Government and Alternative Careers Guide 2012

Government and Public Careers Guide 2012

“A law degree is not necessarily a destination in itself as much as it is a ticket to travel to any number of destinations.�

Justice Elizabeth Fullerton SC

Acknowledgements Editors Mary Azzi James Jankulovski Design and Layout James Jankulovski

Government and Public Careers Directors Chantel Cotterell Farzana Choudhury Careers Vice-Presidents 2011 Jessie Ingle Ashvini Thilakeswaran

Contributors Mary Azzi Milad Boustani Farzana Choudhury Jermir J Punthakey

Contents Dean’s Note l 2 Editors’ Note l 3 David Gonski AC - Chancellor, Univeristy of New South Wales l 4 Justice l 8 Justice Elizabeth Fullerton SC - Judge, Supreme Court of New South Wales l 10 Justice Lucy McCallum SC - Jugde, Supreme Court of New South Wales l 12 Prosecution l 14 Christopher Craigie SC - Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions l 15 International l 18 Jocytte Cervantes Musa & Mark Orosa Uy - Gawad Kalinga l 19 Law Reform l 21 Rosalind Croucher - President, Australian Law Reform Commission l 22 Public Interest l 25 Regulators l 26 Allan Asher - Commonwealth Ombudsman l 29 Katrina Wong - Community Outreach Lawyer, Youthlaw l 32 Katie Wrigley - Solicitor, Welfare Rights Centre l 34 Jane Pritchard - Director, LawAccess NSW l 36 Policy l 37 Stephen Blanks - Secretary, New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties l 39 Education l 40 Communication l 41 Christopher Chapman - Chair/CEO, Australian Communications and Media Authority l 42 Lisa Pryor - Journalist and Author l 44 Saul Wakerman - Associate, Teach for Australia l 45 Professor Jane McAdam - Lecturer, University of New South Wales l 46 Labour and Workplace l 48 Robert Fitzgerald AM - Commissioner, Productivity Commission l 50 Policing and Intelligence l 52 Finance l 54

Dean’s Note

Looking at posters and advertisements around the Law Faculty, a visitor might assume that all our graduates go to work in big law firms. With the resources to mount sophisticated recruitment efforts and the desire to attract the best young lawyers, it is not surprising that the profession – and particularly the big firms – is prominent.

This perception of lawyers’ work as what barristers and solicitors in private firms do fits with popular understandings.

However, the reality is rather different.

Many law graduates – around half, according to most estimates – will work outside the private profession. Some of our very best graduates choose to do so: working in the public sector should not be regarded as second-best. Legal knowledge and – at least as importantly - legal skills, principles and ways of thinking have multiple applications. Such work may be as a legal advisor in a private corporation. It may be in a public institution as a policy and legislative advisor, researcher or as an operational lawyer (for example, as a prosecutor or public defender in the criminal justice system).

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It may be in a community-based or nongovernmental organisation such as a law centre or a pressure group focusing on particular issues or rights. Such work may be overseas: I have just returned from Timor Leste, where I was delighted to find two UNSW alumna doing wonderful, challenging work in NGOs helping to protect the rights of Timor’s people. Other graduates will find work throughout the workforce in places where legal skills and methods are useful and where employers need intelligent, focused staff with strong values, critical abilities and analytical and problemsolving skills. Many will work in more than one field – choosing one direction need not be for life.

Wherever they look for work, UNSW graduates have a real advantage – in addition to their talent and intelligence. By emphasizing the social, political and economic contexts of the law and the connections between academic work and practice, the UNSW approach prepares graduates for a wide range of work experiences. Key graduate attribute are flexibility and breadth, so

that our graduates are as prepared, for example, to work in a community legal service and an international NGO as in a commercial law firm – and may follow some of our best graduates by doing all three. Whether you go on to work in the legal profession or in the myriad of applications of skills elsewhere, I hope that UNSW Law’s commitments to social justice and the rule of law continue to be influential and relevant to you.

I am keen to encourage our students to take a broad view of the opportunities open to them and will be encouraging more potential employers from outside the professions to come to campus to talk about what they do. The Government & Public Careers Guide provides an excellent introduction to many of the options open to you. I strongly encourage you to use the Guide and to consider the possibilities.

Professor David Dixon Dean University of New South Wales Faculty of Law

Editors’ Note Welcome to the Government and Public Careers Guide for 2012.

So you made it into law school, toughed out several years and the world of employment is just around the corner. You’re asking yourself, where do I go from here? Working in a law firm might be a dream for some but it may not be inspiring to you. Perhaps you don’t want to be a lawyer but feel that you’ve invested too many years to turn back now.

Fear not, we say! There are countless alternatives to explore; each allowing you to use the skills you’ve accrued through the course of your studies in diverse, challenging and rewarding ways. We have sought to make this guide as broad a snapshot of those possibilities as we could.

We have put together a collection of interviews from notable alumni and other inspiring individuals working in non-corporate careers. Join us, as they share personal experiences extending from their beginnings as humble law students, right through to the esteemed positions that they currently hold in their respective fields.

We have also included information from a selection of government departments and organisations that offer employment opportunities to law students. A brief summary of their work, what jobs they offer and what they look for in applicants, we hope, will kick-start your own exploration of careers that appeal to you.

stories with us.

So what are you waiting for? Grab that law degree and this guide with both hands and hit the pavement in search of your inspiration.

Read on. And happy job hunting.

Above all else, we hope this guide will crytallize for you, that irrespective of your personal interests, there are many paths available for you to effect positive change using the lessons learnt here at UNSW Law School.

Perhaps our Chancellor, David Gonski AC, articulated it best: a law degree really is what you choose to make of it. It is neither a one way street of definitive boundaries and expectations nor is it a destination in itself. Rather, it is the invaluable skills, knowledge and confidence that equip you with the power to go out and contribute positively to society.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the interviewees who took time out of their busy schedules to share their

Mary Azzi and James Jankulovski Editors Government and Public Careers Guide 2012

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David Gonski AC Chancellor University of New South Wales You seem to have been a very bright student, both at Sydney Grammar and then at UNSW - and you were awarded the university medal upon graduating. What motivated you in those early years?

What motivated me in the early years was the fact that I was an immigrant. I remember vividly at Sydney Grammar School feeling that I didn’t have a long history with the school and I wanted to do well. I was probably regarded as a bit of a nerd – I wasn’t very good at sport, I loved debating and the arts. I was quite competitive and liked doing well. When I got to university I felt my life opened up – I loved UNSW... My father used to teach there so I knew it well. I found that the university was conducive to hard work, I enjoyed the discussion, I loved a good debate and I loved the fact that people weren’t pushing me but I was pushing myself.

What were your career aspirations while at university and how did they change?

I came from a professional home and saw law as a profession. I was absolutely certain, being a debater, that I was going to be a barrister. I kept debating whether I needed to bother becoming a solicitor before I became a barrister. Having said that, I never became a barrister.

What are your enduring memories of UNSW Law School?

My enduring memories are of a wonderful way of teaching and learning law. In my days we were down in the huts. The huts were very hot in summer and they leaked in winter – we spent a lot of time having lectures under trees outside the huts be cause it was cooler. It was a wonderful introduc4

tion to the law. The lecturers were motivated because it was a new law school – I was in the second year going through the law school, so therefore when I started there there would have been around 500 people, with around 250 students per year. The teachers were learning themselves how to teach the Socratic method and I loved it. I loved the research, I loved talking, I loved the way we were learning... it was always question and answer, trying to understand what was going on. I loved every minute of the five years I was there.

What impact did those five years have on your career in the short and long term?

They had a number of significant impacts.

The first thing is that it taught me that law was not just something that you studied and regurgitated; law was something that you had to interpret; law was something you had to construct. I think that my social conscience got tweaked at the law school as well – I’m not sure that before then I realised you had to think about the whole community. The law school had a strong social base and although I was a Commerce/Law student, it was quite real to us all that we were building what we were doing in a much bigger context. The third thing I learnt is comradery. It was a wonderful feeling – in the Commerce faculty, there wasn’t that feeling, it was a massive place, we used to sit in lectures and half the time I didn’t know who was sitting next to me. But in the law school and the law library there was a great comradery that helped people.

You were a partner at Freehills at 25 and then founded your own investment bank

after leaving. What pressures come with positions of great responsibility at such a young age?

If my son was offered a partnership at 25 at a major law firm, I’m not sure I’d tell him to take it. It was a wonderful accolade, it happened very quickly, it was something I wanted at the time and I enjoyed and loved Freehills – it was a marvellous firm.

But it did lock me in. I had ideas when I was at UNSW of studying at Harvard and I put that away because when you’re offered a partnership you take the partnership... I’m not saying one shouldn’t be an early achiever, I’m saying that it can sometimes cut off other things. In terms of the responsibility one of the wonderful things as you grow is that you don’t really feel the responsibility... I never found it a problem, having responsibilities – I think not having responsibilities is the problem and in life you’ve got to take the things that come at you, turn them to your advantage, understand them and frankly enjoy them.

In a previous interview, you mentioned that many UNSW graduates ‘raced into a bank’ upon finishing their degrees and suggested that taking a year off before starting, learning the theory, thinking more - that’s the way to go. Can you please elaborate on this?

My belief is slightly different. I honestly be lieve that you should do your degrees and then go out and do what you think you want to do. It could be that after a year or two you should go and polish it up a bit. If you said to me, ‘what would have been the best course for me?’ firstly I’d have to say I did Commerce/Law. I would have liked to have done Arts/Commerce/Law. I love arts and regret not being better educated in the arts – I might have hung around an extra period at the university. Secondly, I thought it was absolutely right for me to go to a major law firm – that doesn’t mean it’s for everybody. After a couple of years it would have been a wonderful thing to take stock, to go and have done an MBA; it could be done at UNSW but it could be overseas as well and then come back and decide what I wanted to do. That doesn’t mean what I chose was wrong, I was very lucky, things were developing and takeovers were starting – it was a very exciting period.

One of the qualities you often talk about is humility. Do you have a role model who embodies that quality for you?

In terms of people who are great, in my experience, most of the people who are right at the top are quite humble. It’s the people underneath them on their way there that often display a lack of humility. I have said, and do agree, that humility is a great attribute. In terms of role models, the late Kim Santow, who was my master solicitor, had great humility – he never was arrogant, was always focused and a great man. My late father, who was a brain surgeon, never ever showed off – he was a quiet, scientific,

careful and caring man.

How do you personally keep yourself at ground zero with all you have going on?

Very easy. Somebody who thinks about life realises that whatever you achieve is probably nothing compared to what others have done. Secondly, whatever you’ve done can be taken away in a stroke, whether sadly because of something happening to you health-wise or whether it be because somebody besmirches your reputation, and that should keep your feet on the ground. Anybody who really thinks they’re great is flying very high to the sun, they’re not really thinking about where we all fit. I said in a speech the other day that there are very few people who have the effect on the earth that Bill Gates has and so on. As soon as you think about that, then none of us has the right to be anything but humble. It’s also important to respect what others do. I respect the guy who does the garbage in my street today – he did a very good job and we’re very lucky that he does it, we should respect what he does.

What impact did Justice Kim Santow’s mentorship have on you?

His mentorship had an enormous effect on my life. Firstly, I started at Freehills because I met him; he said come and I was keen. I shared an office with him for two years; he was a partner, I was an articled clerk. We became partners together and great friends together. He had a big effect on me but the greatest effect was not the way he looked at law and helped me... the greatest effect was his phrase, ‘you must have a generosity of spirit.’ I’ve always tried to live up to his concept... So many of us received so much from his generosity of spirit.

You’ve been involved in many not-forprofit organisations since the 1980s, especially in the arts. What has been your

most rewarding experience in the notfor-profit sector?

The most rewarding has been that I was given the opportunity to revamp the laws on philanthropy. It gives me a real buzz when I see what’s happening to what are these days called PAFs (Private Ancillary Funds), formerly known as Private Philanthropic Funds. It was my idea, I was in a position to sell it to the then Prime Minister, John Howard - he did it, to his credit, and now there are about 840 of them with over $2.5 billion invested in them and they’re producing over $125 million a year in donations. That gives me great satisfaction, not as much satisfaction as there would be if it were double that number but it was a big step forward. I saw a hole in the law, because of my experience with not-for-profits I knew it was necessary to fill it and I was given the opportunity with others.

Can you please explain what the reform does?

[Before] 2001, you couldn’t establish, if you were a wealthy person, a philanthropic fund with ease. Indeed in the late 1990s I went to see the Treasurer of Australia with a client who wanted to give away $40 million, genuinely, because he was an immigrant who had done very well and wanted to give back to Australia. He was viewed as something of a tax crook because he wanted to do this. Today, because of the amendments that were brought in, it is easy to set up a private philanthropic fund. By that I mean a family, together with one advisor, can set up a trust, which is for charitable purposes and which must donate 5% of its corpus every year to charities... The beauty of it is that it allows families to do philanthropy together because they sit as trustees, it allows them to make commitments over multiple years and to take money in the good times to be given out in the bad times... It’s

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certainly had a big effect in the arts and it’s having a very good effect in welfare.

Banking and the arts are seen as two polar opposites. Why have you been so devoted specifically to the arts?

A cynic would say it’s [because I wasn’t very good at sport] and in a way that might be right. My mother’s very keen on art and I was very interested in art – I loved music and particularly loved drama. Across the road from UNSW is NIDA... and we used to go regularly to see plays. I loved plays and films as well. That was a logical place for me to put some interest. It was probably safer than throwing a ball around because I’d probably drop it and suddenly opportunities started to emerge in the arts. My very first one was that I was asked by the federal government to chair Film Australia and I had a wonderful time. It was the first time they were corporatising something, so I was chairman of the corporate documentary link... we made documentaries and I loved every aspect of it. From there I became chair of the Bundanon Trust, which was the late Arthur Boyd’s donation to Australia. I loved being involved in painting even though I can’t paint for nuts. There followed a whole series of them and I’m the richer for it.

Did it provide a sense of balance?

Absolutely. But it did something else; I didn’t do it for this reason but it did allow wonderful networking opportunities. So much of the not-for-profit work I did became part of my life and my clients were often the same people sitting around the board tables with me on the not-for-profits.

I think it built a feeling of trust between us... it may have built a feeling within them that I wasn’t just a time-ticker or somebody who just wanted to go through and correct their paragraphs, they could see there was something more to me. And the fact was 6

that they were right – there was something more to me because it rounded me. I loved the artistic types, I loved feeling that I was a part of what they were doing and I absolutely loved the way it used to open up peoples’ minds.

You hold very important positions on the boards of companies including the ASX, Coca Cola Amatil and Westfield Group - what pressures come with holding multiple positions of responsibility at the same time? How do you deal with those pressures?

When you have multiple involvements, your mind has to be such that you can move from one to the other. There is no point in taking up the chairmanship of X when you’re sitting there worrying about Y... I think the legal training of being able to move from one matter or client to another is a very important thing... when you’re working for a particular company, you’re there for them 100%. You’ve got to put out of your mind your other worries... focus is very important. The ability to manage one’s time is very important; if you spend a lot time on one thing so that you can’t do your other functions is very dangerous. The final thing is also the ability to start to work out what is important because there’s a lot of minutiae... you’ve got to know exactly what you’re there for, what’s requested of you and give of it, rather than trying to overdo it or under do it.

It seems that one of the qualities you really display is calm. What’s your source of calm?

I think it’s the training. I’m not sure that all my close friends or my wife would say I’m calm! I think that you are trained as a good lawyer to treat the work you do with professionalism. Can you imagine visiting a surgeon who starts to throw the knife around or gets upset because he’s under pressure?

He’s got... to be calm and to do the job. I think I realised years that getting angry and upset is really counter-productive. The better thing is to be professional in what you do, focus on it and get it done.

You’ve been described as Sydney’s best networked business man and you’ve had very close relationships with prominent figures including Kerry Packer and Frank Lowy. What’s the key factor in being able to maintain long term professional relationships?

People who are successful like them didn’t just become successful overnight; they’re people who work, they require a lot of advisors and they’re very discriminatory – they understand bad advice and what isn’t.

What you have to do is perform – you have to be the best advisor you can and you have to seek to provide them with what they need in terms of professional advice. If you asked me, ‘what’s the best way to shine in front of people like that?’ It is to do your job well. This concept of entertaining and so on, you’ve got to do that so they know who you are - but don’t forget, entertaining can only get you so far; these people can generally afford a free meal or free ticket.

The real thing you’ve got to produce is your ability to perform.

In a previous interview you mentioned that you’re a great chairman and advisor but not a great entrepreneur... yet you’ve been so successful in advising prominent entrepreneurs and you founded your own investment bank. What has been your biggest challenge in entrepreneurship?

My biggest challenge is that I’m not truly a risk taker – I’m conservative, I’m careful.

I have good ideas but quite often I’m not interested in putting them into practice because that usually is a risk - it could take up time, cost money and upset people. I am

“I think you have to be like a good surfer – you’ve been given the surfboard by the university but you have to watch the wave. If the wave’s coming and your

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passion is to be on the beach or get a little deeper, you take it. more the person who somebody comes to with the idea, the drive and the wish to take a risk and I’m an advisor that can tell them, ‘look that’s too much you could risk losing your money,’ or ‘you can’t do that because these legal provisions don’t allow it.’

