Welcome to the DAV Website
The DAV is a non-profit association which exists to promote debate. It
is the peak debating body in Victoria and runs large competitions for
adults and for schools across Victoria. It provides training and
resources for debaters, teachers and adjudicators.
Telephones and fax unavailable -
November 17th
Please note: the telephone and fax services to the DAV office have been temporarily disconnected due to a service fault. We are working with service providers to resolve this problem.
In the interim, you can make contact with the DAV by email (debater@dav.com.au), or by calling the DAV mobile phone: 0423 651 843.
DAV Finals results -
October 26th
The DAV Grand Finals were held on Thursday October 22nd at Caulfield Grammar School. The results are:
A Grade
"That Australia is a racist nation"
Mac.Robertson Girls' High School 3 defeated Methodist Ladies' College 1 in a unanimous decision.
Adjudication panel: Jonathan Benney, Christopher Hibbard, Jennifer Ames, Anthony Kung, and Anna Blair.
B Grade
"That the federal National Party should withdraw from the Liberal-National coalition."
Melbourne High School 6 defeated St Catherine's School 1 in a split decision (2-1).
Adjudication panel: Wayne Jocic, Laura Bellamy, and Duncan Campbell.
C Grade
" That we should offer dictators amnesty in return for giving up power"
Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School 1 defeated Firbank Grammar School 1 in a unanimous decision.
Adjudication panel: Charisma Dungan, Claire Roberts, and Nick Boyd-Caine.
D Grade
"That the Rudd government is all spin and no substance"
Scotch College defeated St Monica's College in a unanimous decision.
Adjudication panel: Elizabeth Sheargold, Nicholas Liau, and Ravi Dutta.
We would like to thank all the students who participated in this year's competition and congratulate the finalists.
British Parliamentary Competition -
October 15th
Our popular British Parliamentary Competition has been split into a Junior Division (November 1st) and a Senior Division (October 18th) this year. Both will be held at Melbourne High School.
Registration for the Junior Division is due on Thursday, October 29th.
Download:
Junior Division Registration Form
Anti-poverty Week Debate -
September 16th
The DAV in conjunction with St Mary's House of Welcome will hold a debate as part of "Anti-poverty week" events. St Mary’s House of Welcome Day Centre provides a range of services for people in need, including meals in a dining room setting, showering amenities, pastoral care, social worker support and referral and recreation activities offered in a safe and supportive environment. Many DAV schools members have volunteered with St Mary's in the past.
The topic of the debate will be "Poverty and Homelessness: It's all their fault, isn't it?". Speakers will include Daniel Browning, Emma Ayres and Lindy Burns from the ABC.
The date will be held at 7pm (doors open 6:30pm) on Tuesday October 27th at Melbourne Rowing Club, Boathouse St, Melbourne. Tickets cost $10.
We invite all DAV members and interested parties to attend this event.
Semi-final draws available -
September 10th
The Semi-final draws for all grades are now available.
Quarter-final draws available -
September 3rd
The Quarter-final draws for all grades are now available.
Octo-final draws available -
August 27th
The octo-final draws for all grades are now available.
Playoff 2 - D Grade draw available -
August 20th
The D Grade draw for Playoff 2 is now available.
(The B and C Grade draws had previously been published; no A Grade teams are required for Playoff 2.)
Contacting the DAV office by telephone -
August 11th
We have recently made the transition to a new telephone service provider. You may temporarily encounter minor difficulties when telephoning the DAV office:
No answering service: the answering service is currently inactive. To leave a message out-of-hours, please email debater@dav.com.au or fax (03) 9348 9466.
Limited capacity: while our line hunt set up is pending, only one incoming call can be answered at a time, so you may receive a busy signal when calling the DAV office. Please call again, or send a message by email or fax.
We have support requests logged to address these problems; thank you for your patience in the interim.
Update 19/8: The out-of-hours answering service has been reactivated. A request to re-active line hunt service is still pending.
Junior Secondary Program registration closing Friday -
July 22nd
Registration for the Junior Secondary Program closes Friday July 24th. Registrations should be submitted by faxing the registration form from the information pack to (03) 9348 9466.
A new TV series based on public speaking is looking for contestants -
July 15th
The show will air nationally in the search for Australia's best public speaker. Contestants will be cast through auditions to be held in capital cities around Australia in August.
At the auditions you must give a three minute speech – without notes - that will make the audience laugh, gasp or cry or all three. An impromptu speech is also required.
Audition and other details can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/strictlyspeaking/. Expressions of interest can be sent to strictlyspeaking@sstar.com.au.
Victorian State Team Send-off Debate -
July 13th
The Victorian Schools Debating Team will shortly be travelling to Adelaide to compete at the National Schools Debating Championship, hosted this year by the South Australian Debating Association.
The traditional send-off debate was held at the DAV Office (Suite 5, 87-89 Flemington Rd, North Melbourne) at 7pm on Tuesday July 14th. A lively exhibition debate farewelled the Team.
We wish them the best of luck at Nationals!
Round 5 Draws -
June 26th
Draws for round 5 are being created, and will be posted online as soon as possible.
