Local internships

Stockland: an ASX top 50 property company, to work in their legal department. Interns will be allocated to one or more projects relating to the review of legal precedents and processes across the five asset classes. Recent projects have included a review of marketing and consumer law advice and precedents and the implementation of a training program for internal business partners. During the internship opportunities will also be provided to attend internal and external meetings on active matters to provide interns with an insight into the nature of in-house legal work. 

Stockland welcomes interest from students who can attend placement for 2-3 days per week for 4-6 weeks if possible, although 1 day per week may also be possible.

Toyota Finance Australia Limited: is a motor vehicle finance and insurance company, with an in-house legal team. Interns will work closely with members of the legal team to gain an understanding of what it is like to work as part of an in-house legal team. Interns will gain exposure to a variety of different areas of law, including NCCPA, NCC, ACL, Corporations Act, ASIC Act, AML & CTF, Privacy and PPSA. Interns will have the opportunity to assist with legal research, review and draft legal documents (including agreements, contracts, deeds, letters, etc.), assist with preparing legal advice or guidance, engage in legal discussion with other departments within the business, and assist with other day-to-day activities. Interns will attend meetings, ask questions and work alongside experienced legal professionals.

Marrickville Legal Centre (MLC): is a community legal centre which provides legal services to socially and economically disadvantaged members of the community across the inner west, south west and southern suburbs of Sydney. MLC operates a state-wide Youth Legal Service for young people across New South Wales under the age of twenty-five. The Centre also auspices a state-wide Strata Collective Sales Advocacy Service, and two tenancy services (the Inner West Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service and the Northern Sydney Area Tenants Service). MLC provides legal advice, advocacy and education to people with employment law problems and a range of other legal issues.

NSW Department of Communities and Justice: DCJ Legal is the specialist legal function within the NSW Department of Communities and Justice. It has a number of practice areas and provides legal services to assist the NSW Attorney General and other Government Ministers. Placements will be offered in the following practice areas in Autumn:

• Inquests, Inquiries and Representation
• Child Law

An internship with DCJ Legal will enable students to apply legal knowledge and skills to real-life legal problems, affecting the citizens of NSW. This internship is an opportunity to develop valuable networks and build skills to assist in applying for future jobs in the Department of Communities and Justice. DCJ Legal strongly encourages students from vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, in particular people identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and people with disability, to apply for this internship opportunity. 

Anti-Slavery Australia (ASA): is a leading research, policy and legal centre based in the Faculty of Law at UTS. The Centre takes an active role in transforming the Australian legal and policy response to human trafficking and slavery and has supported over 300 survivors of human trafficking, slavery, forced labour and forced marriage through its specialist pro-bono legal practice. An internship placement with Anti-Slavery Australia offers you a unique opportunity to be involved in our research and policy development work, as well as the work of our legal practice. This could include researching and drafting submissions and policy documents, preparing factsheets, training materials and online content relating to human trafficking, modern slavery and forced marriage, and could also include participating in client interviews and drafting legal documents.

Wotton + Kearney (W + K) Pro Bono/Senior Rights Service: is mid-sized corporate law firm specialising in insurance, with a strong commitment to community. It has a dedicated pro bono partner, who leads the firm’s pro bono and corporate social responsibility program. Internship students will spend their time between the pro bono practice at the firm and the pro bono contribution the firm provides to one of its community partners at the Seniors Rights Service (SRS). The tasks are likely to be highly varied as the practice takes on matters in a variety of areas of need, including refugee law, seniors rights, human rights, self-represented litigants and community legal education. Previous interns have undertaken tasks including legal research, writing briefs, preparing community legal education material and supporting lawyers to provide advice to clients of the SRS.

The National Justice Project: The National Justice Project is a not-for-profit legal service. We apply our expertise to strategic human rights litigation and legal services, representing and giving voice to vulnerable people. We work to secure access to health care for vulnerable people, including people in offshore immigration detention and indigenous people, as well as in inquests, personal injury and other matters of public interest. Our team are committed and passionate about the work that we do and look forward to training young lawyers who want to work in public interest law. In addition to assisting with administrative duties, you will also liaise directly with clients, take statements and participate in other legal work. As a small organisation, you will have exposure to all aspects of the legal practice. The practice operates in a context of significant family and refugee trauma and high emotions. Volunteers will be exposed to traumatic and graphic work, and need to be calm and impartial.

Please note: First Nations students are encouraged to apply for this opportunity.

Redfern Legal Centre: Redfern Legal Centre’s UTS Student Clinic is back. Since 2011, Redfern Legal Centre's International Student Legal Service NSW (RLC ISLS) has been providing legal advice, advocacy, and law and policy reform to NSW’s international student community, an often-marginalised and vulnerable group who contribute so much to Australia.

As part of the clinic, you’ll be working with RLC ISLS’s lawyers, paralegals, and volunteers on legal research, client advice, law reform, and information resources. As RLC ISLS is a generalist practice, you’ll see and assist in a wide variety of legal matters, which often includes criminal, family, employment, tenancy, and credit and debt, as well as education provider disputes and migration issues.  

The Environmental Defender’s Office (EDO) is the largest public interest environmental legal centre in the Australia-Pacific, dedicated to protecting our climate, communities and shared environment through groundbreaking litigation and law reform advocacy. This is an ideal opportunity for law students who have an interest in environmental law, and passion for protection of the environment through legal mechanisms. In this position you will volunteer under the supervision of one of our experienced solicitors based at our office in Sydney.

