The internship is organized by negotiation with the Convenor, who will assist and act as mediator as required with potential interning organizations. The internship is an opportunity for students to work in a professional environment, on a project or problem of mutual interest to the student and interning organization.

The student should register an interest in undertaking an internship with the Convenor and present a brief description of one (or more) practical tasks and associated methodological/theoretical interests that will be pursued by undertaking the internship. He/she may also nominate one or more organizations in which the internship might be undertaken. The student should give the convenor a brief CV to present to the interning organization. A satisfactory three-way agreement must be reached among Convenor, interning organization and student regarding the nature of the internship and tasks to be performed during it, and the research question upon which the major assignment for MAAPD will be based.  Ethcis clearance may be required if human research (e.g. certain types of surveys and inteviews) is involved

The negotiations will include a specification of time to be spent in the organization by the student; expectations about working arrangements; and a clear supervisory commitment by someone in the organization to the student. Any enrolled student is covered by University insurance. Working and time arrangements have varied with students having spent a minimum of one morning per week for 10 weeks, up to full-time out-of-country. Large commitments of time are voluntary, while periods one morning to one day per week for 8 to 10 weeks is generally sufficient. Internship students generally meet every two weeks or so for the latter part of the semester to exchange information and report to each other.

MAAPD students have interned at: Environment Australia; Amnesty International; ATSIC branches; SPREP (a regional Pacific organization); Australian Reproductive Health Alliance; ACFID; AusAID; CAEPR (Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research) , and at other locations in the University.

Students who satisfy the requirements of this course will have the knowledge and skills to:

• apply theoretical knowledge of current and pertinent issues gained from other MAAPD courses to the workplace, while developing a critical understanding of the host organisation;
• scope, design, implement and report on a limited research task, in the context and under the direction of a development organisation;
• understand the constraints that development organisation work under; and
• clarify personal, vocational, professional and career interests in the context of future employment in the development field.

Normally, internships will not be done in a student's first semester, but some flexibility may be possible here depending on students' prior experience and interests.