I think if I have a skill at all it is to help the person work out how to get there. One of things I’ve developed over the years which is very important is I think I can also advise whether it’s right to get there; I didn’t have that when I came out of university but it’s terribly important to not only assist one’s clients in getting where they want to go but also assessing whether it’s right... Have they taken somebody else’s idea, for example? Is it an idea that is morally correct?

You often walk around the campus. Is that something that students might be able to join you in?

They’re very welcome. Usually my walks are that I take a present alumnus with me and I love watching them, particularly, if they haven’t been there for 10 or 15 years, as they walk past the library lawn I’ve had the occasion where a very well-known alumnus started focusing on a spot on the library lawn. I said, ‘did you meet your wife there?’

Big stab in the dark, ‘he said how did you know?’ It was obvious, I could see it meant something to him. You don’t realise it yet but the smell of the university will be with you for the rest of your days – when I walk into the Mathews Theatres or Clancy Auditorium, which is my office where I do

the graduations, it’s got the same smell it had in 1972, it’s an amazing thing.

What advice would you give to law students who are don’t know where they want to work once they graduate?

Firstly, I think you’ve got to understand yourself, which is hard for young people.

You’ve got to work out what makes you happy, within the law, business, the arts, social sciences, or wherever you’re aiming – ask, what really is your passion? Secondly, you don’t have to follow what other people have done. What I did was right for me – that doesn’t mean it’s right for anybody else. The third thing is that you have to be opportunistic –that doesn’t mean you take turns and quickly change from one job to another. I think you have to be like a good surfer – you’ve been given the surfboard by the university but you have to watch the wave. If the wave’s coming and your passion is to be on the beach or get a little deeper, you take it. There’s no right or wrong in a career and there will be parts that aren’t as good as others – any successful person who tells you it was all easy and they never made a mistake, is lying.

How do you overstep the technical requirements and enter the field of morality to tell your client whether you think something is right or wrong?

Preaching at clients and seeking to be their spiritual advisor doesn’t work. If you built up a trust between you and a client, then

you have the ability to nicely, within the advice you’re giving, steer them to what you believe is the right thing. Interestingly, there have been occasions where I have done that and the client has not liked it. I remember one where I know I was right... and remember leaving the office thinking I’d lost him as a client because he thought I was absolutely wrong. But to his credit, two weeks later, he rang me and said, ‘you know, you’re right.’ It was a long two weeks.

What’s the best thing about being Chancellor of UNSW? There is nothing wrong with being Chancellor of UNSW – everything is the best. I love the university; it has been something my family’s been involved in... [a job at UNSW] was the first job my father had in Australia and they were wonderful they way they took him in, so I owe them. The university is a dynamic place - our teachers are wonderful and the research is fantastic but above all there’s a feeling at our university...that I felt while at law school [and] among my father’s friends when we first came here 50 years ago, that they accept everybody.

We like being different - we’re not so established that we can turn our noses up at people, our gates are open and we are always trying to become number one. I’d love us to be absolutely number one and in some regards we are, but in a way that’ll be sad because I think getting to number one is more exciting than being number one.

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Justice Crown Solicitor’s Office The Crown Solicitor’s Office provides legal services to the State Government of New South Wales. The CSO serves approximately 400 clients on a commercial basis in the conduct of litigation, provision of legal advice, representation in courts and tribunals and drafting of legal documents and agreements. Operating as a self-funding business centre within the Attorney General’s Department, the Crown Solicitor competes with the private legal profession for untied legal work.

Employment Opportunities Career opportunities exist at the CSO for talented solicitors, paralegals, secretaries and support staff who work in the legal practice groups as well as administrative and support staff who work in the areas of Finance, Information Management and IT, Records, Human Resources and Marketing.

Website: http://www.cso.nsw.gov.au/

Australian Government Solicitor Broadly, they offer a national network of over 350 lawyers providing a wide range of legal services to government. AGS is a fully commercial and competitive law firm. They act for departments and agencies, for entities in which the Australian Government has an interest and also state and territory government organisations if requested. They do not generally act for private sector individuals or organisations.

Employment Opportunities AGS offers career opportunities for law graduates (including articled clerks), summer clerks, senior lawyers, paralegals, legal secretaries and legal assistants and other support professionals.

Requirements Most jobs at AGS require Australian citizenship or permanent residency. There may need to be health and security clearances.

Website: http://www.ags.gov.au/index.htm 8

Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) provides independent review of a wide range of administrative decisions made by the Australian government and some non-government bodies. The AAT aims to provide fair, impartial, high quality and prompt review with as little formality and technicality as possible. Both individuals and government agencies use the services of the AAT. Employment Opportunities Members of the Tribunal are statutory office holders appointed by the Governor-General. From time to time the Tribunal seeks to have appointed, persons with professional skills or knowledge in areas including aviation, actuary, social work, specialist or general medicine, compensation and so on. The AAT also employs staff under the Public Service Act 1999. Staff are Commonwealth public servants and are employed as either ongoing or non-ongoing to perform a range of duties including management of the Tribunal’s Registries, conducting conferences, legal research, provision of client services and support services to Members. The Tribunal has offices in all states of Australia and in the Australian Capital Territory.

Requirements To be eligible for AAT employment you must: undergo a security and character check, not have received a redundancy benefit from an APS or Commonwealth employer within the last 12 months, be an Australian citizen, and undergo a medical examination.

Website: http://www.aat.gov.au/

Legal Aid NSW Legal Aid NSW provides a range of services to people who need advice, assistance and representation, and who qualify for legal aid.

Legal Aid NSW is provided in two main ways. One way is through the in-house legal practice. Grants of aid are also provided for a private solicitor to represent a person who is eligible for aid.

The biggest area in which legal aid is provided is criminal law, and that’s where legal aid started. It began as a scheme to provide assistance and defence in criminal matters. This includes local court matters to major terrorism trials in the Supreme Court. The next biggest area of work is family law and that mainly involves disputes about the care arrangements for children after a family

breaks down. Legal Aid NSW practises a different kind of civil law to that of private law firms. They specialise in the kind of civil issues that have an impact on disadvantaged people. It covers poverty law, including things like fines, social security payments, visas for migrants and particular refugees, housing and tenancy issues.

and court staff. The role requires advanced legal knowledge and research skills. Work undertaken varies according to the jurisdiction, the court and the judge. Judge’s associates are usually employed for one or two years. Most associates are recent law school graduates but some judges prefer to employ graduates who have a year or two of experience.

Employment Opportunities Legal Aid NSW offers practitioner positions in three main legal practice areas: criminal, family and civil; administrative, corporate, legal and core business support functions; social work; legal reform and policy. There is work in the in-house legal practice, grants division, and a policy and planning division, which helps make decisions around how aid is provided. Legal Aid NSW has a Human Rights Internship program, which is offered in association with the Human Rights Centre at UNSW. Legal Aid NSW also offers a career development program for graduates. One needs to have done his/her PLT and can’t have had more than a year of work experience after PLT in order to get into the program. The program’s duration is two years and involves rotations in at least two areas of law. Interns are supported by a structured induction, training and mentoring programs throughout the program. Legal Aid NSW also has some specific positions for aboriginal law graduates.

Employment Opportunities Judges recruit their associates individually and often these positions are not advertised. Some courts have a nominated person to whom you can send applications. Otherwise, it is best to speak with a current or recent associate or someone else who can give you informed advice.

Website: http://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/home

Office of Parliamentary Counsel Principal functions are drafting Bills for introduction into either House of the Parliament and drafting amendments of Bills.Drafters consider the constitutional and legal background against which the legislation is to be framed, analyse the policy and determine the structure of the legislation and then draft the legislation in terms that are intended to give effect to the policy intended by the Government. There is a federal OPC located in Canberra, as well as the state and territory equivalents in each capital city.

Employment Opportunities There are opportunities for drafters as well as support staff.

Website: http://www.opc.gov.au/

Judge’s Associate A judge’s associate works for an individual judge as a personal assistant and researcher. Tasks undertaken include listing cases,

Requirements Qualities valued include: oral and written communication skills, interpersonal and organisational skills, and a strong academic record and research skills.

Going to the Bar Barristers are lawyers who provide specialist services and advocacy skills to represent their clients before Courts and Tribunals.

They prepare court documents and advise clients about their legal problems and prospects of success in litigation. Barristers work on their own; partnerships or incorporations are not allowed. They’re usually briefed by a solicitor before commencing work.

Requirements To become a barrister, one is required to take the Reading Program where one must: • Be admitted as a lawyer by the Supreme Court of NSW (or in other state); • Obtain a reader’s practising certificate from the NSW Bar Association; • Obtain a 75 pass mark for all three Bar exams (‘Ethics for barristers’, ‘Aspects of evidence’ and ‘Practice and procedure for barristers’) before commencing the Bar Practice Course.

For full time practice at the Bar one must commence within ten months of passing the exams; complete a 5-week full time Bar Practice Course that involves studying advocacy and barristerrelated skills. Intakes for the Course are in May and October. Following that, one must spend at least twelve months with a barrister, observing and learning what they do.

Website: http://www.nswbar.asn.au

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Justice Elizabeth Fullerton SC Judge Supreme Court of New South Wales What extra-curricular activities were you involved in while at university?

I was involved in a number of community based groups working with homeless young women and with women in prisons.

Together we were endeavouring to raise the profile of those who were vulnerable and in need and, amongst other things, to persuade the state government to make available vacant state owned buildings to be equipped as refuges and halfway houses. I was also a volunteer at Redfern Legal Centre.

Did they help develop any skills required in your advocacy work?

A broad exposure to the social and political world through volunteer community work gave me an added insight and perspective on those in need of legal advice and representation before the courts without being able to afford a private solicitor.

You were a primary school teacher before commencing your law degree.

What made you decide to study law rather than continue teaching?

I entered Teachers College after graduating from High School. At that stage my financial situation was not such that full time study at university was an option. I accepted a teaching bursary which bonded me to the Education Department for three years, but I always had in the back of my mind that I would take up university studies in law when I was financially independent and after I had travelled.

What made you decide to go straight to the bar after graduating?

I had aspiration to be an advocate and I 10

wanted to build my own practice at the Bar rather than join a firm of solicitors. I believed (somewhat naively) that I could achieve that by simply deciding that’s what I wanted. If I had known in advance how hard it would be and how little I knew about being a barrister I might have thought again – but sometimes blind courage is a good thing.

What were the main barriers you had to overcome while working as a barrister straight out of law school?

There were the obvious concerns as to whether I would be able to earn enough to live (however frugally) and to support myself as a member of chambers straight out of university. Because I had been financially independent of my family since the age of 18, and given that I had spent a year overseas after resigning from the Education Department, I worked to overcome those concerns by committing myself to practice, working hard and making myself available to do anything that was asked of me by solicitors and all other barristers. There was also the need to ensure that what few contacts I had in the profession were secure contacts to enable me to gradually build a profile at the bar.

When you were a barrister you were heavily involved in criminal law. What attracted you to this area of law and kept you working in it for so long?

Jury work. The successful task of persuasion in a criminal trial had an immediate and material appeal – securing an acquittal and usually liberty of the accused.

Disputes between civil litigants are also representation but for me, at least being

obviously equally as deserving of good a jury advocate and testing the adequacy of proof of guilt had a particular political and intellectual attraction. I was keen to learn and to develop capacity to advocate on behalf of those charged with criminal offences (and later to appear for the prosecution and in other related capacities) but my work as a barrister extended beyond criminal law as I developed a practice at the bar. When I was appointed silk in 1999 I took on a much wider range of work.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of your career?

Having had the opportunity as a barrister to represent a range of different people in a variety of legal contexts - from the most resourced to the least resourced. And as a judge, the reward is in bringing about a just, fair and balanced and sustainable outcome.

“... a law degree, I think, is as productive and

”

rewarding as the graduate wishes to make it.

What’s the most challenging aspect of being a judge?

Compared to working at the bar where the task is to construct an argument about the facts, judging requires the application of intense scrutiny to the facts in any case and then to assess and consider the arguments counsel offer and to distil from the dispute a reasoned outcome. Sifting through the facts and the arguments about them and then structuring a judgment requires disciplined thinking. A judge’s reasoning process must be both transparent and accessible to the public. While a judgment will be read by lawyers it should also be written to be understood by the people involved in the dispute, to help them understand either why they’ve won or why they lost. It is also critical to keep up to date with the law across a much wider range of subject areas than is called for in a specialised practice at the bar.

Is there a common misconception that law students have about the judiciary?

What surprised you about the role?

I suppose when I was a law student I saw judges as very removed and formidable. I certainly hope I am not viewed that way!

I would have to say, generally what surprised me about being a judge is the very considerable amount of work that barristers and solicitors are required to do in preparing a case for a hearing in this court in strict compliance with the Rules of Court and how the work that is done by judges is assisted by the full complement of support staff that enables the court to function effectively and efficiently.

Does your judicial work ever get emotionally taxing?

Obviously I am not without emotions and on occasions I am moved emotionally by the tragedy that people suffer in their daily lives and the exposure of that tragedy and suffering whether in a criminal or civil trial.

But those emotions, whilst informing judgment in one sense, do not colour it. They can never displace a reasoned, thoughtful, calm and impartial deliberation.

What advice would you give to students who are interested in an early career at the bar?

The bar is a very different place now than it was 28 years ago. While some areas of practice have expanded many areas have narrowed largely as a consequence of various statutory compensation schemes where work that was otherwise conducted in the common law division of this Court is now conducted in a non curial environment. For that reason, I suspected it is much harder for a barrister without experience to gain exposure to an area of practice where they will gain the experience on their feet to be able to build a practice. I also suspect that there is a lot less work generally available for a young barrister given the appearance work that is done by solicitor and solicitor advocates. I’ve had some very talented tipstaff in the last five years two of whom have ambitions to go to the bar. They are both however committed to 5-7 years in practice as a solicitor building experience and a contact base wide enough to attract the support that is necessary for a barrister to have in order to build a practice.

What skills do students need to be successful at the bar?

You have to be able to construct an argument and convey that argument clearly and persuasively. You have to be able, always, to see the counter-argument and without necessarily citing it, be in a position to deal with it if need be. You have to have a clear understanding of legal principle, the doctrine of precedent and an ability to meaningfully engage with a judge in oral submissions with a view to assisting the judge to understand your client’s case.

What advice would you give to students who don’t really know what they want to do?

Gather as much information from as many different forums as possible before committing yourself to one career path or another.

A law degree is not necessarily a destination in itself as much as it is a ticket to travel to any number of destinations. A law degree is first and foremost acquiring the skills that enable you to understand how civil society works, and how public and private law affects our lives on a daily basis in both obvious and not so obvious ways. [There are graduates who] look for careers in areas as diverse as the diplomatic corps, in government, in entertainment and the arts and in environmental causes equally as there are graduates who aspire to a career as a solicitor in private practice. Private practice is rewarding for any number of reasons perhaps because it is collegiate and because there are clear paths to achievement and improvement. But a law degree, I think, is as productive and rewarding as the graduate wishes to make it.

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Justice Lucy McCallum SC Judge Supreme Court of New South Wales Can you tell me a bit about your time at UNSW? I was at UNSW between 1981 and 1986.

When I was there it was very much a Socratic method of teaching in small classes of about thirty which I thought was a very good method of teaching. I did lots and lots of activities outside of study which also made it an interesting time. I did the Schools Legal Education Group - I was one of the first people involved in that group. I made a valiant effort for a while to change it name to the Legal Education Group for Schools so it would be LEGS instead of SLEG, but that only lasted for the year I was in charge and then they changed it back, much to my disappointment. I did the Law Revue, I was also one of the editors of the Law Journal. I was the President of the UNSW Law Society in my last year as well.

How did your participation in extra curricular activities help you develop the skill set/character traits thay have been beneficial in your professional life?

I guess it forced me to be very well organised and very disciplined in my approach to study. To be honest it also encouraged a measure of confidence in my self in being able to take several issues on at short notice; I was used to studying up for exams and moots with the minimum time because I made myself so busy that I had to study it all at the end, so I forced myself into a position where I was running on adrenaline and preparing things at the last minute, which I think is a very important skill for barristers because even if you try to prepare a case properly there is always things thrown at 12

you at the last minute. I think one of the measures of a good barrister is people who can take that in their stride and not get flustered by it, who can just stay calm and take new information on board at the last minute and weave it into their thinking. So I think, in a funny way, by making myself ridiculously busy at law school I prepared myself very well for the chaos of advocacy.

I also did lots of physical exercise, which is something I’ve carried through with me into professional life, which I think is very important because it is what kept me sane - the calming effect of staying fit and the escapism of playing team sport and immersing yourself in a competition is very important for managing stress.

You started practicing law with Mallesons Stevens Jaques in commercial litigation and then worked as a prosecutor at the Commonwealth DPP Office. What made you decide to work in criminal law rather than move on in the commercial world?

That was a very unsound decision, I basically followed a boyfriend to Canberra. It was entirely unrelated to any sensible approach to what would be a good career path, it was just purely for romantic reasons. But it turned out to be an extremely good decision professionally because it exposed me to a broad range of practice and where I’ve ended up in the Common Law Division of the Supreme Court. I don’t think I could have had a better background for the mixed work of the Division that I’m in becase the Division does do civil and criminal and administrative law, and they’re three areas that I’ve kind of lurched into by mistake.

