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Legal Internship Program

Legal internship program

Clinical education programs for law students have been available for many years in some Australian law schools. The objective of such programs is to provide an understanding of the human, social and policy contexts of law and legal practice. At the University of Wollongong, this objective is met through the subject LLB 397/3397/3396 Legal Internship in which you will complete 20 days of professional experience.

We believe that practical experience is a vital part of legal training. In fact, we are the only law school in Australia that require all students to complete a legal internship as part of their law degree. At UOW, a legal internship is not simply ‘work experience’, it is an important learning tool that gives students an opportunity to observe and reflect on the law in action and apply legal knowledge to real life situations while, at the same time, discern career options and build professional networks.

Key information

Organising your own internship Dates

Session name

Start of Session

End of Session  of Session

LIP 1

26 February 2024

31 May 2024

LIP 2

3 June 2024

25 October 2024

LIP Summer

TBC

TBC

School Arranged Internship Dates 

Session name

Start of Session

End of Session  of Session

LIP 2

24 Jun 2024

19 July 2024

Law-School arranged Internships are unpaid and take place in a 4 week block over the dates indicated by the placement dates above and you must be available for ALL specified dates (5 days per week total of 20 days). 

If School of Law arranged internship placement dates do not suit, we encourage you to organise your own internship around dates that suit you and your provider. 

A student arranged internship may take place anytime within the instance (within dates above) in which you will be enrolled and are subject to enrolment deadlines and approval requirements set out in the Student Handbook.  (Refer to the relevant session Handbook under the ‘Resources’ section).

You must have completed LLB 197/ 1197 and at least one of either LLB220/ 2220, LLB230/ 2230 and/or LLB240/ 2240 to enrol in LLB397/ 3397/3396.

Your internship start and finish dates must fall within the one instance.

How to apply

Students organising their own Legal Internship should ensure that they read the relevant Student Handbook under the ‘Resources’ section prior to submitting an application.

The School of Law now uses SONIA, an online student placement system to manage Student Arranged professional experience internships.

Please follow these procedures to organise your own internship:

  1. Obtain a brief letter from your proposed internship supervisor, on the letterhead of the firm/organisation, confirming that:
    1. the internship will be of 20 days duration, indicating the exact dates of the proposed internship period;
    2. the nature of the work to be undertaken and,
    3. the supervisor has read the Guidelines for Supervisors booklet and agrees to the conditions; and confirms that the internship experience will meet the program requirements as set out in the booklet.
  2. Send an email to the Internship Coordinator via law-internships@uow.edu.au advising that you intend to undertake an internship within a specific instance of LLB397/3397/3396 (i.e LIP 1). This email should be sent a minimum of 10 working days before you plan start your internship. Do not send application forms or Supervisor letter at this stage.
  3. You will then receive a ‘Welcome’ to the program email providing you with a link to SONIA, asking you to complete a Student Arranged Internship Application Form and other requirements via SONIA.
  4. You are required to complete the Application Form and attach Supervisor Letter for Discipline Leader approval.
    1. If your Application Form is declined, you will receive an email to contact the Internship Coordinator to discuss the reasons why and to resubmit form.
    2. If the Application Form is approved, you and your Supervisor will receive separate internship CONFIRMATION emails.

SONIA Guidelines for Students

Apply now via SONIA

The School of Law organises internships for students over the Winter and Summer breaks only.

Law-School arranged Internships are unpaid and take place in a 4 week block over the dates indicated by the placement dates below and you must be available for ALL specified dates (5 days per week total of 20 days). 

You must have completed LLB 197/ 1197 and at least one of either LLB220/ 2220, LLB230/ 2230 and/or LLB240/ 2240 to enrol in LLB397/ 3397/3396.

If School of Law arranged internship placement dates do not suit, we encourage you to organise your own internship around dates that suit you and your provider. Please contact us if you have any issues impacting you that might be relevant to where you are placed and attendance (such as a medical condition, carer’s responsibilities).

When an internship has been secured, the School of Law will manually enrol you into LLB397/3397/3396.

For more information regarding LLB 397/ 3397 / 3396 please review the relevant session Handbook under the ‘Resources’ section.


LIP 2 Session 2024

The School can arrange your internship placement over the following LIP 2 session dates: LIP 2 : 24 June 2024 – 19 July 2024 

Applications Open: 26 February 2024

Applications Close: 22 March 2024

How to apply

School of Law arranged internship applications are submitted via SONIA Online (UOW student placement system).  If you have any issues please contact
law-internships@uow.edu.au.

SONIA Guidelines for Students (PDF: 836 KB)

Apply now via SONIA

For more information register for one of our upcoming Information sessions.

LLB 3396 is the new 6 credit point internship subject beginning from LIP 2 2024. 

Eligibility:  

This subject is only available for enrolment for students who commenced or transferred into their LLB degree from 2023 onwards and have completed the required pre-requisite subjects. Please check your Course Handbook to see which internship subject you should enrol in (this will be either LLB397, LLB 3397 or the new LLB 3396). If you have any queries on this, please seek the advice of the Law School's Head of Students by contacting ASK UOW.

You must have completed LLB 197/ 1197 and at least one of either LLB220/ 2220, LLB230/ 2230 and/or LLB240/ 2240 to enrol in LLB397/ 3397/3396.

Rural, Regional and Remote Professional Experience Support Grant

Stack of Law books

 

Are you intending to enrol in LLB397/3397/3396 Legal Internship and undertaking your internship in a rural, regional or remote area in 2024?

If so, you may be eligible for the Rural, Regional and Remote Professional Experience Support Grant to help pay some of the costs associated with your internship experience such as accommodation, food, transport.

The grant is $2000 and is available for the 20 day internship for eligible students. Students are required to provide a statement addressing the Grant Selection Criteria, a copy of their academic record, and brief cover letter and resume.


For more information and a copy of the Grant Selection Criteria please contact law-internships@uow.edu.au

Law Internship information sessions

Learn more about the School of Law Internship Program and get all your questions answered. Register for the online information session to hear about LIP 2 (Winter) Session 2024 on Thursday, 7 March, 2024: 12.30 pm – 1.30 pm via Zoom.

Find out more and register for the online session

Become a professional provider

UOW Law are seeking organisations across private, public and community sectors to partner with UOW’s School of Law to support our students’ learning and to develop Australia’s future workforce. Partners have the opportunity to build long-term, strategic relationships and add value to their organisation by accessing talented upper year students.

Find out more
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Have a question?


Contact the Law Internship team.