When the round 5 draw for a region is available, it will appear on the same page as the draws for rounds 1-4. Debating Coordinators will also receive an email when the draw is available.
Viewpoint Results -
June 10th
Many financial challenges face the world in the current economic climate, but tomorrow’s leaders are already teasing out potential solutions in Monash University Faculty of Business and Economics Viewpoint Debating Competition. In conjunction with the Debaters Association of Victoria, the Viewpoint competition was held at Monash’s Caulfield campus featuring 24 teams from a wide range of Victorian high schools. The competition aimed to make economic ideas and themes more easily accessible to secondary school students by having them debate the controversial economics questions of our time.
After three preliminary debates and a highly competitive finals series, teams from Scotch College and Gippsland Grammar School were selected to compete in the Grand Final. At the BMW Edge Theatre, Federation Square, Mr Red Symonds chaired the final motion ‘That the Rudd Government should delay the emissions trading scheme in the interests of economic recovery’ which was eventually won by Scotch College.
The Hon. Bronwyn Pike, Minister for Education gave an address and congratulated the debaters from both schools for their exciting oratory and argumentative skills.
Coburg round 4 postponed due to Influenza A(H1N1) -
June 1st
Mercy College, the host school of the Coburg region, will be closed on Department of Health advice next week due to some confirmed cases of Influenza A(H1N1). The round four debates, scheduled for Wednesday June 3rd at Mercy College, cannot be held there.
Two other schools in the region also has some confirmed cases of Influenza A, and it is possible that this might occur at other schools in the region as the virus spreads. Since the lack of three or more schools would be highly disruptive to the draw, we have decided to postpone the regional night rather than to relocate it.
The round will now be held on Thursday, June 25th.
Contacting the DAV office by telephone -
May 31st
We have been experiencing intermittent problems with telephone connectivity for the last three weeks. Although we have been in constant contact with our service provider, they have not yet been able to determine the cause of the problem.
Please note that calls to or from the office may drop out, and the office may be unreachable for short lengths of time.
We apologise for the inconvenience, and hope to have the issue resolved as soon as possible.
(N.B. Our internet/fax line is unaffected, so emails and faxes to 03 9348 9466 can still be sent.)
Update 15/6: Commander Australia report that the fault has been fixed by replacing a copper cable in the street. Please let us know if you have any difficulty contacting us by telephone henceforth.
Viewpoint Registration due next week -
April 15th
Registration for Viewpoint (The Monash Economics Debate) is now due.
Viewpoint is a day-long debating competition for secondary school students in years 9-12, involving three debates for all teams on Sunday, May 3rd at Monash University Caulfield, and finals to follow at later dates. The competition is similar to our popular one-day British Parliamentary Competition, but is held in the 3-v-3 style like the Schools Competition.
As this competition is being run in conjunction with the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University, there is no cost to schools to participate. Schools can enter a maximum of two teams, and all participants will receive a free T-shirt.
More information and register »
Draw and topic release -
March 10th
Topics for 2009 are now available. Draws are available for all regions except Bendigo (where registration is still open).
Schools Competition Registration 2009 due now -
February 18th
The timely registration period for Schools Competition registration has been extended to this Friday, February 20th. Registrations after this time will only be accepted at the discretion of the Schools Administrator, and a late fee will apply.
Registration packs were mailed to schools in the first week of term. If you didn't receive one, please contact the office: 03 9348 9477.
Victorian Schools Debating Team trials -
February 16th
Trials for the Victorian Schools Team will be held on Sunday March 1 at MacRoberston Girls' High School. Please contact the office with your name, year level and school if you would like to attend.
Trials begin at 9:15am and will be finished by 4:00pm.
As a result of these trials 12 students will be selected to train as a squad for the State team. These students will train every Saturday from 10am-4pm until July, when the National Championships will be held in Adelaide.
The trials are a great opportunity for high quality competition and feedback, even for students who aren't selected as squad members.
Students are not required to wear school uniform to the this event.
Registration 2009 -
January 27th
Registration information will be received by mail in the first week of first term 2009. Please contact the office if you don't receive it.
Online Registration is now open.
Registration is due by Wednesday 18th February.
If you have any questions regarding registration, please call the office on 9348 9477.
DAV Dates 2009 -
January 1st
The dates for most regions of the 2009 Schools Competition are now available.
A file containing the dates for all regions is available below.
DAV Schools Competition dates 2009
DAV Finals results -
January 1st
The DAV Grand Finals were held on Tuesday 14th October at Caulfield Grammar School. The results are as follows:
A Grade
"That Australia should not introduce a carbon emissions trading scheme"
Penleigh & Essendon Grammar School defeated Scotch College in a split decision (3-2).
B Grade
"That we should have the death penalty for war criminals"
MacRobertson Girls' High School defeated Wesley College in a split decision (2-1)
C Grade
" That religious leaders should not comment on political issues"
Scotch College defeated St Margaret's School in unanimous decision
D Grade
"That Australia is a nanny state"
The Woodleigh School defeated Williamstown High School in a split decision (2-1)
The DAV would like to thank all the students who participated in this year's competition and congratulate the finalists.
Harangue 5 is now available! -
January 1st
Issue 5 of Harangue magazine for student debaters is now available.