So I accidentally paved my path very well, focusing myself on a broad range of experience.

What made you decide to become a barrister?

It’s funny actually, it was just something that other people had always said I should do. I am the youngest of five and my parents and my brothers had always said that I talked so much when I was a little girl that I should be a lawyer. I think it sort of started out as a joke except that they said it so often that I started to think it would be a good idea, not really understanding why, but as it turned out it was a very good choice. I think also that its partly the influence of my father, who is a very intellectually rigorous arguer. If you ever wanted to have an argument with him he would force you to defend your position very rigorously intellectually and I think I enjoyed that with him and I carried that over to what I moved into professionally.

“It’s very intellectually satisfying being able to finally say what I think is right rather than being paid to argue one side of a case.”

Did you find different skill-sets were important to commercial litigation and then working in the public sector?

I think you have to have a different kind of personality to work for the public sector. I think you are expected to put up with fairly strained circumstances in the public sector, you’re not as well remunerated and you’re not made to feel quite so special as you are in the private sector, so you’re doing it because the work interests you or because you think it’s important. Whereas I think in the commercial sector you’re doing it for your own advancement. So I think you need to have a more patient and altruistic approach to life if you want to get on in the public sector, because it is harder and in material terms less remunerative.

You’ve been volunteering and doing pro-bono work since your university days. Can you tell us a bit about that and what has kept you doing it for so long?

I think i did that because I was philosophically committed to some of the things I took on. I did some work appearing for refugeesor people who had been refused refugee status- who were in detention at a time well before that was such a hot poltical issue as it is now. When I first found out about mandatory detention I was horrified and nobody talked about it, it was kind of like the Department’s little dirty

secret. A growing number of lawyers started doing pro bono applications to try and get people out of custody. So that was very important to me. I also did some environmental work, which was also important to me. I think I just did it because I thought it was the right thing to do and it’s important for people who are obscenely well rewarded for what they do ordinarily to give a bit of their time voluntarily every now and then.

What advice would you give to women who have ambitions to work at the bar or become a judge but fear they will be unable to for work/life balance reasons?

It’s very hard, I mean, I guess the party line is that its very achievable and that you should hang in there. But to be honest, I think that the last three decades have been very difficult for women because I think we’ve achieved a status of being regarded as able to do the same things that men do, but I don’t think that we’ve yet seen the change that needs to happen for that to be sustainable- in terms of what people expect of women and what women expect of themselves in terms of work/life balance. Women want to have rewarding careers but they’re not yet ready to give up the feeling that they have to be exceptionally good mothers as well, and the combination of both is punishing and I think we need to rethink both.

I think we need to become more accepting

of shorter hours for women, which just isn’t the expectation at the moment, and maybe lees punishing on ourselves in terms of perfectionism in parenting. Although that’s a hard one, I do firmly believe that the most important part of parenting is time that you spend sitting down with your kids; if you make that time with your kids then you’re making up the career time after they go to bed and you end up going slightly mad for a few decades. So it’s very hard, I suppose the advice is do what you feel you enjoy and don’t think you have to do anything to live up to other people’s expectations either way. Don’t feel that you have to be the best barrister at the Sydney Bar but if you want to be the best barrister at the Sydney Bar don’t live in guilt about not being the best parent on the P & C committee.

What’s the most rewarding/challenging aspect of your career?

I think being a judge is both the most rewarding and the most challenging. It’s surprising because I didn’t expect it to be quite such hard work and people keep saying to me, ‘so you know, are you spending more time with your family since you’ve been appointed?’ and I have to say that I’ve never worked harder, but its also very rewarding.

It’s very intellectually satisfying being able to finally say what I think is right rather than being paid to argue one side of a case.

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Prosecution Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions NSW

work they do and the opportunity to gain experience in not only the substantive law but also with practice and procedure and the rules of evidence.

The ODPP is the independent State prosecution authority established by the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1996 (NSW). The ODPP prosecutes all serious offences committed against the criminal law of the State. The ODPP does not investigate crime. The ODPP does not represent victims or the police in the same way that other lawyers usually represent clients. The ODPP conducts prosecutions on behalf of the community.

Employment Opportunities The CDPP advertises for support and legal positions in the Australian Government Gazette and in local newspapers. Typically, graduates would be looking for positions as legal officers. Recruitment activities at the moment have been not as strong as in the past, because, like a number of government agencies, resources are an issue. Its not unusual though for the department to advertise for non-ongoing positions (ie. not permanent positions). Once someone is there, they are always at liberty to apply for ongoing or permanent positions. The Sydney office is comprised of roughly 180 staff of whom around 100 are legal practitioners so there are a large number of staff working in the administration side, or in legal support roles. Such jobs do get advertised but competition is strong. A number of those people are either studying law or are qualified, so can apply for legal officer positions that come up. The CDPP currently has no official summer clerkship program but last summer they took in a couple of people in a summer clerk type arrangement. The CDPP does not take people for volunteer work.

Employment Opportunities The ODPP offers employment opportunities in a range of challenging jobs. Jobs as lawyers, paralegals, clerical support and witness assistance officers are just a few examples.

Website: http://www.odpp.nsw.gov.au/

Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions The Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) is in essence, a prosecuting agency that does not undertake investigation but takes work from over 40 federal agencies. Its jurisdiction includes everything from people smuggling to counter terrorism. The Office also handles matters arising out of investigations from ASIC such as insider trading and market manipulation. The CDPP is also involved in recovering the assets proceeds of crime work under the Federal Proceeds of Crime Act. People are often attracted to the CDPP because of the range of 14

Requirements Australian citizenship, relevant & formal qualifications, fit & proper person assessment, security clearance, health clearance, not be eligible for employment if you have accepted a redundancy benefit, severance payment or similar benefit in the last 12 months from an APS agency or non-APS Commonwealth employer. Applicants are assessed based on merit in accordance with the department’s criteria.

Website: http://www.cdpp.gov.au/

Christopher Craigie SC Director Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions I finished at the end of 1975. I wad admitted to practice in 1976. Counsel since 1980, Public Defender 1994, silk in 2001, DPP October 2007. My life in a nutshell.

What was your time at UNSW law school like?

I was part of that founding generation of students which was terrific because we were a small, varied group. There were older people who already had very interesting careers. One person that comes to mind was Adrian Deamer who was in his 50s.

He was the former editor of The Australian.

The nice thing was that we kept together – the course was really concentrated.

Can you please map out your career path for us?

Apart from the general idea that I wanted to spend as much time on my feet as possible, I didn’t have a rigid idea of where that was to be found. The degree of which people can do that now or are prepared to accept the idea that their careers will develop by a series of happy accidents or grasping opportunities they might have not really imagined when they started off, I cannot say, because I am not in the particular space that someone out of university is. But if it is possible I would say it makes your life a lot more interesting if you proceed on the basis of looking out for happy accidents and having some flexibility. That was very much the way for me. I had a very brief period in private practice as a solicitor which was long enough to confirm that whilst I have great respect for all the rest of it, it was really not what I wanted to be. Then I was fortunate to be one of the surge of young

lawyers to go into what was then called the Public Solicitor’s Office, now the Legal Aid Commission. I had a very happy four years there both instructing and as time went by, appearing. I saw some really terrific counsel and sat behind a number them long enough to think this is something I know I can do.

I remember one of them in particular who I always saw as something of a mentor saying ‘if you want to be what I am – a public defender – you need to go out and practice for a while at the private bar’, so I did in 1980. 14 years later I came back in with a public defender’s appointment. During those 14 years I had a wonderfully varied criminal practice. I did a little bit of prosecuting, because in the mid to late 1980s the NSW DPP was still briefing out some of its work- but basically everything from the local court up and obviously as the years went by, I did more jury trials. Occasionally someone would nudge me and say, ‘you really should think about doing some appellate work as well’ and I used to reply, ‘oh, that’s shuffling papers, it’s not terribly exciting and I don’t know that I’d be very good at it.’ Then finally after I had a public defender’s appointment I started doing a bit of appellate work and thought it was actually great fun – you get to play with the English language in the care in which you prepare your submissions and you get to have a very focused interchange with the bench.

So it’s a different sort of advocacy talking to a jury but it’s certainly intellectually very stimulating.

I would have to say none of those things would have been apparent to me in 1976 when I was first admitted let alone in 1980 when I became a barrister. Even this appointment... was not something that I had never thought of but I had to say I gave it a nano-second of consideration because it is a fantastic job – it’s challenging, it’s hard, but it remains a lot of fun.

My only piece of grandfatherly advice to anyone is that if your job is not fun, think about another one. I say to the people here - the day you feel you’re coming in here and enduring it, not enjoying it, is the day you should seriously think about doing something else. But I have to say there are so many specialist skill areas in the DPP office from paralegal up that I think people will find areas within this office [that are] challenging and fun.

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What do you look for in candidates who apply for jobs at the DPP Office?

There’s more to it than marks. Obviously there’s a basic level of competence in the law that is simply a demonstration of your intellect and ability but it’s no more and no less than that. We take it for granted that you’re a smart person and beyond that there are facilities and abilities that people have that are at least as important as raw intellect; it’s one of those things you may need to develop over time and we understand that, it’s why there is a mechanism for mentoring.

And there’s an opportunity for people to move around within the national practice which covers everything you can think of – from tax through to terrorism and exotics in the middle like environmental law. Some of the work that junior people in office do [and question whether it’s as prominent as something like a terrorist trial] is the volume of work in social security fraud. That sort of area for a young lawyer is a wonderful learning and testing ground because if you learn the techniques of getting documentary evidence before a court in that environment and you do it for a while to

become totally comfortable with it... it’s a great proving ground for someone who feels like they would like to move on to other things.

You were previously a Public Defender and now you’re the Commonwealth DPP. Which side of the law is it more fun being on?

This is a hobby horse of mine. When I was appointed people asked me, ‘how does it feel to move in effect from poacher to gamekeeper?’ I just have this very strong view that there are no poachers or gamekeepers – if you want to ascribe a role it is that in those terms, all of us are guardians of the estate, we just work in different parts of it.

If you’re in the law as an ideological cause you’re there for the wrong reason because that’s not about objectively serving the interests that you should professionally be serving. The cause to which you should be committed is the cause of justice. So that’s never caused me a difficulty... The counsel that we brief for our major matters are counsel that we are just as likely on another accastion to find at the other end of the bar table. I think that is very important for a vigorous healthy justice system.

You often mention the importance of ethics in your speeches. How does the DPP office approach ethics given your role as a prosecutor?

It’s in our lifeblood, it’s absolutely crucial.

The document of biblical truths in this place is the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth and the legal ethics in the professional rules that bind all of us. There’s a very practical side to that – it such a powerful weapon in your hand. If you wanted to be totally pragmatic about it, there’s absolutely no point in prosecuting in a way that degrades the system because in the end the system will suffer from it. In the way our system is structured it’s ineffective in any event because the prosecution that you obtain by loose means is not one that is going to be sustainable in any decent appellate system and not one that would be tolerated by a decent director.

In terms of the public nature of your job, obviously you deal with controversial cases and receive a lot of media attention. Is this something that job applicants should be aware of?

Fortunately the pressure tends to be directed upwards so it’s not something that should greatly concern people who are good enough to be working for the office.

“I say to the people here - the day you feel you’re coming in here and enduring it, not enjoying it, is the

”

day you should seriously think about doing something else.

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“... no one’s left their knickers on my doorknob.”

Occasionally you’ll find yourself doing something unpopular but if you’re consistently only doing those things that have to have popular acclaim you should be asking whether you are misdirected in your priorities.

You must see many confronting things in your job. What is the work/life balance like for those working in the DPP office and for you generally?

I make it very plain to our staff that I do not expect people to work to extremes. If you look at the evidence I gave at the last senate estimates meeting, there was a discussion about how the DPP would cope with reducing resources and a message I sent out to the staff was to say to them that if resources were reducing there are a number of ways of confronting that, but two ways that were not going to happen was that 1) I was not going to overstrain the staff and 2) I was not going to see standards degraded.

Personally I would say a sense of proportion in a job like this or any jobs that I’ve had before is absolutely crucial. You see a lot of confronting things; you could develop a very dark world if you focused on those confronting things, but you really need to remind yourself that society that is a much happier place than those dark aspects indicate. I am an eternal optimist that for all the challenges we’ve faced, I don’t think we’ve ever had a more civil, generous and ethical society than we do now.

It is absolutely vital that if people see a strain in their personal lives and the things that in the end we turn our mind to on our deathbeds, those things take priority.

I watch the workforce here very closely in relation to those things. One of the great things about working in the public sector is that it is a much more family friendly environment than might be seen in other areas.

One sign of that is that this is a

predominantly female workforce; in a number of our offices it is 80% or more.

My philosophy, if you summed it down in a nutshell, is that modern management is fine but management without empathetic leadership is very sterile.

What are your thoughts on the new TV show Crownies? How accurate is the media’s portrayal of the DPP Office?

I can assure you that the only interesting thing happens on this Director’s desk is the signing of the auditor’s report! I think what is reflected is collegiality; that is certainly accurate. The other aspects – I don’t think I’ve seen on my frequent tours around the floors... and no one’s left their knickers on my doorknob!

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International Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Department of Immigration and Citizenship

The Department’s role is to advance the interests of Australia and Australians internationally. This involves working to strengthen Australia’s security, enhancing Australia’s prosperity, and helping Australian travellers and Australians overseas. It provides foreign and trade policy advice to the government. The Department also works with other government agencies to ensure that Australia’s pursuit of its global, regional and bilateral interests is coordinated effectively.

The purpose of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is to ‘enrich Australia through the well managed entry and settlement of people’. The Department manages and provides services for migration, border security, immigration detention, settlement and Australian citizenship.

Employment Opportunities The Department employs over 2000 people on a permanent basis, of whom around 500 are based overseas at any one time. Graduate programs are available for students of all academic backgrounds.

The Department also runs a Corporate and Financial Management Trainee Program targeted at those with accounting qualifications. It also runs an Indigenous Cadetship Program. Timelines for the application process can be found at: http://www.dfat.gov. au/jobs/graduates/timelines_and_process.html.

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Employment Opportunities The Department runs two graduate employment programs (generalist and ICT). It also accommodates a limited number of work experience placements at National Office in Canberra. Work experience placements involve general office roles and specialised placement for students of journalism, law and IT. The Department is unable to place foreign language students in an area where they can use their language skills. Such applications should be made at least one month in advance. The Department also hires accredited interpreters.

Requirements Applicants must be Australian citizens. Recruitments are based purely on merit. Qualities valued in graduates include: good communication skills, high levels of motivation, strategic thinking capabilities, teamwork, resourcefulness and sensitivity of cultural diversity.

Requirements The Department uses a web-based recruitment system for lodgement of job applications. The Department’s preference is to receive all applications on-line. In order for a student to be considered for the Department’s Work Experience Program, the student must be an Australian citizen, satisfy a police records check, fund the placement out of his/her own pocket and provide an indemnity cover by his/her educational institution.

Website: http://www.dfat.gov.au

Website: http://www.immi.gov.au

Jocytte Cervantes Musa & Mark Orosa Uy Gawad Kalinga

What does ‘Gawad Kalinga’ mean?

Gawad Kalinga or ‘GK’ is Tagalog (Filipino) for ‘to give care.’

Can you give a brief description of the work that Gawad Kalinga does?

GK is a grass roots, community development organization that aims to eliminate world poverty through a practical holistic development model focusing on empowering communities through housing, healthcare, education, livelihood and sustainability. GK isn’t a charity, welfare, a handout or an ‘intervention.’ GK works by partnering members from all sectors of society with impoverished communities, to work side by side to plan programs, provide training, develop infrastructure and articulate the aspirations of the communities into a sustainable future. Work involves everything from constructing housing, libraries and playgrounds; providing healthcare, tutoring and education, sport programs, matching outside resources for employment within the community, agricultural expertise, marketing and environmental restoration.

This is done through ‘caretaker teams’ of

volunteers drawn from all sectors of society, with varying expertise who work closely with the communities as they become selfsufficient. It works because it focuses on human dignity, not economics, as well as connecting the wider community directly to the issue of poverty. Whilst at first blush this model appears to be common sense, it has never actually been applied in a consistent, concerted or holistic way as GK does.

Where does Gawad Kalinga operate?

GK was founded in the Philippines by Tony Meloto in 1995, as a nation-building and poverty-ending development organization, beginning with what was formerly Manila’s most notorious slum, Bagong Silang. GK now works with urban, rural and indigenous communities throughout Cambodia, India, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea; and is soon to be established in South Africa and Colombia. Additionally, GK has partnerships with MNCs, universities and large volunteer networks across the USA, Canada, Europe, Singapore and of course, Australia.

What work does Gawad Kalinga undertake or is planning to undertake in Australia?

GK plans to apply its holistic development model by working with indigenous communities in Australia seeking to escape poverty, welfare dependence, substance abuse and healthcare issues. The model has great success and we plan to be here for the long haul in order to completely transform the way we perceive the disadvantages many indigenous communities face by reframing the entire issue from ‘the government’s responsibility’ by bringing the wider community and private community into a close, working collaboration to engage with these communities. Engaging long and short term volunteers, in diverse fields as well as external resources to support the first communities is the current priority.

