Does Community Legal Education work? Researching the impact of the Learning the law education kit for young people with a mild intellectual disability

Learning the law1 is an online teachers' kit of simplified education materials addressing the legal issues associated with fines, driving, sexting and consent. Victoria Legal Aid's (VLA's) Community Legal Education (CLE) program produced the kit for high school teachers of students with a mild intellectual disability. It includes lesson plans, short videos, teachers' notes and online modules of interactive activities. The kit was launched in 2015 with modules on two topics - fines and driving. Additional modules on sexting and consent were added in 2017. These topics were chosen after extensive consultation with principals and teachers in specialist schools about what sort of legal education would benefit their students. The Department of Education and Training was also consulted and their specialist staff provided advice and support in the development of the project. Victoria Legal Aid provides free professional development sessions for teachers in Victorian schools to assist them to use the modules in the classroom. This study was planned from the outset of the project and focuses on the Fines module of the kit. This module addresses public transport infringements and contains clear messages to help young people understand their legal rights and responsibilities when travelling on public transport in Victoria.