Are you a law student interested in pursuing a career in government or public law?
The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) exists to help create a safe, just and inclusive New South Wales in which every person has the opportunity to realise their potential.
Did you know that DCJ is also Australia’s top public sector employer? Working at DCJ provides many opportunities to make a genuine difference and do work that really matters.
DCJ Legal provides legal services across the Department, to the Attorney General, the lead Minister of the Cluster, and to other Ministers.
DCJ Legal is conducting a Law Clerkship Program of up to 8 months in duration, involving rotations though practice groups that include:
- Advisings and Community Protection team provides advice and manages litigation in areas including: review of convictions and sentences, exercise of Royal prerogative of mercy, high risk offenders, forensic patients, parole, management of adult inmates and youth detainees, constitutional matters, prosecution of indictable matters, criminal contempt, vexatious proceedings, judicial review and other public law matters.
- Child Protection team provides advice and representation on behalf of the Secretary, in matters relating to the care and protection of children and adoption proceedings.
- Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution team provides advice and manages claims and litigated proceedings relating to various criminal, tort and civil law matters.
- Inquests, Inquiries and Representation team assists Coroners and judicial officers in significant and high-profile inquiries and inquests and represents the Department in inquests and inquiries, including representing the Commissioner of Corrective Services in inquests into deaths in custody. The team advises and represents the Attorney General in interstate prisoner transfers; represents witnesses called before investigatory bodies, such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission; and acts for the Department in tenancy proceedings, housing fraud prosecutions, and Youth Justice parole proceedings.
- Open Government, Information and Privacy team provides a variety of interesting and varied legal advice on information sharing and provides advocacy and representation in tribunal in contested determinations under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) and Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act). The team also makes determinations under the GIPA Act and conducts investigations and internal reviews under PPIP Act. The team also facilitates responses to subpoenas, summons, and statutory notices and provides representation in various courts and tribunals where such matters are contested.
The clerkship may also include project work with the Legal Operations team which supports whole-of-Government legal services coordination.
Who can apply?
Applicants should be in their penultimate or final year of a law degree.
Your application
Applications are to be submitted via the link.
Applications will be accepted between 27 June 2024 and 24 July 2024. Applications received outside of this period will not be considered.
You will be required to answer all pre-screening questions on the online application form.
Your application should attach:
- a covering letter (not exceeding two A4 pages) which includes a short statement as to why you would be an ideal candidate for the Law Clerkship Program and details of how you meet the four key focus capabilities of the role, as identified in the role description;
- a CV (not exceeding two A4 pages) which contains contact details for at least two referees; and
- your most recent academic transcript.
Please ensure that all documents provided are not password protected or encrypted.
The interview
Interviews will be conducted in August 2024.
Law Clerks will be recruited based on merit selection. To ensure that this process is equitable, interviews are formal, with each interviewee being asked the same set of questions. Interviewees may be asked to prepare a written task.
Further information
Please refer to our FAQs (PDF, 44.0 KB) for further information.
For additional information required that is not addressed by our FAQs, please email your query to clerkship@justice.nsw.gov.au.
