National Judicial Orientation Program, November 2025

This flagship NJCA program is open to newly appointed judges of the Supreme, Federal, Federal Circuit, District & County Courts.

The judicial learning outcomes of the program are purposefully crafted to assist the newly appointed judicial officer with his/her transition to judicial office by teaching and exploring using experiential learning techniques, the development and refinement of the skills, knowledge, and attributes necessary for effective and smart judging.

Successive steering committees of experienced judges and judicial educations from across Australian states and territories have contributed to the program since the program’s inception in 1994. Moreover, participants benefit from the knowledge and experience of senior judges who attend the program as speakers and facilitators, and the exchange of cross-jurisdictional ideas, experiences and formation of supportive collegiate relationships.

This is a five-and-a-half-day residential program commences on Sunday evening. Many sessions are interactive and encourage robust discussion and reflection. Participants will discuss a range of practical scenarios.

The overarching themes are impartiality, independence and judicial excellence.  These three themes are the golden thread running through the program sessions with a focus on the exercise of attributes and skills required for judicial officers to deal with the complexities of firstly finding themselves on the bench and staying there for the long term.  The power and scope of exercising discretion, the pitfalls of various kinds of bias, the skills of issues-based judgment writing are also strongly woven through the program design.

NJOP is open to newly appointed Judges/Justices only.

The learning outcomes are specifically designed to provide participants with the judicial skills necessary to facilitate and enhance their transition to a role on the bench.  Several sessions are interactive and scenario based, dedicated to experiential learning in the courtroom. Other sessions encompass ethical issues, through to questions around judicial life and an introduction to the 5C’s judgment writing.  In particular, at the end of this program participants will be able to:

• Identify and evaluate the ethical issues facing judges both in and out of the courtroom
• Unpack how to make an informed assessment of witness credibility (honesty) and witness reliability (memory and recall) including taking into account some common social context issues, demeanour and language;
• Develop awareness of the extent to which their own social context perceptions can led to implicit bias;
• Understand the intricacies of both civil and criminal trial procedure;
• Identify the judicial skills critical to the giving of oral decisions
• Understand an issues-based approach to judicial thinking and judgment writing; and
• Appreciate the life tools and strategies required to maintain optimal judicial performance, productivity and self-care.

This sharing of experience and practice, led by experienced judges and facilitators, will enable newly appointed judges to return to their respective courts and respective jurisdictions with targeted knowledge and understanding, instantly applicable judicial skills, and a deeper appreciation of social contextual issues faced by the people who come before them.

This is a residential program. Accommodation and breakfast is included; check in Sunday 9 November from 3pm and check out Friday 14 November by 11am.

All catering during program hours

All program dinners – Sunday and Thursday evenings, drinks and canapes on the Monday evening.