Why did you decide to work with Gawad Kalinga?

I decided to work for GK because it offered something different in its approach to addressing poverty and its attendant issues.

GK is absolutely unique in its operation 19

“I work for Gawad Kalinga because it is successful in combating poverty especially in developing countries, by building bridges and a strong connexion between the disadvantaged and the fortunate.

and mission. It is not a band-aid solution to poverty. And it is not just about building homes and communities; it is about building a relationship with the beneficiaries. Working in GK not only transforms the beneficiaries’ lives but also the people who get involved. The issue of poverty not only concerns the disadvantaged, it also concerns us. There is a lot of wealth in world yet poverty continues to grow apace. I firmly believe that poverty won’t end unless we share, get involved and bridge that gap.

I work for GK because it is successful in combating poverty especially in developing countries, by building bridges and a strong connexion between the disadvantaged and the fortunate.

What career opportunities are available to law students?

Gawad Kalinga is inherently volunteer based. However, there are three paths that law students may follow. As students, can immediately participate in immersions and ‘builds’ in the Philippines to see how GK works first hand, thus aiding communities overseas and providing practical experience

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and lessons in development far beyond what can be learned from a textbook and that can be applied to communities here.

Secondly, law students can volunteer in the short term or longer term as part of one of the caretaker teams, working closely with communities. This can exceed offering expertise in the legal field, beyond the inherent land and criminal law issues. Work includes developing policy, programs or even physically constructing housing. GK communities benefit from new ideas and expertise – some communities manufacture organic healthcare products or engage in sustainable farming – all ideas contributed by volunteers and students. Thirdly, longterm volunteer work often extends to when students enter the private sector. A variety of law firms are becoming involved in GK in Australia, some as members of caretaker teams. Additionally, AusAid sponsors internship placements within the Philippines and Asia-Pacific region with GK, which graduates can undertake.

”

What are some of the benefits and challenges of working with Gawad Kalinga?

There are so many benefits! Firstly, working with GK will offer an introduction to a wide variety of networks, including the NGO industry, finance, multi-national corporations and the public sector. However, the greatest benefit is the gratification of knowing that you are part of a movement that will end poverty, that has seen consistent and concrete results and that you have actively contributed – not by sitting behind a desk – but actually physically working with communities, where you can push a cause and see the results of your policy choices; all of which is a transformational experience. This is hands-on work with communities that are often very different to each other, so the challenge is to respond effectively to the needs of the individual community which can range from land issues, healthcare access to unemployment or even environmental challenges, such as sustainability and infrastructure.

Law Reform Australian Law Reform Commission The Australian Law Reform Commission is a permanent, independent federal statutory corporation that conducts inquiries into areas of law reform at the request of the Attorney-General of Australia. While accountable to the federal Parliament for its budget and activities, the ALRC is not under the control of government, giving it the intellectual ability to make independent research findings and recommendations. ALRC recommendations provide advice to government but do not automatically become law. Despite this, over 85 per cent of the ALRC’s reports have been either substantially or partially implemented.

Employment Opportunities The ALRC provides internship opportunities on a voluntary basis.

Interns may work with the ALRC for a day a week for one semester, or for four weeks full time during semester or over the summer break (either in November/December or in January/February).

Interns are supervised by a staff member, and undertake research work determined by the needs of the ALRC. Application dates are generally as follows: First semester – late January, Second Semester – late June, Summer – mid October to early November. Exact cut-off dates for each intake are to be advertised on the ALRC website. The Commission credits the contribution of interns in its published papers. The Commission also hires legal officers.

Requirements Applications for interns are judged following selection criteria: course of study, years of study completed, subjects completed and grade achieved, other academic qualifications and related work experience and interests. It is expected that applicants will go to the ALRC’s website for general information about the Commission, its current and previous inquiries, and its processes.

Website: http://www.alrc.gov.au

Judicial Commission of New South Wales The Commission’s primary functions are to assist the courts to

achieve consistency in sentencing, organise and supervise an appropriate scheme of continuing education and training of judicial officers and to examine complaints against judicial officers. The Commission may also give advice to the Attorney General on such matters as the Commission thinks appropriate; and liaise with persons and organisations in connection with the performance of any of its functions.

Employment Opportunities They do not have a graduate program. Employment opportunities are advertised at www.jobs.nsw.gov.au.

Requirements Qualifications vary depending on the job one applies for.

Website: http://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/

New South Wales Law Reform Commission The NSWLRC was the first permanent body in Australia charged with the task of proposing changes to the general law. Its functions are very much similar to those of the ALRC but with regard to the state of NSW (see above). It also strives to ensure consistency between Commonwealth and State legislation.

Employment Opportunities The NSWLRC runs a legal internship program for students in their penultimate year of study. The internship is held for a period of 8-12 weeks over the summer vacation commencing December or January. Interns work on a full-time basis without any remuneration or financial assistance. The Commission credits the contribution of interns in its published papers. Applications generally close at the end of September with interviews for short-listed candidates taking place around October.

Requirements The Commission is seeking students with a strong academic record, who demonstrate well-developed legal research and writing skills as well as the ability to contribute to a team environment.

Website: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc 21

Rosalind Croucher President Australian Law Reform Commission

What inspired you to study law?

I guess I would have to say it was my father.

I initially wanted to be a barrister, like him he was later a judge, appointed when I was in 6th class primary. Everything about it appealed to me. The law, the argument, the theatre of it. So I did law. Arts/Law - starting at ANU on a National Undergraduate Scholarship, but after missing Sydney too much, I finished my undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney.

What was your experience like as a law student?

I was in a minority at law school—married. I married when I was doing my History Honours before going to the law school ‘downtown’. There weren’t many of us who were married. The fact I was a female law student never occurred to me as something of another minority, which it was at the time. When I was later Dean of Sydney Law School I had to do lots of speeches and I learned that there were only twenty-three percent women in my year. I never noticed.

I was not very focused on my law degree at first. Along the way I played lots of music as an oboist and cor anglais player with the 22 22

ABC National Training Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra and then as part of the Opera and Ballet Orchestra at the Opera House. I also enjoyed 7 years with the early music group, the Renaissance Players.

I loved my History Honours degree. I just adored history. I had the possibility of doing a masters degree at Melbourne University - but I had other ties in Sydney so it was not something that I could decide on my own.

Law was hard; and I was playing so much music, that I didn’t do particularly brilliantly at all in my law studies. Funnily enough the subjects I did do well in were the really hard ones, because I had to study really hard just to understand them.

Being at law school was quite a different experience from being an Arts student. You can easily get lost in Arts, until you develop a real cohort, as I did once I was in the Honours stream. But at law school you do have a sense of being a group, with familiar faces in classes from one day to the next.

It was the era of big exams. They were often back to back, so you might do two three-

hour exams on the one day in rooms like the Great Hall. The one where I nearly came to grief was the architectural drawing room.

The desks were sloped - I used ink and had a bottle on the desk - plus you could smell the brewing at the nearby brewery (and I am intolerant to wheat). The Conflicts exam was a shocker. I think the whole room of students went pale when they saw the paper.

What is involved in a typical work day for you?

How long have you got! My days are not really ‘typical’. There’s a range of tasks, including: running a research team (the legal officers); managing the office; dealing with government, particularly the Attorney-General’s Department, as the ALRC sits in this portfolio; flying to Canberra at least once a month - sometimes it’s weekly; appearing in Senate hearings from time to time; leading consultation teams nationally; writing submissions to external inquiries; preparing speeches on a range of ALRC inquiries; answering journalists - particularly when hot topics hit the headlines, like the News of the World phone-tapping scandal which put the spotlight back on protection of

“Being able to contribute to the future in a very real way is

”

a very special space to be in.

privacy and the ALRC’s recommendation from 2008 for a statutory cause of action in privacy (instead of waiting for the common law to develop it in tort).

Where have you worked previously and what was that like?

Working from graduation forwards, my first ‘law’ job was in the last two years of my studies. I was looking after the library and ‘devilling’ at Smithers, Warren and Tobias (now Phillips Fox). This took me into a fair amount of paralegal style work, and assisting in litigation. But, by the end of my law studies I was pregnant, and I was admitted as a Solicitor when 7 months pregnant.

Although I had worked two years part-time with Smithers, Warren, and could have continued there, the demands of motherhood came as a real shock.

When my daughter was nearly a year old I applied for a position in teaching at Macquarie University. I got it. What got me the teaching position was none of the things that a career path would have mapped out.

Not a higher degree - I hadn’t even thought about that one yet; not publications - I didn’t have any of those. But I did have

teaching experience - in music. I had taught a residential summer school in early music, with a group aged from 17 to 70. It was a great background for teaching distance students, who came in for weekends at a time on campus. I loved it.

I spent my first two years teaching at Macquarie, with my daughter in a child seat in my old Holden stationwagon, spotting things along the way, like ‘TV tower’ as we drove across the bridge. (I lived in the Eastern Suburbs).

Then a position at UNSW came up, which suited me better because of the travel, and for the next seven years I spent a very formative time at UNSW as a teacher and became an ‘academic’. I undertook doctoral studies in legal history, improved immensely as a teacher, gaining confidence all the time, and started putting my scholarly thoughts to paper and getting published.

In mid-1990 I accepted a position at Sydney Law School which then occupied almost the next decade. I was Head of Department, then Dean, then Deputy Chair of the Academic Board before accepting the

position as Dean of Macquarie Law School.

So I went back to Macquarie again, completing a circle in a way. That accounts for the next seven years till the end of 2006.

This was a marvellous opportunity for me to build the reputation of Macquarie and particularly forge strong links with the legal profession. Macquarie Law School had had a troubled period and needed some considerable nurturing. I am very proud of the fact that at the end of this period Macquarie Law School was ranked eighth in Australia among law schools on a peer-reviewed assessment conducted by the Melbourne Institute.

It was also a very special chapter in my life for another reason: I met and married Professor John Croucher, a statistician and Professor of Management at MGSM. We married in 2004, on campus, with the reception in the room we met.

What made you decide to work for the Australian Law Reform Commission?

I have always admired the work of the ALRC - and law commissions in general.

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I came to appreciate the enduring nature of law reform contributions when I was doing my PhD, which took me into the work of the great Law Commissions of the 1830s in the UK, whose major work on property law (including wills) led to the legislation that is the basis of our modern laws.

I knew many of the Commissioners at the ALRC, particularly those who had come from the academic world, and the opportunity for appointment came up at exactly the time I was thinking that, after 7 years as Dean, it was time to make room for someone else and move on myself.

I was absolutely thrilled to be appointed in February 2007 with a three-year commission. At the end of 2009 the terms of the other incumbent Commissioners (including the President) came to an end and I was appointed President for a five-year term.

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snapshot of opinion on the issues being considered - again providing a fabulous contribution to legal history, and increasingly locating that within its particular social context at a given time.

Being able to contribute to the future in a very real way is a very special space to be in.

Our work brings us into contact with a wide range of people across different communities - especially leaders of the legal profession, community legal groups and representative groups (like the Law Council of Australia and the legal professional bodies in each state and territory). Consultation is a strong commitment and an essential aspect of law reform processes and we find that all doors open for us.

What are the benefits and challenges of your role at the ALRC? What I love about law reform work by institutional law reform bodies is that it is not just about the future. Law reform publications - especially the final reports - provide an enormous contribution to legal history, through the mapping of law as at a particular moment in history. I mentioned earlier how I was inspired by the work of the UK Real Property Commissioners of the 1830s.

A challenge is the difference in ‘political’ time and ‘law reform’ time. They don’t always align. Consultative processes have a natural rhythm and it is very difficult to compress these without endangering the process itself. We are constantly looking at ways to improve the way we communicate with key stakeholders and to present our publications in a way that generates engagement. We are using online tools as a key plank in any consultation plan, both as an information loop and a way of gaining contributions.

Each law reform commission report not only reviews the past, it also maps the present. In reviewing the submissions and consultations the reports also provide a

Our focus is also strongly independent. We are constituted under our own Act. We do not have predetermined outcomes and are able to get stakeholder input in a very open

way, as we are ‘not government’.

A challenge is to defend the law reform space. There was a Senate inquiry into the ALRC over last summer and you can read there what we, and others, said. I have attached my opening remarks in giving evidence which will give you a sense of it. This is publicly reported in Hansard as well. We put in two submissions as well. There is a summary of it all in the ALRC Brief – our e-newsletter – and you can get this on the ALRC website.

Do you have any advice for students who are interested in contributing to law reform and policy issues?

Law reform thinking is about unravelling the ‘whys’ to begin with. Why is law like it is? What led to its introduction? Why is it the shape it is? Is it still responding to those concerns? What principles should inform any change? You can apply law reform thinking as an approach to many problems, indeed many law essays! It is a habit of mind. It goes beyond technical understanding of law in a doctrinal sense.

On the work side, a good start is an internship or placement in a body like the ALRC. We have four interns starting with us now, two from UNSW. Community legal centres are always putting in submissions, which is a practical law reform activity. Government departments, state and federal, are always on the lookout for policy officers.

Public Interest Aboriginal Legal Services NSW/ACT The ALS (NSW/ACT) provides legal services, predominantly in the area of criminal law and child protection to Aboriginal adults and young persons. The ALS has 22 offices across NSW (regional and remote) and the ACT and also visits adult correctional centres and juvenile detention centres across NSW. Volunteering and employment opportunities The ALS operates a volunteer program that provides opportunities for law students to gain an understanding of how the NSW criminal justice system applies to Indigenous persons. Students assist ALS solicitors in all areas of our criminal practice. The placement may include the preparation of briefs, court attendance, research, letter writing, the creation and serving of documents. Volunteers are able to research precedents, sentencing patterns, legislation and legislative amendments and provide this information to solicitors. Information about how to apply for the volunteer program and employment opportunities at the ALS is located on the ALS website.

Requirements - What ALS is looking for The ALS is looking for law students with basic knowledge of the criminal justice system and a strong interest in Indigenous and social justice issues.

Other information The ALS is an Aboriginal community based organisation with a Board comprising directors from across the state as the ultimate policy-making body. It is in close contact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services in all the other states and territories. There is a regular movement of lawyers between ATSILS across Australia, facilitated by strong co-operative relationships at the senior management and Board levels.

Website: http://www.alsnswact.org.au

Community Legal Centres Community Legal Centres (CLCs) are independent community organisations providing legal services to disadvantaged and marginalised people and communities. CLCs offer a range of legal and related services to their clients including: • Information and referral • Advice on legal matters • Legal casework and representation in targeted areas of law • Community legal education • Law reform and public policy development and advocacy There are 39 CLCs throughout NSW employing qualified staff including solicitors, social workers and community legal educators.

There are both generalist and specialist centres. Specialist CLCs concentrate on a particular area of law or target a specific group.

In NSW this includes areas such as credit and debt, environmental law, welfare rights, mental health, disability discrimination, tenancy, immigration, employment, the arts, refugees, women, older persons, etc.

Generalist CLCs offer legal advice and assistance to people living in their catchment area on a range of issues including: • Accidents and compensation • Apprehended Violence Orders (AVOs), family law and relationships, children and young people • Consumer rights, employment, neighbourhood disputes, wills and estates • Crime • Environment, transport, health • Housing, social services, welfare and Centrelink • Human rights, immigration and citizenship Volunteering and employment opportunities The CLCNSW website has a link to the National Community Legal Centres website where jobs in the CLC sector are advertised. CLC Volunteers (www.clcvolunteers.net.au) is a national database of community legal centres with information about current volunteering opportunities at CLCs.

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Requirements CLCs are looking for people who have: • A commitment to social justice and to the principle of access to justice; • A commitment to professionalism and the principles and obligations of volunteering; • • • • • •

A sense of identification with and understanding of the community sector; A desire to learn and an ability to work as part of a team; An ability to be non-judgmental and courteous with clients; Tolerance and patience in different or difficult situations; The ability to make a commitment to the CLC; and An understanding of and willingness to empathise with clients who have comprehension difficulties such as communication disabilities, mental health or substance abuse issues, language or literacy deficiency.

Desirable basic skills include: • Some understanding or experience of, or a willingness to learn, the legal areas in which the CLC provides legal advice and assistance to the community; and • Some understanding of government funded legal programs (e.g. Legal Aid NSW) and not-for-profit legal and community organisations. Information about the legal aid system is set out in the law handbooks of each State and Territory.

Other information The 39 community legal centres in NSW are supported and resourced by the peak representative body for NSW CLCs, Community Legal Centres NSW Inc. CLCNSW represents the interests of community legal centres, co-ordinates strategic direction and development for the CLC sector as a whole, and liaises and negotiates with government on relevant legal, equity, funding and program issues.

The National Association of Community Legal Centres (NACLC) holds an annual conference that attracts approximately 350-400 delegates from about 200 community legal centres throughout Australia and New Zealand. People attend from all major capital cities and surrounding suburbs and from regional, rural and remote areas. The conference provides an important opportunity for workers from CLCs to get together and learn from each other and hear from inspirational and interesting speakers.

Website: http://www.clcnsw.org.au 26

Regulators Australian Competition and Consumer Commission The ACCC promotes competition and fair trade in the market place to benefit consumers, business and the community. Its primary responsibility is to ensure that individuals and businesses comply with the Commonwealth’s competition, fair trading and consumer protection laws. The ACCC is the only national agency dealing generally with competition matters and the only agency with responsibility for enforcing the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) and the state/territory application legislation. The ACCC’s initiatives include promoting consumer education in rural areas and with indigenous communities.

