Professional Opportunities and External Funding

Professional development, scholarship and funding opportunities for Indigenous law students.

Internship and clinic opportunities available at MLS

The MLS clinics program offers a wide range of clinical legal education opportunities that can be taken for subject credit during your JD degree.  Opportunities are available at MLS as well as on placement in Indigenous organisations and other public interest bodies across the breadth of legal practice. Our clinics and internships provide real-world opportunities to build your skills, explore an area of law or type of practice and develop professional networks.

MLS offers the Indigenous Legal Advocacy Clinic subject, through which students undertake projects with a range of Indigenous community organisations. More information can be found on the Indigenous Peoples and the Law subject offerings page.

For further information or to discuss the opportunities available contact MLS Clinics Director Kate Fischer Doherty at kfischer@unimelb.edu.au.

Professional development opportunities

• King  & Wood Malleson's Waiwa Mudena
  Apply now for KWM’s uniquely flexible, immersive work placement and professional skills development program, co-designed with and specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law students. Find out more.
• First Nations Law Student Clerkship Program 2021, NSW Bar Association
  During the Court rotations, clerks will be based in a Judge’s chambers and Court Registry. Clerks will attend court, discuss the cases that the Judge is hearing and learn about the Registry’s operations. During the Bar rotation, clerks will be placed with and ‘shadow’ a barrister. This may involve attending client conferences or Court, and undertaking research tasks. Find out more.
• Aurora Internship Program - Indigenous applicants
  The Internship Program continues to focus on supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander* students and graduates via Scholarship funded internships as pathways to jobs in Indigenous organisations and other organisations working in the Indigenous sector. We are also able to place Indigenous interns at a wide range of organisations, outside of the sector, so long as the placements are relevant to candidates’ study and career aspirations.  Funding comes to us via the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), formerly the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (Culture and Capability Programme). Successful Aurora applicants can apply to have their internship approved for subject credit through the Legal Internship subject. Find out more.
• Indigenous Clerkship Program - Victorian Bar
  The Victorian Bar conducts a clerkship program for Indigenous law students on an annual basis each February/March (depending on student availability). The six students selected for this program obtain a total of three weeks’ paid work experience at the Bar, the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Federal Court of Australia. Find out more.

External scholarship opportunities

• Inaugural Australian Academy of Law First Nations Scholarship 2021
  The Australian Academy of Law offers for the first time the Australian Academy of Law FirstNations Scholarship tenable in 2021 for a First Nations final year law student* studying for the LLB or JD or combined Law degree at any Australian law school, or the Diploma in Law through the NSW Law Extension Committee (LEC).The amount of the award is $5000 for one year only. Find out more.
• GO Foundation
  The GO Foundation partners with the universities below to provide scholarships for Indigenous students. Applications for these scholarships are directly through our University partners. Please contact the Universities directly to discuss current availability. Find out more.
• John Koowarta Reconciliation Law Scholarship
  The John Koowarta Reconciliation Law Scholarship is available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled in an approved course of study that is a prerequisite to admission as a legal practitioner in any Australian jurisdiction at or through an Australian tertiary institution. Find out more.

External funding opportunities

• Indigenous Research Exchange
  AIATSIS is committed to ensuring greater involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in setting research priorities, leading projects and determining the appropriate collection and use of data about communities. Find out more.