The student serves as an intern with a lawyer in a workplace (eg law firm) to complete a research paper on a practical topic chosen by the workplace.  The workplace may be in the public or private sector. The project, which is settled by written agreement among the student, professional, and internship director, may be multidisciplinary but must have a strong law element.

Internships may also be available to work with members of the ANU College of Law on projects of an applied nature. These projects may include submissions to inquiries and parliamentary committees, responses to discussion and issue papers, and projects of bodies with which members of the ANU College of Law are involved (for example, advisory councils).  A Law School protocol governs these internships. College staff will advise the internship coordinator when such projects are available.

The time to be spent at the work site is variable; it reflects factors such as availability of data, library resources, interviewing needs, and degree of professional supervision.

Internships are available during each semester, and during the summer vacation.  To assist in placements, applications for an internship are generally made earlier than for other subjects - by end December in the preceding year for first semester, and by end May for second semester.  For summer internships, applications should be in by mid-October.  This is in addition to the normal course enrolment. 

Further information (including application form) is available on the ANU College of Law website: http://law.anu.edu.au/undergraduate/Internship.asp

The internship involves the completion of a 6,000 word research paper under the direct supervision of a legal professional in a workplace.  The paper is jointly marked by the professional supervisor and the course convenor.  This is the only assessment task for the course. 

A student must be in their penultimate or final year with a credit average.