Employment Opportunities The ACCC has a graduate program. Work during the program involves analysing key market sectors; assisting in assessing applications for collective bargaining, authorisations and notifications; the economic regulation of network infrastructure; or investigating complaints from business or consumers about possible breaches of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth). It also invovles consumer liaison activities, product safety surveys or compliance research.

One can register a general expression of interest in the ACCC’s internship program or other temporary employment at: http:// www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/912061.

Registered graduates will receive notification of application dates, eligibility criteria and details of the selection process for the graduate program.

Requirements Graduates are selected for the graduate program based on merit and must have completed a three-year degree by the time the graduate program commences. Graduate areas of study could include, but are not limited to, law, public policy, financial modelling, industrial economics, and econometrics.

Website: http://www.accc.gov.au

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is the prudential regulator of the Australian financial services industry. It oversees banks, credit unions, building societies, general insurance and reinsurance companies, life insurance, friendly societies, and most members of the superannuation industry. APRA also acts as the national statistical agency for the Australian financial sector.

Employment Opportunities APRA has a 12 month Graduate Program with an annual intake of 20 graduates with a mentoring program and the opportunity to rotate to another APRA division in the first year. After successfully completing the 12 month traineeship, one is promoted to the role of Analyst.

Requirements A major in accounting, actuarial studies, banking, econometrics, finance, mathematics, public policy and statistics is desirable.

Strong research skills, written and oral communication skills and analytical skills are essential. A minimum credit average is required.

Website: http://www.apra.gov.au

Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) ASIC is Australia’s corporate, markets and financial services regulator. It ensures that Australia’s financial markets are fair and transparent, supported by confident and informed investors and consumers. It has powers to protect consumers against misleading or deceptive and unconscionable conduct affecting all financial products and services, including credit.

Employment Opportunities ASIC does not offer internships or vacation work and recruitment for its graduate program begins in the following March. The graduate program involves a 12 month rotation scheme. One can create a job profile and will automatically be emailed career opportunities at ASIC at: http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/ASIC.NSF/ byHeadline/Careers+at+ASIC.

Requirements To be eligible to apply for a job with ASIC, one must be an Australian citizen but at times there are exemptions to this requirement in exceptional circumstances. One must also pass a Police Record check. ASIC looks for high achievers with a relevant degree who are able to operate in a fast paced, market driven environment.

Applicants should ideally be adaptable, creative, innovative, driven and motivated.

Website: http://www.asic.gov.au

Reserve Bank of Australia The RBA is Australia’s central bank. It conducts monetary policy, works to maintain a strong financial system and issues the nation’s currency. As well as being a policy-making body, the Reserve Bank provides selected banking and registry services to a range of Australian government agencies and to a number of overseas central banks and official institutions. It also manages Australia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves.

Employment Opportunities The RBA offers opportunities across a wide range of careers including economics, finance, accounting, information technology, human resources, banking, settlements and facilities management. A number of entry level opportunities are available throughout the year. The RBA offers cadetships which involve 8 weeks of paid work placement commencing in December. The graduate program is conducted over two years. Internships are offered to PhD students.

Requirements The cadetship requirements are: a 3rd year student majoring in economics or finance intending to complete honours the next year. Applications are also considered from high-calibre students undertaking double degrees, who may not complete honours until the following year. Applicants to the RBA’s information technology program are accepted from second year and pre-honours year students. A major in economics and finance leading to an honours degree is essential. However, there are opportunities available for person with accounting and IT qualifications.

Website: http://www.rba.gov.au

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NSW Ombudsman

Office of Best Practice Regulation

The NSW Ombudsman’s Office is an independent and impartial watchdog which investigates and resolves complaints about a broad cross sector of public sector agencies. It keeps both government and non- government agencies accountable through promoting good administrative conduct. The Office’s job is to make sure that the agencies which it watches over fulfil their functions properly and improve their delivery of services to the public.

Amongst other things, the Office scrutinises organisations that: deliver community services, services to children, services that provide assistance and support to people with disabilities and the homeless. It also watches over more esoteric agencies that operate using covert powers. The Office also helps agencies to be aware of their responsibilities to the public, to act reasonably and to comply with the law and best practice in administration. Much of its work is generated by complaints.

The OBPR is an independent division of the Department of Finance and Deregulation. It assists Australian government departments and agencies to meet the Australian government’s requirements for best practice regulatory impact analysis and in monitoring and reporting on their performance.

Employment Opportunities The NSW Ombudsman’s Office does not operate a graduate recruitment program but encourages university graduates to apply for advertised vacancies. Though the NSW Ombudsman does not have many pure legal positions, a high percentage of its staff possess legal qualifications because of the transferable skills learnt in obtaining a legal qualification. Work at the NSW Ombudsman involves a great breadth of issues and dealings with a number of different agencies. It receives many inquiries from university students about work experience placements or graduate recruitment and occasionally accepts requests for students to undertake their compulsory work experience placement, but only when the Office’s work allows for the provision of an appropriate level of support and guidance to students.

Requirements Any request for a work experience placement should include a statement of support from your university. Applicants should have a willingness to explore different areas of work within the job, be passionate and energetic.

Website: http://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au

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Employment Opportunities Apply for positions in the Office through the Department of Finance and Deregulation’s vacation employment and graduate recruitment schemes. The Department’s Vacation Program has two intakes per year which run through the mid-year winter and endof-year summer holidays. The Program is advertised in May (Winter) and October (Summer) on their website and on some university websites. All positions are based in Canberra and candidates are responsible for their own travel, accommodation and associated expenses. The Graduate Development Program runs for 12 months.

Requirements For the Vacation Employment Program, students should at least have completed at least their first year of study, be an Australian Citizen, maintained at least a credit average and be able to obtain a security clearance at the minimum ‘Protected’ level. Eligibility criteria for the Graduate program includes: Australian citizenship, at least a credit average in a complete degree and willingness to relocate to Canberra.

Website: http://www.finance.gov.au/obpr

Allan Asher Commonwealth Ombudsman

You studied Commerce at UNSW and Law at University of Sydney. What made you decide to change degrees?

When I left school I worked full-time with a firm of chartered accountants and studied part time at university - that’s why I studied Commerce. After three or four years I realised I wasn’t actually going to do all that well in accounting - studying statistics and some of the complexities of accounting in the early 70s was very hard. Also, I’d been working for a company that was doing share registry work for companies that I thought were of quite doubtful value.

I thought that was not a very good use of human endeavours so I decided to swap to law. I then left accounting and got a job at CHOICE Magazine.

work on behalf of consumers, rather than a private barrister.

How did your career aspirations change after studying law?

When I started law, I originally intended to practice as a barrister and I am a barrister. But I found that the social dimension of the work at CHOICE Magazine important, including product safety and consumer issues. In the 1970s the consumer movement was very active in environmental issues and looking at the problems of transnational corporations in the third world and that’s where social justice became my key driver. So while I was a lawyer, I stayed at CHOICE and did some representation

Conventional lawyers are generally stereotyped as having a poor work ethic, drawing out proceedings and placing money and status before justice – quite different to the Ombudsman’s work. Is this what has kept you in your line of work?

The difference is probably one reason I wouldn’t have been inclined to practice in a conventional legal career; I might have more likely ended up in human rights and immigration work, product safety and things like that. I never even entertained the possibility of working for a big law firm, that’s

I think that was something that really set the train for the next 40 years. I worked for a few years with the Overseas Telecommunications Commission in Corporate Affairs and then with the Trade Practices Commission, now known as the ACCC, for 13 years. Again, it was in consumer protection enforcement, energy market reform, that sort of thing, so it was still about social justice and making the economy work. One constant thing for me has always been that where small individuals are oppressed by big ones, I’ve just had this magnetic attraction to get in there and do something about it.

just totally outside any aspirations I’ve ever had. I’m delighted, however, to see that, routinely now, big law firms provide pro bono staff and join public interest law centres.

You seem to have a strong passion for pro bono work. Can you tell me a bit about that?

I do pro bono work of a different character; I work internationally, so with the World Bank or AusAID or with foreign governments. Each year I like to spend a month or so in a developing country working on justice issues. I’ve been involved in the debate in India with Anna Hazare and the development of an Ombudsman Bill for India to control corruption. In addition I have been working with a dozen Pacific Island nations to help build up a sense of governance there. That’s just always been what I’ve done – using those legal and accounting skills. It’s surprising, even though I despised accounting, how valuable it has been.

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“... I think law is absolutely crucial

to an understanding of human rights and actually

In terms of skills, how does your current line of work differ from traditional legal work or your previous job in accounting?

Even though I resented it, the discipline of accounting and the hierarchical system in a firm of chartered accountants, set up a way of thinking and working that has been of huge value in all my career, in the enforcement work at the ACCC and even in the Ombudsman’s office, you just understand the need for precision in your own work and that you can’t be of much use to anybody else if you’re not doing a good job yourself.

What advice would you give to students who feel pressured to work in a top tier law firm to be successful?

I understand where people coming from but often they’re chasing a goal that’s elusory.

People often think, what if you do get to be an associate at 27 or junior non-equity partner at 31? What you’ve put into that is a substantial part of your life and once people do become partners, that doesn’t mean that they then relax and have golf games in the middle of the week. I think it’s inhuman for people to hand over their life’s agenda to that sort of work and for me even more so, because while everyone’s entitled to have good legal advice and companies need good contracts, can you imagine describing to somebody, after you’re dead, the value of what you did during your life? I’ve got a 30

bias in that I’m a Christian and that changes your whole sense of what’s worthy in life.

I’d have to say some friends of mine who I first started working with in chartered accounting still get up at 5am and do their calls to London and Switzerland - I think it’s a misdirected application. I’m sure that balance is possible – women have actually led the way in demanding a work-life balance, particularly because of child responsibilities – that has nonetheless set a model where people are increasingly saying, ‘why are we doing this?’ There’s just so much in life that one can and should do without handing it all over to a grasp for money and some sense of a status which is elusory.

What do you on a day-to-day basis as Commonwealth Ombudsman?

I’ve been Ombudsman for a year – I started at the end of August last year. The former Ombudsman had been there for seven years and he is an eminent administrative lawyer, Professor John McMillan. I’m not an eminent lawyer at all – he lifted the calibre and quality of our administrative law work to a very high level. I’m wanting to reshape the focus of the office around a couple of other themes. The first of those is social justice; only one in ten people with a complaint about Commonwealth government service ever complain to the Ombudsman, as it turns out that a third of the population doesn’t even know the Ombudsman exists.

That third includes people who are living in

poverty, people who don’t speak English as a first language, people who are remote and Indigenous people. Sadly, the very people who we most need to help are the least likely to complain. So I want to find a way of meeting the needs of those groups... That’s going to take years. The second issue is that I want to revolutionise the language of government; I want to try and get rid of jargon and acronyms and decision-making letters that quote large slabs of statute and by-laws. My theory is that ten percent of all the complaints that we get aren’t people who are complaining about the decision, it’s that they don’t know what the decision is.

The third one is to build a much closer arrangements with stakeholder oganisations, especially NGOs, I’ve got a background in consumer movements so I naturally see stakeholder organisations as being a very powerful force - yet governments tend to treat them with disdain and reserve.

In terms of skills, how does your current line of work differ from traditional legal work or your previous job in accounting?

Even though I resented it, the discipline of accounting and the hierarchical system in a firm of chartered accountants, set up a way of thinking and working that has been of huge value in all my career, in the enforcement work at the ACCC and even in the Ombudsman’s office, you just understand the need for precision in your own work and that you can’t be of much use to

achieving justice. You can’t, in a rulle of law society, just wish things were better...” anybody else if you’re not doing a good job yourself.

What’s the biggest challenge you must overcome when you face resistance from government agencies?

Firstly to try and get an understanding of why they are acting that way. If you look at gaming theory, I see our work as being a repeat game - we’re still going to be here and an agency might get away with standing us up on an issue once but we’ll always be here. We have powers to table special reports in parliament if an organisation fails to implement a recommendation and we use the media. We found the ATO, for example, was being very resistant to changes, so we got out media statements and gave evidence in parliamentary inquiries saying the tax office doesn’t care about tax payers.

Within a day, the Tax Commissioner was in my office and things have changed a lot.

Another big challenge has been to do with asylum seekers on Christmas Island – we had given the relevant department reports about overcrowding and all of that, and when they weren’t doing anything about it, we published our report. That caused a great crisis but they removed a thousand people off Christmas Island, they moved the children off and sped up the security features. Of the seven recommendations we made, six have now been implemented.

Has there been a stand-out case you’ve worked on in your career?

One that stands out is when I was at the Competitions and Consumer Commission, we found that a lot of insurance companies had been misselling insurance investment policies to Indigenous communities in far north Queensland. They had been, more or less, stealing the meagre income of those Indigenous people. I thought it was outrageous... and they insisted that I was being racist and that I was stereotyping those communities. So I took the company’s secretary with me to stay with the community for three days and we spoke to people who had been deceived into buying these dud investment policies. And without having to file any action in court, that company cancelled all its policies, refunded the moneys with interest and appointed, at their expense, for five years, consumer advocates in the communities. I’m delighted to say the consumer groups are still around – I think that’s a fantastic outcome.

What advice would you give to students who are unsure of what career path to take?

Most are going to work in law firms because that’s where most of the work is. But I think the traditional model that needs to be attacked and people should go into law firms expecting or demanding that their values and ethics are going to be respected... Alternatively, as we know, almost every area

of life, from politics to community work, provides rich opportunities for people with legal skills. There are too many bad jokes about lawyers but I think law is absolutely crucial to an understanding of human rights and actually achieving justice. You can’t, in a rule of law society, just wish things were better – that’s why I think there’s a profound role for lawyers to be active in those areas as well.

What are important skills for students who want to work at the Ombudsman’s office?

I’m hoping it will increasingly be a place for people who have a sense of mission – most of our staff have a sense of mission...

It might not be seen as a skill but a keen sense of fairness is probably the greatest skill. And of course being resilient because government agencies rarely ever readily admit they’re wrong; persistence pays off. In my career I was able to be fairly up front and even aggressive about things, for example, during the consumer movement in the 70s. Those were very grand battles. Those skills are probably a bit more dinosaurish and negotiation skills are more desirable. I don’t think I’d get quite so far now with my approach partly because it’s not needed.

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Katrina Wong Community Outreach Lawyer Youthlaw

Your law studies would have provided you with many different career options, what inspired you to work with youth?

My other combined degree was Social Work and I had always been interested in working with young people. The social work side of the degree helped focus a bit more on working with young people and provided some practical experience in working with young people. I also remember doing the court report assessment for Criminal Law where I went to Bidura Children’s Court and was impressed by the solicitors who were advocating for young people and seeing how the specialist magistrates dealt with young people and the court’s focus on rehabilitation. Young people are also dynamic and a lot of fun to work with – nothing is ever boring!

Your previous work as the Children and Youth Lawyer at Marrickville Legal Centre dealt with reform to certain aspects of the law, such as fines. Why do you think these particular reforms are necessary, based on your experiences as a Children and Youth lawyer?

Areas such as fines have a direct, negative and disproportionate impact on young people as they are likely to be hanging 32

“It is important as an advocate to look at

systemic issues and do some

out in groups in public places (including train stations) and will therefore come to the attention of public authorities more so than other demographics and issued with fines. This is more likely to affect young people from vulnerable backgrounds (such as those experiencing homelessness, domestic violence, drug and alcohol issues) who will have no capacity to pay the fine, which will have some other consequences stemming from that (such as secondary offending due to licence cancellations). It is important as an advocate to look at systemic issues and do some advocacy on a wider policy basis to effect some change.

Being the convenor of the Youth Justice Coalition while at Marrickville Legal Centre also allowed me to participate in some direct law reform. As a coalition, we were able to identify an issue that was impacting on young people on the ground and work with other youth services/advocates to advocate on a particular issue. Our “Bail Me Out” report was an example of how we worked together to conduct some research that wasn’t available and provide recommendations to Government in relation to the increase of young people being remanded in custody.

What daily challenges are you faced with in your work?

Working within a limited legislative framework means that the advice and advocacy you can provide on behalf of your client can only go so far – all of my clients come from disadvantaged backgrounds and there is very little scope to provide equitable remedies to these young people. The increasingly conservative political environment has also seen the adoption of more law and order policies that have resulted in more punitive outcomes for young people based on perceived community views that fail to take into account existing sound research.

Working in the community legal sector is also challenging as there are limited resources, yet there is clearly an identified need for more specialist youth services.

To what extent do you think youth are safeguarded from discrimination by authorities and the legal system?

Young people as a whole are less likely to be able to advocate on behalf of themselves due to their age and their lack of faith in public authorities. Young people often report feeling discriminated against by the police based on their age, where they hangout, who they hang out with and what

advocacy on a wider policy basis to effect some change.

”

they are wearing - yet they are least likely to make a complaint about that discrimination. The lack of transparency in the complaints process often means that young people would rather put up with the discrimination than risk further targeting should they complain to a public authority.

Young people also have little information about their rights, and a lot of youth legal services have been proactively providing community legal education to young people in wide area of legal issues to help provide information regarding their rights.