Migrant Justice Institute works to end exploitation of migrant workers and hold governments and business to account. The internship will provide the opportunity to undertake legal, policy, advocacy and community engagement work, under supervision of global experts in the field. Interns assist with proofreading and reference-checking legal research reports, articles and other publications, and undertake research tasks on migrant rights and labour rights in Australia and overseas. They also contribute administrative and media support on Migrant Justice Institute projects, including an upcoming major national online survey of migrant workers and will attend Migrant Justice Institute team meetings. 

The placement is in person at UNSW on a Tuesday throughout the term.

Health and social welfare services are provided for, and guaranteed, in law. Nevertheless, these legal entitlements can remain unmet. Alternatively, if services are available, the means of accessing them can be difficult to navigate for many in the community. This includes those seeking help with their own health or welfare needs, or where services are sought to support the care of others. The Law Health Justice Community Advocacy Clinic is a collaboration between UTS and Health Justice Australia, the national body championing and supporting partnerships between health and law professionals to address complex needs. The Clinic brings together UTS interns, academic supervisors, community partners, and Health Justice Australia to explore unmet legal needs that impact on well-being and health. The clinic is not a source of one-on-one advice, rather it responds to shared community problems to provide information and advocate for change. The Advocacy Clinic will be of interest to students wishing to use their legal skills towards social change.

Guzman y Gomez: is one of Australia’s fastest growing brands in the food industry with over 100 restaurants in Australia. With restaurants also in Japan, and Singapore and shortly the United States, GYG is opening its legal department to budding interns interested in being part of this growth journey. Interns will work directly with the Group Legal Counsel, who is performing both the General Counsel and Company Secretary role, in all areas of law relevant to the business including employment, immigration, intellectual property, contracts, leasing, liquor licensing, food safety and franchising, together with all aspects of corporate governance relevant to the corporate secretariat function.

Public Defenders are salaried barristers appointed under The Public Defenders Act 1995 to provide legal representation to legally aided people charged with serious criminal offences. There are 29 Public Defenders in NSW, based in Sydney (Darlinghurst) and across 8 regional sites appearing in District and Supreme Court trials and sentence proceedings as well as Court of Criminal Appeal and High Court appeals. Public Defenders also:

• Provide advice to Solicitors and Barristers in relation to criminal law
•  Contribute to law reform through submissions or participation on committees
• Give lectures and seminars, write papers, facilitate an annual criminal law conference, and provide student placement opportunities to law students

Public Defenders provide students with a wide range of experiences in the preparation and observation of criminal cases. Students are given real cases to work on and may be able to attend court to follow trial, sentence, and appeal cases, if the Judge permits access. Students may be given complex research tasks and all are encouraged to take an active role in the office and work independently, while still being provided with supervision and support.

The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited (‘ALS’) is a proud, Aboriginal community-controlled organisation (ACCO) and one of seven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) across Australia. The ALS was born out of the Aboriginal rights protest movement on the streets of Redfern on unceded Gadigal land and was the first free community legal service in Australia. Today we deliver free, culturally appropriate legal advice, representation, information and referrals to thousands of people each year. We also speak out to combat injustice, change laws and systems that cause harm and demand accountability from public institutions, and are recognised nationally for our strong advocacy and law reform work. 

Placements will be at our Redfern office and undertaken with our Criminal Law team, Civil Law team and/or Policy team, subject to availability. 

Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are encouraged to apply for this opportunity.

LawPath: is Australia’s leading online legal services provider. Each year, LawPath helps thousands of Australian businesses with their legal needs. We are making legal easier, more accessible and more affordable for small to medium sized businesses to get the legal solutions they need by creating efficiencies with technology. Interns will be immersed in all aspects of LawPath. They will also have the opportunity to experience non-traditional legal services and obtain a greater understanding of the disruption within the legal industry. 

Westpac: Westpac's Legal & Secretariat division is taking an active role in making progress on key digitisation initiatives. The team is constantly looking for new ways to meet the needs of their customers through the use of emerging technologies and digital services that are disrupting the traditional legal industry. As an intern in Westpac’s Legal & Secretariat division, it can be expected that no two days will look the same. UTS interns may assist with the research of new and emerging legal technologies, including technologies based on Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics processes. They may be a part of a range of legal tech projects that aim to transform and better develop the Legal & Secretariat division. Students will also be provided with opportunities to gain exposure to contract review processes. During the internship, students are invited to attend regular meetings regarding the matters they are involved in, providing deeper insights into their practical work at Westpac.

Westpac Legal can accommodate four interns in Autumn 2025.  

•    Consumer Finance & Transformation Legal – 1 intern to come into Westpac Sydney on Thursdays.
•    Cash and Transactional Banking Legal – 1 intern to come into Westpac Sydney on Thursdays.
•    Technology, Enterprise and Digital Legal – 2 interns to come into Westpac Sydney on Tuesdays.
•    Financial Markets Legal – 2 interns to come into Westpac Sydney on Tuesdays.

Marrickville Legal Centre (MLC): is creating a program which provides an internship-like approach for law students with computer science or IT background knowledge. The program gives the opportunity to gain unique legal tech experience, as well as hands on legal experience in a community legal centre setting. MLC is building a platform which aims to simultaneously upskills students by providing practical legal skills including client interview and management, chronology creation, drafting legal documents, policies and advice. The program allows students to develop their computer science or IT skills in conjunction with their legal skills by moulding a program which is capable of delivering legal information and content. Students will be guided by legal and technology professionals currently working in the field, providing students with in-house understanding of legal skills and legal technology.