, compassion, and community.
Jacqui Weinberg, Professor Jeff Giddings, Sara Koval, Melissa Fletcher, Associate Professor Joel Townsend, Sally Anderson and Associate Professor Ross Hyams from the Monash Law Clinical Program at the 2025 Monash Law Gala Dinner.
Read more about the history of the Monash Law Clinical Program
Get involved with Monash Law Clinics
Monash Law Clinics combine legal education with real-world impact, supporting access to justice while equipping students with practical, ethical and professional skills.
If you are a student interested in undertaking a clinical unit as part of your studies, explore the available clinical placements and elective options.
Whether you’re an alum, practitioner or organisation keen to support the clinics through hosting placements, partnerships, volunteering or funding, there’s a way to be involved. To learn more, contact Emily Collard, Industry & Alumni Engagement Manager, at emily.collard@monash.edu.