How has working as Children and Youth Lawyer changed any previous views you held about our current legal system?

It’s definitely not as straight forward as I thought it would be – being able to participate in law reform and policy activities has been rewarding in being able to engage in dialogue with decision makers about certain laws/polices that have an unintended and negative impact on young people. The law can be quite rigid, and the more advocacy that can be done to highlight and inform decision makers of the impact their laws have on young people, the more the law can act to uphold and protect the rights of young people.

Working with youth can obviously be emotionally challenging, how have you balanced your professional and personal life?

I find working with young people very enjoyable – they are funny, laid back and tell you everything straight up and they don’t try and dress up a particular issue. It can be very difficult to assist those young people most vulnerable, as often what help they are seeking goes beyond the legal framework. It is great being able to have supportive colleagues and to be able to de-brief regularly with them about difficult cases and clients.

Tell us a bit about your work as an outreach lawyer at the Young People’s Legal Rights Centre - why did you decide to take this path?

I’m currently working at Youthlaw which is a specialist CLC in Victoria that works with young people under the age of 25. It is a luxury being able to work in a more resourced CLC compared to my role at Marrickville Legal Centre where you are effectively one Children’s Lawyer in a generalist legal centre across the state. My role currently is a combination of providing online legal outreach advice to young people across 6 regional areas in Victoria, as well

as being the law reform and policy officer.

It gives me great variety in my work and allows me to get out and about and provide advice through an innovative means, while still being able to participate in more systemic advocacy.

How do you think graduating as a student from UNSW Law School has affected your success and career choices?

I chose to study at the UNSW Law School because it offered the Social Work/Law combination and also offered more interesting law electives that had a more social justice focus that wasn’t being offered at other universities. The option to participate in the Kingsford Legal Centre practical elective also provided me with some first hand experience in working within the CLC sector and was a determinative factor in my being able to continue work in the sector after graduation.

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Katie Wrigley

Welfare Rights and for Redfern Legal Centre at their Tenancy Service. I decided to volunteer for a community legal centre because I found law school a privileged environment with a focus more appropriate to commercial work, and I wanted to see more of the nuts and bolts realities of how the law affected socially and economically disadvantaged people.

Solicitor/Handbook Researcher Welfare Rights Centre What inspired you to study law?

I liked what I saw the solicitor at the Sydney Uni SRC doing – giving free legal advice to students.

What was your experience as a law student like?

Like years of hell that I’m very thankful are over.

What is involved in a typical work day involve for you?

I am a caseworker and I also am the Centre’s Handbook researcher, responsible for drafting changes to our Centre’s online Handbook about Social Security law and practice.

As a caseworker I give advice to people in NSW about Centrelink issues over the phone, and advocate on behalf of people in receipt of Social Security and Family Assistance payments. I submit written appeals to Centrelink Authorised Review Officers, and attend the Social Security Appeals Tribunal with clients for merit-based appeals.

Where have you worked previously and what was that like?

While I was doing College of Law online I got some locum work at a Tenancy Service as a caseworker and started getting litigation experience attending hearings at the Tribunal with clients.

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When I finished college I started working for a small firm that did criminal and family law work, then I moved back to work in the community sector. I’ve now worked at a number of community legal centres and also for Legal Aid in their family and child protection section.

A common aspect of all of my work has been direct client contact and advocacy.

The ability to take a client’s statement, the ability to provide advice to a client and to manage their expectations about how the appeal process will work – these are all skills that are transferable across jurisdictions in community based work.

What made you decide to work for a community legal centre?

I started volunteering while I was at law school for a number of community legal centres including Macarthur Legal Centre,

I had a great supervisor at Macarthur Legal Centre, Simon Moran, who taught me a lot about dealing with clients, and about areas of law like consumer protection law and social security law. I saw that community legal centres were doing some pretty impressive work in advocating on behalf of disadvantaged people, including those disadvantaged by their age, ethnicity, English skills, physical disabilities or financial resources.

As a volunteer I got to see the difficulties that many people face when confronted by a complex and expensive legal system, and the importance of providing those people with accurate and sympathetic assistance.

What do you like most about your job?

A core part of community legal work is giving a voice to those who would otherwise be unheard in our legal system. A really satisfying aspect of work in the community sector is knowing that you’ve helped a client in having their situation and circumstances put across to the decision maker in their case. Sometimes that’s all that is necessary for a decision which will overwhelmingly impact their life to be changed.

I like doing a good job for my clients - asking the right questions, testing their evidence sensitively but objectively and then presenting that evidence in admissible form. I like having a merit test to the cases that we take on. And of course as Charlie Sheen would say: WINNING! What are the benefits and challenges of working in the community sector?

The community sector is a high volume work area, and you can be working within a tight and sometimes uncertain budget.

But the work is great. You’re exposed to a range of client’s life experiences that can challenge your own assumptions

or outlook on life. It’s a dynamic workplace in that you can discuss cases with colleagues and brainstorm a new or creative way forward for a client.

There are some highly skilled and inspiring people working in the sector. Welfare Rights staff are also the best looking.

Coming across like you would run screaming from the building if confronted with a client won’t help your chances. Highly valued in prospective employees in the CLC environment are an ability to keep a level head, use your common sense and to get stuck in to doing the best job done that you can within the limits that you may have been given.

Any advice for law students thinking about working for a CLC? Try and fit in a half day each week volunteering somewhere that interests you. When you’re there, be a good volunteer – pitch in, try not to look outraged if you get asked to do the small jobs like photocopying or even the washing up. Try and complete any actual casework related tasks you’re given competently, quickly and using some common sense. If you’re answering phones try to avoid sounding too panicked when putting calls through to solicitors. For example: “Katie, there’s someone on the phone!!!!”

“Who is it?”

“I don’t know but THEY’RE ON THE PHONE!”

“A core part of community legal work is giving a voice to

”

those who would otherwise be unheard in our legal system.

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Jane Pritchard Director LawAccess NSW Why did you decide to study law?

I was working at the Law Courts Library as a librarian assisting Judges, associates and researchers in the Supreme, Federal and High Courts. Initially it was to get a better understanding of legal terminology but became a new career.

Where have you worked previously and what was that like?

Prior to LawAccess NSW I worked at the Law Courts Library, Independent Commission Against Corruption and Standards Australia. Each role involved assisting people to find the information they needed.

What was your experience like at law school?

I studied through the Legal Practitioners Admissions Board, attending night and weekend lectures while working full-time.

It was a very different experience from my undergraduate degree and took about five years. By the end I hoped never to do an exam again, but I enjoyed the courses.

What is involved in a typical working week for you?

My role involves ensuring that LawAccess provides assistance to the community. In day-to-day terms this involves working with my operational managers, contacting stakeholders, participating on access to justice working parties, financial analysis, budget reconciliations, preparing reports and submissions and administrative duties.

What do you like about your job?

I am very proud of LawAccess NSW and the assistance we provide to our customers on a daily basis. I enjoy the variety of the work and the innovative services we develop.

Any challenges in your role?

The main challenge is keeping across the variety of tasks, activities and accountabilities that underpin LawAccess NSW’s services.

Any advice for law students thinking about a career with DAGJ? With so many different agencies within Department of Attorney General and Justice there are lots of positions that would suit someone who enjoys law but does not want to be a solicitor. Your first career is not necessarily going to be your last.

“...there are lots of positions that would suit someone who enjoys law but does not want to be a solictor.”

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Policy Australian Human Rights Commission The Commission seeks to lead the promotion and protection of human rights in Australia. The Commission resolves complaints of discrimination or breaches of human rights under federal laws and holds public inquiries into human rights issues of national importance. It also provides legal advice to assist courts in cases that involve human rights principles and to parliaments and governments to develop laws, policies and programs. The Commission also undertakes and coordinates research into human rights and discrimination issues nationally as well as in conjunction with other national human rights institutions to address such issues at the regional level.

Employment Opportunities The Commission does not have a formal graduate program, however graduates are encouraged to apply for positions vacant as and when advertised in the careers section of their website (http:// www.hreoc.gov.au/about/jobs/index.html). The Commission also does not employ volunteers but does however offer limited internship opportunities to university students. Such requests should be made through the university.

Requirements Australian citizenship is usually required unless waived by the Agency Head. The Commission encourages applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people with disabilities. Selections are based on merit.

Website: http://www.humanrights.gov.au

Australian Institute of Criminology The Australian Institute of Criminology is Australia’s national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice. The functions of the AIC include conducting criminological research, communicating the results of research, conducting or arranging

conferences and seminars, and publishing material arising out of the AIC’s work.

Employment Opportunities The AIC conducts a number of research programs and has a wide range of research staff comprising research analysts and assistants. The AIC’s research analysts include criminologists, economists, social scientists and lawyers.

Requirements People wishing to make a specialised career out of their criminological studies generally need to complete a four year degree (BA with honours). Australian Institute of Criminology staff come from a wide range of backgrounds including sociology, psychology and law.

Website: http://www.aic.gov.au

NSW Department of Justice and Attorney-General The NSW Department of Justice and Attorney-General administers the courts, tribunals, laws and justice programs of the State.

The Department of Justice and Attorney-General assists the NSW government, judiciary, parliament and the community to promote social harmony through programs that protect human rights and community standards and reduce crime. The department plays a key role in the administration and development of a just and equitable legal system of courts, tribunals, laws and other mechanisms that contribute to the achievement of the goals of government. It also assists the NSW Attorney-General in his role as the First Law Officer of the state and provides support services to enable the Attorney’s legislative and advisory responsibilities to Parliament and Cabinet to be carried out.

Employment Opportunities There are a broad range of positions available - ranging from positions requiring little previous work experience and no educational qualifications, to positions with specialised skills and experience.

Traineeship positions may be available, combining part-time study and on-the-job training to achieve a recognised qualification.

Clerkships are also available providing temporary employment for law students for three to 12 months, on a full-time or part-time basis. There are also one to two clerkship positions open in the annual Summer Clerkship Scheme. Vacancies are advertised 37

in newspapers including The Sydney Morning Herald, the Daily Telegraph and regional media. Jobs are also advertised on the Department’s website under the Career Opportunities section.

analytical, communication and interpersonal skills.

Requirements The Department encourages job applications from people of diverse backgrounds including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with a disability and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. There are eligibility and participation requirements for different positions.

Department of Juvenile Justice

Website: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/agd

Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department Provides essential expert support to the government in the maintenance and improvement of Australia’s system of law and justice and its national security and emergency management systems.

The Department is the central policy and coordinating element of the Attorney-General’s portfolio for which the Attorney-General and Minister for Home Affairs are responsible. The mission of the Attorney- General’s Department is “achieving a just and secure society”. The Department works towards achieving an equitable and accessible system of federal civil justice; coordinated federal criminal justice, security and emergency management activity, for a safer Australia; and assisting regions to manage their futures.

Employment Opportunities Employment with the Department offers one the opportunity to work in a number of exciting policy and program areas including civil justice, family law and legal assistance, criminal justice, law enforcement, crime prevention, national and protective security, international law, native title, emergency management and corporate services. The Deparment runs three employment programs.

The Graduate Program is a 12 month program that offers three different work placements. The Summer Clerk Program is offered during November through to February each year. The Indigenous Employment Programs involve both a traineeship program and a graduate program.

Requirements Applicants must be Australian citizens. The Departments seeks applicants who are interested in working at the forefront of pro gram delivery, policy and legal development as well as being enthusiastic, motivated, possess integrity and have strong 38

Website: http://www.ag.gov.au

The NSW Juvenile Justice supervises and cares for young offenders in the community and in detention centres. It provides youth justice conferences for young offenders referred by police or the courts.

Employment Opportunities The NSW Juvenile Justice offers a wide range of career opportunities where you can work with youth or in the support services of the agency. The Department does not have a graduate program.

Job vacancies are based in the agency’s four areas of service: detention facilities at juvenile justice centres, community services at juvenile justice community services offices, youth justice conferencing and support services from the central office.

Requirements Dependant upon which arm of the service you apply for.

Website: http://www.djj.nsw.gov.au

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Provides advice to, and support for, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Secretary and the Cabinet; and to achieve a coordinated and innovative approach to the development and implementation of government policies. Policies within their jurisdiction include: economic and industrial policy, social policy, national security and international policy and strategic policy. Develops, coordinates, and implements key government programs.

Employment Opportunities Graduate programs are available, running for ten months and graduates from all disciplines are eligible to apply.

Requirements Applicants must be Australian citizens primarily because of security clearance requirements. Applicants must be able to provide detailed personal information covering the past ten years.

Website: http://www.dpmc.gov.au

Stephen Blanks Secretary New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties Can you tell me a bit about your time at UNSW? I wasn’t an outstanding student. At the time I was studying law I didn’t have much of an idea about what the practice of law was really like but I found my studies really interesting.

A lot of students feel that they need top marks in order to have successful careers. What are your thoughts on this?

People who get into law school are already quite smart but getting excellent results at university isn’t necessarily the same as having the skills that are necessary for successful practice.

When did you decide you were interested in human rights and civil liberties?

I got involved in the Council for Civil Liberties in about 1993 when I was acting for a publisher who had published a book that was critical of government agencies. One of the agencies wrote to the major bookstores telling them not to sell the book, claiming it was defamatory. I thought, ‘the client can’t afford to litigate here’, but there’s something wrong with the government writing to bookstores saying ‘don’t sell the book.’

So I contacted the Council for Civil Liberties and they organised media coverage of the story with the result that the government agency had to back down. So it was through my work in private practice that I became involved in the Council for Civil Liberties.

Years later, I was getting very angry about the treatment of asylum seekers and was getting more involved in the Council for

Civil Liberties and got approached by a refugee advocacy group who asked me to act in a matter for an asylum seeker who was about to be removed from Australia.

I took on the case and we got an injunction to prevent him being removed and ultimately he obtained a protection visa to stay in the country. So I started to take on more refugee work and became Secretary of the Council for Civil Liberties in 2005. Through that I’ve taken a broader interest in human rights issues, including refugees, freedom of speech and privacy.

What areas of human rights are you most passionate about?

Free speech and asylum seeker issues. I acted for a group of protesters during the World Youth Day 2008 who took objection to government attempts to outlaw behaviour classed as merely ‘annoying’.

What are the main tasks you perform as Secretary?

One of the aspects of the role is to make media comment on civil liberties issues. We do quite a lot of submissions to government inquiries; we organise some direct lobbying of politicians and we host a lot of interns from Australia and overseas.

What do you see as the most important factor to successful government lobbying?

Key factors are having resources to pursue a campaign, having campaign leaders who are knowledgeable about the area and being able to explain to politicians and the public the values that civil liberties represent and why those values are important.

You also run your own private practice in commercial transactions and litigation. How do you find the time to be so actively involved in private practice and for the Council for Civil Liberties?

It is a constant juggling exercise. I don’t

get to spend as much time in civil liberties and human rights work as I could – I have my private practice to run and with that come commitments to clients. Somewhere between those two things I have to find my family life as well. That’s probably the biggest challenge.

Is doing civil liberties work ‘on the side’ something you would recommend to students who want to go into private practice and do human rights work?

I would definitely recommend it. You can be a much better and more effective human rights advocate or lawyer if you have well recognised legal skills in other areas – those areas don’t have to be commercial or corporate but it’s important to have experience in a number of different areas of law.

Your practice in law is improved by having experience in a number of areas.

How can students get involved in the Council of Civil Liberties?

The Council is a member-based organisation and people are welcome to join. We have a series of subcommittees where students can get involved in writing submissions and working on campaigns. We are currently working on campaigns in areas of bail law reform, the use of tasers by police, refugees and asylum seeker issues. If people have other areas of interest they’re also more than welcome to develop those.

What has been your biggest achievement through your involvement with the Council for Civil Liberties?

One of the problems with being involved in a lobby group is that you never feel that you achieve success. You might have a little win in one area but there are so many other areas where you don’t. We’re after long-term differences. We have succesfully persuaded the federal parliament to pass legislation to prohibit the states from reintroducing the death penalty.

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Education LexisNexis LexisNexis is a division of Reed Elsevier, one of the world’s largest publishers and information providers. LexisNexis has operated in the Australian legal marketplace for nearly 100 years delivering solutions that help legal professionals. Solutions produced by LexisNexis include: Lexis Back Office Library, Lexis Affinity and Visualfiles which improve the performance of law firms through aiding workflow and business practices along with providing access to LexisNexis’ database of five billion searchable documents.

LexisNexis Butterworths also specialises in legal publications including the All England Law Reports and numerous guides to legal subjects (as you may have seen in the UNSW bookshop).

Employment Opportunities Employment opportunities are available at the careers section of their website. Positions include: In-house counsel, legal editorial positions on a variety of areas of law.

Requirements Qualification requirements are contingent upon the job one is applying for.

