Duration: 30 minutes.

Age suitability warning.

Imagine if... one day you were arrested and taken to the City Watch House.

Would you be frightened... Excited... Curious... Intimidated?

What would the arresting police officers be like?

How would you react to being searched, to sleeping in a cramped cell with people you don't know, to lose all liberty?

What rights would you have as a prisoner?

Learning through participation

The former City Watch House operated as Melbourne's central custody centre or 'holding place' for people arrested and awaiting trial.

The Watch House experience now offers a rich learning opportunity where students become active participants in a unique encounter with the justice system as they are processed following being 'charged with a crime'.

Between 1913 and 1994 the City Watch House was the point of transition between Melbourne's community and the justice system. Incarcerated within its walls, were an ever-changing community of individuals charged with offences ranging from public drunkenness to murder. Students actively explore this confronting place and its people from a number of different perspectives through role-play, multi-media interpretation and self-exploration.

Students will be ‘arrested’ by a Charge Sergeant and processed through the lock up, experiencing an authentic environment left largely unchanged since the last police and inmates left. Students will also encounter sound points and multi media imagery that can be both confronting and informative.

These programs are tailored to particular curriculum areas. Download "Curriculum links and recommendations" (PDF) 27.1KB.

Contact us for bookings and more information.

Age suitability Warning

The nature of the former City Watch House may also be confronting for younger students. We recommend the experience for students over the age of 15, due to the graphic nature of the original graffiti and recorded audio-visual interpretation that includes obscene language.