Ballarat Branch

The Ballarat Branch meets four times a year on a Tuesday evening from 7.30pm. Apart from the usual items of business, a guest speaker entertains at each meeting.

Many members meet at 6pm to enjoy a meal and fellowship prior to the meeting.

Most meetings take place in the Southern Star Function Room at the Sebastopol Bowling Club, Albert Street, Sebastopol. Dinner is served in the bistro at the bowling club.

The February meeting is the Annual Dinner and is held in various other venues. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday May 12th 2020.

Justices from the Ballarat Branch regularly volunteer their time to provide a valuable document signing service to members of the public at the following locations.

Ballarat Branch Annual Dinner February 11th 2020  

The annual dinner of the Ballarat Branch was held at Barkly’s Ballarat and attended by sixty Justices and partners.
A number of special guests attended including RVAHJ President Paul Mracek JP, Acting Superintendent Damien Christensen and guest speaker Jeremy Bannister with wife Tania. The MC for the evening was Ian Martin JP.
Jeremy spoke about his background and how he started out as a photojournalist. He told stories of his time at the Australian as a cadet before heading to London and working on the New Musical Express for two years, the first Australian to do so. On returning to Australia he was co-founder of Live To Ride, a motorcycle magazine covering the outlaw motorcycle club scene. It quickly became the biggest selling motorcycle publication and ranked in the top 40 selling magazines in the country. He joined the Ballarat Courier where he spent twenty years as photojournalist before leaving to become a freelance photographer. During his talk, Jeremy showed us many photographs of his time at the Courier, which were of great interest to those present. He has won many awards for his photography. It was interesting to hear his comments about how and why he took particular pictures and why they won awards. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed his talk and Ballarat Chair Harry Gibcus JP presented him with a gavel as a thank you token.
Acting Superintendent Damien Christensen spoke about the value of the document signing centre. He then awarded the 100 Club badges and certificates to Laurie Wackett, Graham Bright and Don Kelly JP (absent).
President Paul Mracek JP spoke about the progress being made by the RVAHJ and the projects underway which include training, discussions with BDM, regular meetings with the Attorney General’s office and attempts to increase Justice numbers in Victoria.
The dinner was a great success enjoyed by all who attended and enjoyed good food, fellowship and an interesting speaker.

Ballarat Chair Harry Gibcus JP with guest speaker Jeremy Bannister     From left: Harry Gibcus JP, Laurie Wackett JP, Graham Bright JP, A/Superintendent Damien Christensen, RVAHJ President Paul Mracek JP

2019 Recent Annual General Meeting

 The Ballarat Branch of the Royal Victorian Association of Honorary Justices recently held its Annual General Meeting at the Sebastopol Bowling Club. Members met for dinner prior to the meeting to share stories and experiences with their fellow Justices. Guest speaker for the meeting was Sylvia Lemke from the newly named Honorary Justice Services Support (HJSS), part of the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety. Sylvia was accompanied by Ardre Lanfranchi, also from HJSS. Sylvia spoke about the changes to legislation this year and also about the goals of the newly structured Department. She was able to answer many questions from members and took away others for consultation. Her talk was very well received by members who are always happy to meet with representatives from HJSS. Sylvia congratulated members of their continued volunteer work at the Ballarat Police Station Document Signing Centre, which operates Monday to Friday and requires a significant commitment from Justices, whilst freeing up police officer time.

Chairman Harry Gibcus was re-elected for another term, as was Jackie Warner as Secretary, Con Powell as Deputy Chair and Robert Campbell as Treasurer.

From left: Sylvia Lemke, Harry Gibcus JP, Jackie Warner JP.