Sixteen of Hume City’s brightest young students have been recognised by the Victorian Bar for academic excellence in legal studies.

The award winners are from a variety of Hume City secondary schools and each receives $1,000 from the Victorian Bar Foundation and $500 from the Hume City Council.

President of the Victorian Bar, Róisín Annesley QC, said: “This joint initiative is aimed at encouraging students in the Hume area to pursue a career in the law.”

At the presentation, Philip Crutchfield QC, one of the directors of the Victorian Bar Foundation, said: “We want to ensure the Bar continues to grow to further reflect the diverse communities and people for whom barristers act by encouraging future generations.”

The students will participate in work experience during their school holidays that will include a tour of the Supreme Court of Victoria and briefings from leading barristers.

Mayor of Hume City, Cr Carly Moore, said: “Generating pathways for the next generation of legal minds is inspiring, especially in Hume where the population profile is so diverse.”

In announcing the successful students, the High Court Justice Michelle Gordon AC (Patron of the Victorian Bar Foundation) said: “The award winners should be proud of what they have achieved.

“The awards recognise their hard work, ability and potential. We all look forward to seeing what these students do in the future and, no less importantly, how they do it — in the law and in society.”

The Victorian Bar Foundation was established to progress the interests of justice in Victoria and further legal education and training in the community.

The grants were managed on behalf of the Victorian Bar by the Meadow Heights Community Foundation, the benevolent arm of Meadow Heights Education Centre which supports the Hume community.

The Victorian Bar Foundation Student Achievement Award winners for 2022 are:

Holly Marmion – Aitken College
Keren Ajuzie – Craigieburn Secondary College
Geizell Sullivan – Gladstone Park Secondary
Omar Jaza – Hume Anglican Grammar
Manisha Regmi – Hume Central Secondary College
Ali Sultan – Ilim College (Kiewa Campus)
Aafia Hussein – Ilim College (Dallas Campus)
Shania Lourdes – Kolbe Catholic College
Chantelle Webster – Mount Ridley College
Salman Eid – Penola Catholic College
Monika Marbeen – Roxburgh College
Madeleine El Hitti – Salesian College
Yasemin Helou – Sirius College (Eastmeadows Campus)
Chrystia (Lorra) Pamintuan – Sunbury College
Jesse Ramsay – Sunbury Downs College
Lavenia Goga – St Mary’s Coptic Orthodox College