Indigenous Legal Advocacy Clinic
Subject offered Semester 1 in 2024
What is Indigenous Legal Advocacy Clinic?
The Indigenous Legal Advocacy Clinic will engage with current law and policy issues impacting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Students will work in small groups in partnership with an Aboriginal legal service or related body on an issue of law or justice identified by the partner organisation. Clinical projects may include legislative submissions, amicus briefs and law and policy analysis.
What will I learn?
Through the Indigenous Legal Advocacy Clinic students will develop their legal writing, research and advocacy skills in a professional context as well as project planning, problem solving and other workplace skills. Students will also develop their understanding of challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian legal system and knowledge of relevant areas of law.
Where will I do in the clinic?
The Indigenous Legal Advocacy Clinic is based at MLS. Students will undertake 12 days of clinical work under the supervision of the clinic supervisor and subject coordinator. The primary work of the Clinic will be your group project work for the partner organisations. This will be complemented by lawyering and practical skills sessions as well as seminars on substantive legal topics relevant to the projects and the historical, cultural and political context of Indigenous legal rights. Debrief and reflection sessions will provide an opportunity to evaluate your progress and reflect on the role and impact of law and practice on Aboriginal communities and organisations.
Where will this take me?
The skills and understanding developed in the Indigenous Legal Advocacy Clinic are useful across a wide range of legal and policy careers in the public and private sectors. In particular, students interested in Indigenous legal and social justice advocacy including work for Aboriginal organisations, community legal centres and government and non-government organisations are encouraged to apply.
How do I apply?
Melbourne Law School Clinics recommend that students interested in the Indigenous Legal Advocacy Clinic attend one of our clinic information sessions aimed at providing key information and answering any questions students may have about the subject.
Information sessions and application details will be announced on the Canvas LMS JD Community.
For industry: Interested in hosting MLS legal interns?
If you are a public interest law organisation that would like to partner with Melbourne Law School and host student interns throughout the first or the second half of the academic year, we would love to hear from you. Please contact MLS Clinic Director Kate Fischer-Doherty to discuss the possibility of hosting a student intern(s), the requirements for our host organisations and our students, and your expectations of the program.