At 31, Vincent Shin is Australia’s first dedicated in-school lawyer, providing students at The Grange P-12 College in Melbourne’s outer west with advice on everything from fines for fare evasion to the legalities of sexting and how to deal with domestic violence. Vincent is well placed to understand the challenges faced by the school’s students, who come mainly from low socio-economic backgrounds. His childhood and adolescence were blighted by family violence, he mixed with the wrong crowd and failed year 12. He turned his life around, enrolling in TAFE and eventually getting a law degree. On graduating he worked in family law and his new role also provides an opportunity to help children deal with the sorts of experiences he and his family went through. Vincent started opening up about his experiences with domestic violence a few years ago but for the first time he reveals a family secret that shook him to the core. For Vincent Shin, speaking openly about his past is a way to heal.