Website: http://www.lexisnexis.com.au/

Austalasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) AustLII provides free internet access to Australasian legal materials. AustLII’s broad public policy agenda is to improve access to justice through better access to information. It is one of the largest sources of legal materials on the net, with over four million searchable documents. AustLII publishes primary legal materials (legislation, treaties and decisions of courts and tribunals), secondary legal materials created by public bodies for purposes of public access (law reform and royal commission reports for example) and a substantial collection of law journals. AustLII is a joint facility of the UTS and UNSW Faculties of Law. 40

Employment Opportunities AustLII is currently seeking expressions of interest for new positions that may become available at AustLII. Positions can arise as a result of Australian Research Council Linkage and LIEF grants, AusAID grants and from other funding. People who are suitably qualified and interested in working at AustLII are encouraged to send in their expressions of interest. Positions at AustLII are generally offered as full time positions but opportunities are available to accommodate the completion of tertiary studies or, in appropriate cases, on a part-time basis. Current positions include project officers and systems developers. These positions work with other members of the database team and are involved in processing primary materials (case law, legislation and treaties) and secondary materials (eg law journals and law reform reports) to produce databases on AustLII and related systems.

Requirements Anyone interested in submitting an expression of interest should send the following details by e-mail to AustLII: A short letter explaining your interest in a position at AustLII, a brief resume of qualifications, employment history and experience in creating internet resources and an academic transcript.

Website: http://www.austlii.edu.au/

Legal Academia Legal academics teach and research legal issues. As an academic you would specialise in an area of law and teach and research in that area. The work can be very fulfilling as you can devote your working life to deeply exploring an area of law that you are passionate about. That being said, the role does require commitment and dedication. Teaching loads and pressure to publish your research require long hours of work.

Academic hours are fairly flexible, apart from the hours you teach and meet with students you are able to manage your own time.

You are judged on your results, not the hours spent sitting in the office. Academic promotion is heavily based on your publications.

Employment Opportunities Keep a regular eye on the employment pages of universities you are interested in working in.

Requirements If you are interested in an academic career it can often be

useful to gain some experience in the field by working as a research assistant. By doing so you improve your research skills, develop your professional contacts and you may begin to publish work - all crucial elements to a successful career as an academic.

It can also be useful to speak directly to academics who work in an area that you are interested in and enquire about any research opportunities.

Communication Australian Communications and Media Authority

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is a statutory authority within the federal government portfolio of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. The authority is responsible for the regulation of: broadcasting, the internet, radio communications and telecommunications. The ACMA works closely with relevant industries to achieve active self-regulation, while ensuring industry compliance with licence conditions, codes and standards. The effects of regulations are also monitored to ensure they are responsive to the community’s needs.

The ABC is the national public broadcaster, providing news and entertainment on a range of mediums including television, radio and online.

Employment Opportunities Graduate programs are offered and all other jobs can be found at: http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/ Requirements ACMA recruits graduates from a range of disciplines as long as they are relevant to the wide range of work carried out by the organisation.

Website: http://www.acma.gov.au

Employment Opportunities Job vacancies are advertised at http://www.abc.net.au/careers/.

The ABC’s News Division advertises for a cadet journalist training program each year, normally in September. The program offers a number of positions, where the successful applicants are offered a one-year training contract and will be trained as journalists for radio, television and online news. The ABC also runs the National Indigenous Internship Program and provides for work experience but only conditional upon the work experience being required as part of an education course in which the applicant is enrolled.

Requirements For the cadet journalist training program, applicants should have appropriate tertiary qualifications and/or some relevant media experience and potential. One must have initiative, well-developed research and writing skills and good communication skills.

A broadcast quality voice is essential as well as a demonstrated interest in news and current affairs and familiarity with all ABC News output. One must also be able to work well in a team and take direction. People of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent are encouraged to apply. Successful applicants may be required to relocate interstate.

Website: http://www.abc.net.au 41

Christopher Chapman CEO/Chair Australian Communications and Media Authority

Can you tell me about your time at UNSW Law School?

I started in 1973 when the law school was in its third year. I was blown away by the tutorial teaching method. The case study method was so foreign to my school environment where it was all about a one-tomany delivery of facts by the teacher to the students. While I got Level 1 English for the HSC, I never really knew how to write and while I was in the school debating team, I never really knew how to argue. Then you go to UNSW Law School - which is only in its third year and full of experimentation and boldness - and you’re actually having discussions around the table with not only the lecturer or professor but with all of your colleagues who are of many different backgrounds. It left a very strong impression with me.

How did your time at law school help develop the skills necessary for your career development?

I think it was fundamental to the rest of my career. I didn’t realise it at the time but when I looked back at the end of my five years at law school, I realised that I had grown into somebody who appreciated the contesting of ideas. I went from a narrow, functional writer, to somebody who had to write succinctly, creatively and in a balanced way. I think all those things have been a touchstone subsequently professionally in virtually every career I’ve had.

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After law school you became Associate to the Chief Justice of Australia, Sir Garfield Barwick and after that an associate to Mallesons. Can you tell us a bit about those roles?

Halfway through fifth year I saw an advertisement on the law school bulletin noticeboard seeking expressions of interest from students who wanted to be an associate to Sir Garfield Barwick. I was certainly aware of Sir Garfield Barwick but the position of associate and what he or she did was completely foreign to me. I looked into it, thought it sounded very interesting, applied and landed the role. I had two extraordinarily intoxicating, intellectually fascinating years working as Sir Garfield’s last associate from 1978-80 when the High Court opened in Canberra. Up till then it had been peripatetic, and we’d do about 12 sittings around Australia. Sir Garfield was well into his 70s and I was his travel companion as much as his associate and it was just an extraordinary privilege.

After that, I went to Mallesons – landing the job was the easy part. I could have been the world’s worst lawyer and they would have hired me. I was at Mallesons for four years including some time in the New York office which was more of a front end business development. Then I left to become the first legal counsel at Seven Network.

What sparked your interest in media and why have you continued working in this area in the long-term?

During my childhood my family was obsessive about playing sport and watching sport. Seven Network was very strong in sport - they had the Olympics and the sailing and the rugby league. Part of the fascination was an opportunity to be engrossed in sporting matters. Secondly, I wasn’t in love with law sufficiently to make a career out of it – I just wasn’t enamoured by the lifestyle within a law practice.

You’ve held a number of senior management positions in various companies, including CEO of Stadium Australia and Excite@Home. What is the key ingredient that has made you so successful?

I would say what has kept me going is curiosity – a strong intellectual curiosity. I’ve never been in a role where I’ve been a subject matter expert; the key to that is, as a generalist, I come to every role with an open mind and I’m very big on the concept of listening, learning and leading. In all of the jobs I’ve had, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing when I started - I was naive in the extreme but I was prepared to listen and to assimilate and to learn and be led. If you’ve got a modicum of confidence in your own views and instincts and if you’re listening, learning and being led by others, you lead with greater conviction. Others are

“I wasn’t in love with law sufficiently to make a career out of it – I just wasn’t enamoured by the lifestyle within a law practice.” prepared to follow if they respect the fact that you’re taking on board their expertise.

I’d say my principle strength is that I’m able to coalesce a unified team together.

What do you do in your capacity as ACMA Chair?

There is no typical day and that is what I love about it. Everyday will, almost without exception, have an unexpected challenge or pleasure. We’re either preparing for the next Authority meeting – there’s one every fortnight, that’s how intense the workload is - or closing out executions of plans. Over and above that I’m the CEO of an agency that has 630 staff and collects nearly $1 billion in taxes and revenue on behalf of the Commonwealth, so I’ve got my daily business organisational management tasks in addition to my role as Chairman. They’re separate but they’re interconnected.

What’s a significant area of regulation or reform that you have recently worked on?

We came out with the Broken Concepts paper recently. It’s a rolled up analysis of a number of broken concepts in our current media environment – it doesn’t mean they’re completely stuffed, it means they’re under pressure. That’s what convergence is doing - it’s completely turning on its head the traditional forms of media and communication. Everyday we’re administering

our regulatory responsibilities under the relevant pieces of legislation and yet we’re being forever challenged to meet new solutions as a result of the phenomenon of convergence; we’re regulating in the old world but with a view to the implications and often unintended developments in the new world.

Given the rate at which media is evolving do you think the law will ever be able to keep up?

I’m reasonably optimistic that the convergence review will identify an enduring framework to mediate media and communications. It just has to be far less prescriptive and provide greater flexibility and really contain incentives for industry behaviour that will operationalise it all. In the absence of the combination of flexibility and incentivisation for industry behaviour, I don’t think the framework will outrun the phenomenon of convergence.

What has been your biggest challenge working for the ACMA? The greatest frustration is to be able to adequately convey the rationale that sits behind a number of increasingly difficult media decisions, particularly in the broadcasting space. An example is the David Campbell matter where we found a breach of privacy by Channel 7 but nonetheless exonerated their behaviour under the

Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice as a consequence of public interest. These are matters upon which reasonable minds can differ. I take great pride in the work the ACMA does in a society with divergent views; not everyone agrees but it’s important to make decisions and be comfortable with those decisions. In an ideal world I’d like to be able to better amplify what sits behind those decisions. We’re not always successful at it but we’re conscious of the need to.

What advice would you give to students who are interested in a media-oriented career?

Because I’m stuck in my own paradigms, I would encourage them to seek out the discipline of a law firm. I would encourage them to not be afraid to follow their instincts; I’ve always been driven by instinct and it’s never let me down. I’d also encourage them to enjoy the journey along the way. It sounds a bit deep but I probably in retrospect never sufficiently enjoyed the journey – I never stopped and appreciated the opportunities I had been provided so I’d encourage others to do that.

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Lisa Pryor Journalist and Author What inspired you to study law?

Sadly I’m not sure inspiration is the right word in my case. Like many law students I enrolled in law because I was interested in the humanities and I got the marks to do law as well as arts. In hindsight I am glad I did study law, even if it wasn’t for the right reasons initially. I never wanted to be a lawyer, but I also believe it would be a pretty scary world if the only people who understood the law were lawyers. Understanding about the working of the courts, parliament, policing, society, was incredibly useful when working as a journalist.

What was your experience like as a law student?

As much as I might hate to admit it, law students, especially cynical and slightly disgruntled ones, are totally my people. I met a lot of my best friends while studying law.

Having said all that, there was something about the dominant culture of law school which left me cold. Looking back on it, law school culture is strangely middle aged, like the way it is an unspoken status symbol to turn up to lectures in a suit because you have an office job to go to afterwards, or the way spending a year working as an associate to a judge is viewed like some kind of off beat, adventurous gap year which widens horizons. One of the tricks to surviving the culture is to remember how many other people feel bemused or alienated by the experience, and that there are heaps of subcultures within law and the world beyond where you can find your place.

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What does a typical work day involve for you?

Because I am strange I have just started studying medicine, so the answer to this question is very different from what it used to be. A typical day would start at six when my daughter gets up, with activities such as helping her feed pretend food to her toy monkey. Later I’d head to uni for lectures featuring graphic slides of nasty diseases and injuries. I might also do a bit of writing to earn actual money.

What inspired you to pursue a career in journalism rather than law?

A short attention span possibly? I like to learn about a wide range of topics, get amongst the action, have interesting life experiences, and write things, so journalism offered more opportunities along these lines than law.

Can you tell us a bit about your book, The Pinstriped Prison, and how it relates to law students?

The book is about neurotic overachievers who graduate from high school with high marks and dreams only to end up trapped in corporate jobs they hate, wondering where it all went wrong. The book touches on management consulting and banking as well as law but the demographic which has taken it to heart the most would definitely be law students. I think one of the reasons for this is that law students, admirably and rightly, go into the course with high ideals, so it comes as a particular downer when it seems all the hard work has led to a career which is unsatisfying, tiring and kind of pointless - even if it is well paid. The good news is that heaps of law graduates use this kind of crisis as an impetus to move into work they find more meaningful.

Are you working on any projects at the moment?

I have written another book called A Small Book About Drugs, which was published in August by Allen & Unwin. It fascinates me that a significant minority of people, including myself, try drugs like ecstasy during their twenties yet there is not much of a movement towards decriminalisation. The book is about this contradiction and the silence about it and the debate about recreational drugs we should be having.

Do you have any advice for students wish to pursue a career in journalism?

Firstly I would say don’t worry that you’ve made a mistake by choosing law rather than journalism as a degree. Law is more rigorous and valuable as a degree, the skills of journalism are best picked up by actually doing it. The best thing you can do to make a career for yourself is to write things and get them published whatever way you can.

Saul Wakerman

great people there to support you who understand what you are going through and who want you to achieve and succeed as a teacher and leader.

Associate Teach for Australia Having studied law, what made you decide to get involved in the Teach for Australia Program?

The combined law and media communications degree I completed was five years of routine. I got comfortable and content.

I wanted to do something that really put me out of my comfort zone, that challenged every part of my ability and that honed core skills, such as public speaking, in which I felt I was somewhat deficient or lacked experience. This was combined with my ideological belief that all Australians must have equality of opportunity, with education as the key to their futures.

How has your law degree benefited you in the classroom when teaching students in disadvantaged schools?

Having a law degree has assisted me in two ways. The sheer workload that is required to be undertaken during a law degree is shadowed by the amount of work needed to prepare a lesson to a class of students that vastly differ in learning stages, almost to the point of requiring individual lessons for each student administered in the space of 45 minutes. Secondly, the content knowledge provided by a law degree has been invaluable as a resource while teaching Legal Studies.

Have you faced any challenges in the program?

Every day as a teacher poses a multitude of challenges, but that is why I did it.

What does a typical day for you involve as a teacher?

Arriving at school around 8:15am, preparing for the first couple of periods, ensuring all handouts are photocopied and lesson plans finely tuned. I also meet a home group of students every morning with another teacher where we discuss the bulletins and any other issues they need to raise. Lessons are then taught, followed by recess and lunch which are often consumed by detentions imposed on particular students, meetings or even chess club in the library. Classes finish at 3:20pm and then it’s time for any number of meetings, year level or domain, which is humanities for me. Then it’s time to get home and plan for the next day.

What are some benefits of the program?

From beginning to end you have so many

How are the skills that you have developed in the Teach for Australia program transferable to the legal sector?

The skills you have the potential to develop in the program are transferable to any sector. Teachers have to effectively communicate with potentially upwards of 50 people a day. They productively manage students who in many cases have no desire to touch a pen or piece of paper. They resolve disputes that very often arise from irrational foundations. They learn to diagnose where another person is misunderstanding a concept or idea and then express it in a way that conveys it meaningfully, often in a matter of seconds. Most importantly, the program gives you a perspective on the multiplicity of communities and lives that exist in Australia, expanding your mind away from the potentially sheltered path through law school and into the ‘sector’.

Where do you intend to go from here?

It is way too early to say but the possibilities are endless.

“Every day as a teacher poses a

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multitude of challenges, but that is why I did it.

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Jane McAdam Lecturer University of New South Wales

What did you study at university?

I did a combined Arts/Law degree at Sydney University, with Honours in both. For my Arts degree, that involved spending a year writing a thesis in History.

What drew you to international and refugee law?

It was international human rights law that attracted me initially, and I was able to explore various aspects of this through the electives I undertook in my law degree.

Whereas I found many of my law subjects dry and abstract, these electives reinspired me to see the law as a powerful instrument for social change, underpinned by fundamental principles of justice, equality, dignity, and humanity. When I was finishing my degree at the end of the 1990s, many aspects of Australia’s refugee policy were coming under international scrutiny for their inconsistency with Australia’s international law obligations, and this was something I was interested in examining. I went on to work as an Associate in the Federal Court of Australia, and the majority of the matters there were refugee cases.

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This cemented my interest in the area and I decided to pursue a doctorate in international refugee law at the University of Oxford.

You have worked both internationally and in Australia. What were the main differences you found about the type of work in each of these spheres?

It depends entirely on the sector one is working in. I have worked as an academic in Australia and the UK, and by and large the environments are very similar. I continue to work internationally through my role as a legal advisor to the UNHCR, as a consultant to governments and NGOs, through international expert forums, as a research associate at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, and in international conferences. In my academic role, I set my own research agenda and am totally independent as to the view I express. Even though my consultancy work to the UN is also in an independent capacity, through my work there I have gained insights into the way that international organizations shape agendas, frame issues, and create

priorities, which are influenced by legal mandates, donor interests, and resource constraints.

What drew you to academia? And particularly, what skills do students need if they wish to pursue a career in academia?

I have always loved research and writing, and this is a job which enables me to do just that. I have the opportunity to explore areas I am passionate about, and through my research to help shape legal and policy outcomes. It is a very diverse job and I relish the challenges and opportunities that it brings. Far from sitting in an ivory tower, I find that Australian academic culture – especially at UNSW – encourages community engagement and outreach. I am able to work independently or in conjunction with others – whether other academics around the world, or with UN agencies, government or NGOs. I enjoy the independence of the role, but I think that with that independence comes a responsibility to speak up on issues which others in the sector (eg judges or international officials) may not have the luxury of doing.

“As an academic, I have the privilege of ... thinking about the bigger picture – not just today’s priorities, but what the priorities might be in a number of decades and the extent to which

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our present legal frameworks are adequate to respond to them.

As an academic, I have the privilege of teaching amazing students, engaging with colleagues in Australia and all over the world, and thinking about the bigger picture – not just today’s priorities, but what the priorities might be in a number of decades and the extent to which our present legal frameworks are adequate to respond to them.

I would encourage anyone interested in pursuing an academic career to obtain a PhD and to utilize that time to develop their own publications. In my view, academics need to be self-motivated, driven and independent, and have a passion for what they are doing.

How can students become involved in refugee law in Australia and overseas?

