Lachlan Cameron

"Teachers put effort into their work and that inspired me.”

A six-month exchange trip to France while he was in Year 10 was a pivotal moment for Lachlan Cameron.

“It gave me a significant amount of confidence because it forced me out of my comfort zone,” says Lachlan.

“It enabled me to make friends from all walks of life and opened the world – it showed me what was on offer. That guided my future decisions and made me confident to pursue my interests with passion.”

Lachlan joined Yarra Valley Grammar in Year 7 and has good memories of being part of the football, basketball and volleyball teams. It was his love of languages that saw him head to France, supported by his family and teachers.

“My parents were on board with the exchange – they were good at hiding their anxiety! I was also inspired by my teachers. Many of them had interesting life experiences and had travelled and worked in interesting places and that stuck with me.”

Lachlan continued travelling while studying Arts / Law at Monash University and has explored Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

“International politics, international law and human rights have been an interest of mine for some time and you need to travel to pursue those areas,” he says.

“Finding what you want to do in the future is a trial and error process. You have to take up opportunities and give them a go - I’ve done that since leaving Yarra.”

Since graduating from university at the end of 2020, Lachlan has settled in Darwin and is an associate to a judge in the Supreme Court in the Northern Territory.

His role involves case management of cases before the court, legal research, drafting and editing of judgements and assisting in court.

“Being in Darwin, you are exposed to the coalface of Indigenous issues – that is an interesting and confronting learning experience and it has lit an interest in me to work with Indigenous Australians in the future,” says Lachlan.

The Yarra motto still resonates for Lachlan and embodies his go-getting life approach.

“To me it means that you should always be learning. The world is an exciting place and you should dive into what you are doing and explore that as fully as you can,” says Lachlan.