Selection criteria

Selection for an anthropology internship will require that you:

• have a strong academic record
• have an interest in the area of native title, social justice and Indigenous affairs
• have a strong cultural awareness and sensitivity
• have good interpersonal and communication skills
• commit to the minimum internship length.

What sort of work can I expect to do during my anthropology internship?

Interns can be placed at either one of the 15 NTRBs, supporting their anthro/research staff; or at one of over 62 other host organisations working in Indigenous affairs.

Interns should expect to be given a balance of challenging and interesting tasks along with a fair amount of administration tasks (database entry, filing etc.)

Anthropologists working at NTRBs play a key role in the native title process in Australia by conducting research, undertaking field work and preparing ‘connection reports’ and genealogical data for claims under the Native Title Act 1993. Their expertise can also be applied to research being undertaken and reports being prepared by other host organisations.  Interns placed at other host organisations should not expect to be undertaking native title related work.

Each internship is unique. Listed below are some tasks past anthropology interns have undertaken:

• attending meetings and taking minutes on-country and at the host organisation
• learning the basics of interviewing claimants to gather genealogical material
• organising meetings, attendees’ transport and accommodation
• proof-reading, filing research documents and cataloguing anthropological evidence
• interpreting field notes and entering data in genealogy databases
• completing social mapping tasks and assisting with the creation of site databases
• completing research requests for members of the claimant communities
• historical archival research
• assisting with projects and other administrative tasks
• identifying common practices between local Indigenous communities
• attending community events, such as the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Day of Celebrations (NAIDOC)
• preparing papers for the annual National Native Title Conference.