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Native Title Legal Internships
The Legal Internship Program introduces students to career opportunities in the area of native title and Indigenous affairs and at the same time provides assistance to under-resourced and over-worked lawyers who work at Australia’s Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs), Native Title Service Providers (NTSPs) and Indigenous policy and other organisations. Most NTRB and NTSP placements involve native title and land right-related work. Interns working in this area can also expect to deal with areas of law as diverse as constitutional law to local government regulations. Placements and internships in other organisations could encompass a wider range of issues relating to Indigenous affairs, such as Indigenous policy and governance, health, education and economic development. While these issues may arise as part of an internship at an NTRB or NTSP, they are more likely to be the core aspect of work as a policy intern. Interns placed at one of these other organisations should be aware that they may not be involved in any native title work whilst on placement. Applications are open to all law students who have completed, or are currently completing the property law component of their legal studies and are interested in working in native title, policy and Indigenous affairs. Most internships run for 5 to 6 weeks over the June to August and November to March university breaks. They are a full-time position usually around 40 hours per week and are unpaid. Internships are 5 to 6 weeks in duration. Applications for the winter 2009 internships open Monday 2nd March and close Friday 27th March 2009. Click here to go to our application page Applications are open to law students and graduates as well as qualified solicitors. Placements can start at 2 months and may continue for up to 1 year. Duties, conditions and remuneration vary from position to position. If you would like any further information or would like to be placed on our 'register of interest' click here to email the Placements Team. (Please note the selection criteria for locum positions may differ from those mentioned below - the information below applies only to unpaid student internships). Selection criteria Selection for an internship will require that applicants:
* Where an applicant has completed a substantial part of their law degree but has not completed the property component he/she may still be eligible to apply for an internship .Please email the Placements Team or phone (02) 9385 9049 to discuss your application.
Locations of placements are Australia-wide. We request that interns provide their preference. While we do our best to accommodate prefeences placements are dependent upon organisational need and therefore we cannot guarantee that interns’ preferences will be met. Click here for a list of all placement organisations. Click here to see a map of the location of other placement organisations.
Travel costs and accommodation in some instances are covered, either partially or totally, by host organisations. Where this is not possible, internships will be available to those who can self-fund. The internships are unpaid and interns are required to cover their own day-to-day expenses (e.g. food, entertainment, local travel etc.) The Aurora Project does not provide financial support for interns. Some universities have offered funding to students being placed through Aurora. It is the students’ responsibility to make enquiries directly through their university. In the past Griffith University, Macquarie University, University of Melbourne and Queensland University of Technology have provided funding to interns.
Some universities provide course credit for undertaking internships or for a paper arising from internships. In some cases universities offer a Practical Legal Training (PLT) program to postgraduate students. As at December 2008 the following universities offered course credit: Australian National University, University of Adelaide, Flinders University, University of Sydney and University of New South Wales. Applicants should consult with their relevant faculty or school as to the availability of such programs.
Irrespective of whether you are placed at a NTRB, NTSP or other organisation, your role as an intern is to assist the host organisation. The nature of your tasks will vary depending upon the type of organisation at which you are placed. Although each placement is unique, some examples on the sort of work you may be asked to do as part of your placement are:
As a legal intern placed at a non-NTRB or non-NTSP, you may be required to undertake significant research and analysis. You must have an ability to work independently, with minimal day-to-day guidance on your tasks. These placements are sometimes project-based and may involve the preparation and presentation of findings in a particular area. The specific nature of your tasks may vary, and include:
They are also an independent source of information on how native title processes work. As an intern, you will be involved with the various functions of the National Native TitleTtribunal and assist in Registry functions.
As a policy intern, you may be required to undertake significant research and analysis. You must have an ability to work independently, with minimal day-to-day guidance on your tasks. These placements are sometimes project-based and may involve the preparation and presentation of findings in a particular area. The specific nature of your tasks may vary, and include: :
We encourage all interns to adopt a "can-do" attitude when on placement and emphasis they are being exposed to a very valuable experince. These internships are unique in that they are much more about the organisations than they are about the intern. Your role as an intern is to help out as much as possible.
During your internship, a number of obligations will need to be fulfilled and as ambassadors of the program, interns will be expected to assist with the promotion of the internship program upon your return. These are to:
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