There are many ways that students can pursue an interest in refugee law. Within NSW, there are a number of refugee-related NGOs who welcome volunteers, such as the

Refugee Advice and Casework Service, the Asylum Seekers Centre, the Refugee Council of Australia, Amnesty International and so on. It may also be possible to undertake work with one of these organizations as part of a Law Faculty internship programme. A number of international NGOs and UN agencies offer internships, not only at headquarters but also in regional offices and the field. They have information about these on their websites. The Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development (AYAD) programme provides one way of facilitating these.

Do you have any words of wisdom for students wishing to pursue careers in refugee law or academia?

I would encourage them to be the best they can be by constantly learning, keeping an open mind and listening to the views of others in order to develop a well-rounded and informed sense of the relevant issues, and to be able to respond to opposing views in a rational, reasoned and articulate manner.

What has been the most memorable moment of your career?

There have been many memorable moments, ranging from undertaking fieldwork in the remote Pacific Islands of Tuvalu and Kiribati, to addressing the High Commissioner for Refugees and other high-level officials in the UN in Geneva. What stands out most, though, is the generosity of others in sharing their time and ideas with me.

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Labour and Workplace Australian Productivity Commission The Productivity Commission is the Australian government’s independent research and advisory body on a range of economic, social and environmental issues affecting the welfare of Australians. The Commission is the Australian government’s principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy and regulation.

As its name implies, the Commission seeks to help the government make better policies in the long-term interest of the Australian community with an emphasis on ways of achieving a more productive economy. Its statutory functions include: initiating research on industry and productivity issues, holding public inquiries, reporting on matters related to industry and promoting public understanding of productivity and industry issues.

Employment Opportunities If you are interested in developing your career as an economist and working on major public policy issues facing Australia, you should apply for a graduate position at the Productivity Commission. Graduates can participate in inquiries, research and reviews into a range of economic, social and environmental issues that directly affect the lives of many Australians. Applications for graduate entry in 2013 open in February 2012.

Requirements Applicants should have a strong background in economics, especially microeconomics, and be interested in investigative analysis.

Skills in quantitative research, econometrics, law and other social sciences are also highly valued by the Commission. This means that the Commission is seeking graduates with a superior honours or post-graduate degree with at least one major in economics.

Website: http://www.pc.gov.au 48

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations is the lead government agency providing national leadership in education and workplace training, transition to work and conditions and values in the workplace. Amongst other things, the Department seeks to build and promote individual development through equitable and accessible education, increase workforce participation and to look for efficiencies and solutions in developing national economic potential.

Employment Opportunities Graduates can choose to apply for six streams in the Department’s graduate program. They are accounting, IT, economics, social policy, legal and generalist. The 10 month program is aimed at developing and broadening one’s skill base to assist with career progression.

Requirements Requirements are based on which graduate program stream one chooses to apply for but some areas of law touched upon in the legal department include: HR law, law of finance, property law, litigation and in-house advocacy.

Website: http://www.deewr.gov.au/

Equal Opportunities for Women in the Workplace Agency The Agency’s role is to administer the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Cth). It seeks, through education, to assist organisations in achieving equal opportunity for women in the workplace. EOWA does this by delivering practical solutions, building strategic partnerships and leading public debate to increase the rate of change.

Employment Opportunities There are positions in policy, publications, media and research available. Vacancies are advertised at EOWA’s employment opportunities section.

Requirements Both men and women are encouraged to apply for all positions advertised on EOWA’s website and eligibility criteria is stipulated for each job opportunity.

Website: http://www.eowa.gov.au/

Fair Work Ombudsman Functions include promoting harmonious, productive and cooperative workplace relations and ensuring compliance with Commonwealth workplace laws. The Fair Work Ombudsman offers a point of contact to get advice and information about Australia’s workplace relations system. It also seeks to educate people working in Australia about their workplace rights and obligations. The Ombudsman investigates complaints or suspected contraventions in workplace laws, awards and agreements and litigates to enforce workplace laws.

Employment Opportunities The Ombudsman employs in a range of positions, from Fair Work Inspectors and Fair Work Advisers to people in human resources, communications, media, policy development, information technology, business services and finance. Interested applicants should check the ‘current vacancies’ section of the website which advertises job openings as and when they appear.

Requirements Dependent upon position applied for.

Website: http://www.fairwork.gov.au

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Robert Fitzgerald AM

provided a really strong basis for entering into discussions with the business community and state and Commonwealth governments. People are easily put into boxes.

From my early 20s I made a very clear decision that I would not be put in a box. Life also doesn’t operate like that; economic, social, moral and spiritual issues are all intertwined and it’s a complete falsehood to try and unpack that.

Commissioner Productivity Commission Can you tell me a bit about your experience at UNSW? I had a really good experience. I did the Bachelor of Commerce/Law, so the five years at UNSW were really a very good grounding for my career and an enjoyable experience.

I had a number of friends at school who did law at university at the same time so the transition from school to university was easy and the university experience was very positive and a good experience. It was in the days where you spent much more time at university and the whole experience was much more rounded than for most students today... I chose subjects largely in the commercial area and my legal career has largely been in the commercial sphere. So the grounding I had in the law subjects was very valuable, especially in the early part of my career that followed.

Given your background as a commercial lawyer, what eventually attracted you to public policy and kept you working in that area?

Since my third year at university I have been heavily involved in charitable and non-profit organisations and that has continued right through – there hasn’t been a single day in that 30 years that I haven’t been involved in non-profit organisations in a voluntary capacity. The commercial law aspect was very important in establishing a working career which I did for 20 years whilst at the same time pursuing community service and non-profit activities by night.

Commercial law was very solid grounding but it was the non-profit activities that ultimately drove me to public policy.

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The very good thing about combining both was that public policy actually requires a very good understanding of economics, the legal system and social policy. The combination of doing commercial subjects and activities as well as the social activities all combined to provide a very strong basis for entry in public policy, both in a voluntary capacity and obviously now in the Productivity Commission.

Do you think your involvement in both commercial and not-for-profit activities gave you a unique perspective from which to approach public policy?

There’s no question at all that both the educational experiences and career I had, combined with the community service aspects formed a very unique and unusual basis for my experience in public policy.

This became evident in a number of roles. I was president of the Australian Council of Social Services and whilst that was a voluntary role there was no doubt that being commercial lawyer at the same time

When you made the transition from commercial law to public policy, what were the main challenges you faced?

The most joyful part was never having to fill out another timesheet, which is one of the most debilitating aspects of the legal profession. The most challenging was that you miss some of the work you do in private practice for a short time, but overwhelmingly the experience was positive... For me the time was right, I’d practiced as a commercial lawyer for 20 years and came to a clear decision that I didn’t want to be a corporate lawyer and the world didn’t need more corporate lawyers. I wanted to do by day what I was passionate about by night, which was public policy.

What are the main pressures you deal with as Productivity Commissioner and how do they differ from working in the corporate sector?

In the corporate and commercial legal space you’re working for a particular client and in a sense it’s a private transaction that’s being undertaken. It’s also very narrow in the sense that you’re dealing with a specific set of commercial or corporate issues as they affect a particular client or set of clients.

Public policy is about dealing with issues that affect a substantial portion of the community and the issues that you that to look at are more diverse. The client, in the case of the Productivity Commission, is actually the community because we provide

“Instead of looking at the interests of a particular client, you are genuinely looking advice independent of the government with the absolute objective of trying to enhance community wellbeing. Instead of looking at the interests of a particular client, you are genuinely looking at what will enhance the wellbeing of the entire community. You’re also open to absolute scrutiny – both constructive and negative criticism. In no report or enquiry will everyone agree with your recommendations and in the process people not only scrutinise what you’re saying but actively campaign for or against it.

It’s a very open process and ultimately the recommendations you put forward are tested in the political world as well.

What do you look for in candidates who apply for jobs with the Productivity Commission?

The vast majority of our professional staff have degrees in commerce or economics but many have law degrees and degrees in other disciplines. The commission’s work has changed dramatically over time; it was a narrowly focused body in relation to tariffs and industry policy. Now it deals with economic, social and environmental policies and it’s very much a public policy advisory body so a breadth of talent is necessary. People with skills in law – whether they’ve practiced or just graduated – are very valuable as they bring out different ways of thinking to the issues.

at what will enhance the wellbeing

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of the entire community.

What advice would you give to students who don’t know whether they want to work in commercial law or public policy?

There are two ways to see it. You can make a choice early or you can develop a career that allows you to make your choice later on. If you want to practice law, my advice would always be that it’s good to enter private practice to get that exposure but then to use that as a way of making further career choices. I never regret going into private practice but it was clear to me from the earliest time that it would be insufficient.

I’ve now got what they call a portfolio career in that I’ve done a lot of different things. It’s good to experience law in practice; it further enhances your skills and gives you the capacity to make further decisions having experienced that. In my view if you’re ever clear that you don’t want to practice law, that’s fine, but if there’s a doubt, it’s good to enter legal practice but then keep your options open.

What’s the most exciting project you’ve recently worked on?

In recent times, one that stands out is the paid parental leave scheme which I was the presiding commissioner of. That scheme has almost been fully adopted by government in accordance with recommendations. It was something that was waiting to happen for about 20-30 years. To actually get a project where there’s widespread support and that government actually implements in full is very exciting. That really did require skills from the economic, legal and social side of things because it’s industrial and infringes on the rights of workers but it’s also a social policy issue because it’s very much about the wellbeing of mothers and young children.

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Policing and Intelligence Australian Federal Police AFP provides a range of investigation and operational support, security risk management, security vetting and information services to assist the public.

Employment Opportunities The AFP will shortly be moving to an annual intake model whereby applicants will be invited to apply once a year to be considered for a sworn policing role as either a Police Recruit or Lateral Transfer recruit. Employment areas include Executive, ACT policing, aviation, border operations, counter-terrorism, economic & special operations, financial & commercial, forensic & data centers, graduate officer, human resources, information & communication, technology, intelligence, internal audit, international liaisons, international deployment group, legal, policy & future strategy, protection.

Requirements To be eligible for specialist and non-policing roles: An Australian citizen, a security clearance, a standard medical clearance/examination and test for illicit drugs in accordance with the AFP’s Illicit Drug Free Work Force Policy.

ACT Policing, Federal Agent and Protective Service Officer recruits: Over 18 years old, Australian citizens, intelligent, self motivated and willing to serve in any area of the AFP, full manual vehicle driver’s licence, be physically fit and healthy, a first aid certificate (current for entire training period).

ACT Policing and Federal Agent recruits also need: Tertiary qualifications (or three years work experience, which can include parttime or casual work) are desirable but not essential, confirmation of ability to swim 100 meters freestyle non-stop unaided, keyboard skills of 30 words per minute with 98 per cent accuracy.

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Lateral transfers from another state or territory police service: Must have at least two years experience.

For International Deployment Group placements: A minimum of five years’ experience, be free of probationary restrictions and have not been separated from your Policing jurisdiction for a period in excess of three years.

Website: http://www.afp.gov.au

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation ASIO is Australia’s security intelligence service whose main responsibility is collecting, analysing and reporting intelligence on threats to security. The ASIO Act 1979 (Cth) defines security as the protection of Australia’s territorial and border integrity from serious threats, and the protection of Australia and its people from espionage, sabotage, politically motivated violence, the promotion of communal violence, attacks on Australia’s defence system, and acts of foreign interference – whether directed from, or committed within, Australia or not.

ASIO does not investigate lawful protest activity or purely criminal activities. It is not a law enforcement body and has no powers of arrest, but they cooperate closely with law enforcement agencies when there is a criminal link. Its investigations generally focus on detecting the intentions and activities of terrorists, people who seek to act violently for political reasons and people who seek to clandestinely obtain sensitive Australian information. Most resources are aimed at preventing terrorist attacks in Australia, countering terrorist-related activity, warning of security threats and countering espionage and foreign interference against Australia.

ASIO also provides security assessments and protective security advice. Security assessments cover, for example, people holding or seeking national security clearances; in the case of some visa applicants, whether they should be allowed to enter or stay in Australia; or access to sensitive areas or goods, such as air and maritime port restricted zones. Protective security advice is provided to government agencies and, through the Business Liaison Unit, owners of critical infrastructure and others in the private sector.

ASIO is also responsible for the collection of foreign intelligence in Australia, at the request of the Minister for Foreign Affairs or the Minister for Defence.

Employment Opportunities Roles include a wide range of operational roles, such as Intelligence Officers, Intelligence Analysts and Surveillance Officers, through to a variety of specialist technical positions, administration and many other roles you would expect to find in any large organisation.

Requirements Intelligence officer/analyst: A university degree (any discipline), Australian citizenship, driver’s licence, ability to relocate to Canberra, flexibility to maintain a mobile career. Surveillance officer: Australian Citizenship, a current driver’s licence (for at least three years) and eligibility to qualify for a driver’s licence in any state or territory of Australia, normal colour perception, a basic level of fitness, be able to frequently travel interstate, often at short notice.

Website: http://www.asio.gov.au

Australian Secret Intelligence Service ASIS is Australia’s overseas secret intelligence agency. Their mission is to collect and distribute secret intelligence about individuals and organisations outside of Australia. This information is then used to protect and promote Australia’s vital interests as directed by the Australian government.

Employment Opportunities Intelligence Officers are deployed to collect secret intelligence overseas. Operations Officers use their analytical abilities and skills in languages, particular geographic areas, science or global thematic issues. Also, there are other opportunities in Finance, IT, Human Resources or other corporate roles.

Requirements Australian citizenship, obtain and maintain a Top Secret Positive Vet security clearance (which involves checking of an applicant’s background, identity, personality, financial circumstances and other related matters), psychological assessments to determine suitability to work in a high-security environment, willingness to relocate to Canberra (although this is not necessary in some cases). Also, Intelligence Officers and deployable Operations Officers must have a current Australian driver’s licence.

Website: http://www.asis.gov.au

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Finance Australian Tax Office The Australian Taxation Office is the Government’s principal revenue collection agency, and is part of the Treasurer’s portfolio.

Its role is to manage and shape tax, excise and superannuation systems that fund services for Australians.

Employment Opportunities The Office offers a 12 month graduate program with six specialist streams: Law, Finance & Taxation; Marketing Communications; People Management; Operational Excellence; Information Technology; Design. Go to: http://www.destinationato.com.au/ for more information about positions and the program.

Requirements The applicant must be an Australian citizen having completed a relevant degree before the start of the program. They need not be recent graduates and should have a credit average or higher.

Website: http://www.ato.gov.au

Department of Finance and Deregulation The Department plays an important role in assisting government across a wide range of policy areas. Essential services delivered include supporting the delivery of the Australian government budget, the ongoing management of the Australian government’s non-defence domestic property portfolio and key asset sales.

Finance is also responsible for implementation of the Australian government’s deregulation agenda and the financial framework for Australian government agencies. Additionally, it provides entitlements advice and support to parliamentarians and their employees, maintains shareholder oversight for Government Business Enterprises (GBEs), provides general insurance services to government agencies and promotes improved risk management.

Finance also provides strategic advice, guidance and service provision for the productive application of new and existing information and communication technologies to government operations.

Employment Opportunities The Department offers a 12 month graduate development program, with optional second and third year programs. It also offers vacation employment which are advertised in May and October on its website.

Requirements Applicants must be an Australian citizen, possess a credit average throughout their degree and be willing to relocate to Canberra.

For vacation employment, the same set of requirements applied and the applicant must have completed at least their first year of study and be able to obtain a security clearance at the minimum ‘Protected’ level. All degrees are accepted. Some skills valued in graduates are: research skills, teamwork, communication skills (written and verbal), analytical ability and attention to detail.

Website: http://www.finance.gov.au

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NSW Treasury The NSW Treasury is comprised of two arms. The first, the Office of Financial Management, advises the Treasurer and Special Minister of State and the NSW Government on state financial management policy and reporting, and on economic conditions and issues. The other arm of Treasury, the Office of State Revenue, administers and collects taxes, implements legislation relating to State revenue, makes the payment of various grants, subsidies, and rebates, and collects various outstanding state debts.

Employment Opportunities The Treasury conducts a graduate recruitment program. It involves working in three different branches in the first year with a buddy system in place. Successful applicants will also be sent on training courses and are offered generous study leave and financial assistance for postgraduate study. The graduate program is advertised in the press in October each year.

Requirements Applicants need a commerce related degree. Any combined qualifications incorporating public policy, politics or law will also be considered. Potential employees must have Australian citizenship or permanent residency status.

Website: http://www.treasury.nsw.gov.au

Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia The agency is responsible for the administration and regulation of the personal insolvency system. Its purpose is to provide a personal insolvency system that minimises the impact of financial failure on the community, produces equitable outcomes for debtors and creditors and enjoys public confidence, through application of bankruptcy laws, regulation and trustee services.

Employment Opportunities ITSA does not have a graduate program but actively encourages recent graduates to consider working with them and outlines the benefits it can offer on its website. Any job openings are advertised in the Electronic Australian Public Service employment gazette (www.apsjobs.gov.au).

Requirements Any Graduates are welcomed with qualifications in a range of disciplines, particularly commerce, accounting and law. Normally only Australian citizens are eligible for employment at ITSA, although a non-citizen may be appointed where they are eligible for and prepared to seek citizenship as a condition of employment.

Some positions at ITSA may require an appropriate level of security clearance.

Website: http://www.itsa.gov.au

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