A clinical course offers you the chance to transform what you've learnt in the classroom into real-life practice, under the guidance of experienced practitioners. This kind of learning gives you:

  • experience in actual practice of law and policy on behalf of clients;
  • a chance to examine the interaction of legal analysis and human behaviour including interpersonal dynamics and communication;
  • an opportunity to learn by doing;
  • professional skills;
  • insight into the functioning of the legal system and its capacities and limitations; and,
  • exposure to demands, constraints and methods of analysing unstructured situations in which the issues have not been pre-identified.

Clinics offer the The Faculty of Law and Justice control over the learning experience. You will be taught by clinical supervisors whose job is to teach as well as practice law, assisting both our students and disadvantaged clients. Decisions about the legal work to be taken on are made with your learning in mind, and are designed to reflect on your in-class work. Daily contact with faculty staff allows you to work on an individual basis with your teachers in a way that is just not feasible in a typical legal practice. 

Clinics are not available in Summer term.


Clinics available: 
Kingsford Legal Centre (KLC) Clinics

KLC provides legal advice across a variety of matters, taking on cases involving domestic violence, discrimination, housing, wills and estates, employment, debt, criminal law and victims compensation. Cases are taken on by the centre for clients who cannot afford a private solicitor and where there is no other source of assistance or where the centre has a particular expertise (for instance in discrimination matters).

WHAT DOES THE KLC CLINIC INVOLVE?

Students are given responsibility for running legal files under the supervision of a staff solicitor and will be involved in drafting letters, undertaking legal research, interviewing clients, drafting affidavits, statutory declarations, court documents, letters of advice and attending courts with solicitors and Counsel. Students are encouraged to use their initiative to develop proposals in conjunction with the responsible solicitor. Students are responsible for responding to public enquiries and providing effective referrals to other sources of legal and non-legal assistance. READ MORE

Attendance 

All clinics run over 10 weeks.  

Students MUST attend: 1x 2hour seminar per week for all students
AND
1 day per week at KLC for Non-Intensive courses OR 2 days per week for Intensive courses 

 

Please see the handbook for course offerings. There is an application period before each intake which is advertised to students via the student newsletter. 

Whilst every effort is made to allocate students to their first preference of days, KLC is strictly limited to 10 students attending the Centre each day. Students must attend for the full day. Requests to be absent for work commitments will not be considered.  




Land and Environmental Court Clinic

In this course, students will put their legal skills and knowledge to use and gain practical experience of the law in action. At the same time, they will be critically analysing the effect oflaw and legal policy on members of the community and the environment in a court setting. 

The Land and Environment Court of NSW was the world’s first specialist environmental court established as a superior court of record. The Court has wide civil, criminal and administrative jurisdiction, and has been influential well beyond NSW in its efforts to increase access to justice (e,g. introducing on site hearings) and in its development of the law (e,g, on climate change).

What does the clinic involve?
Students will spend 1 day (7 hours-9am to 5pm) at the Land and Environment Court each week for 10 weeks. Students will begin the course with lectures at UNSW and an induction at the Court. Students will also attend fortnightly seminars at UNSW which are not centrally timetabled.



Police Powers Clinic

The Police Powers Clinic is an experiential learning program in partnership with Redfern Legal Centre, an independent, non-profit community centre dedicated to promoting social justice and human rights. In this course students will put their legal skills and knowledge to use and gain practical experience of law and policing in action. At the same time students will be critically analysing the effect of law and police practices on disadvantaged clients.

What does the clinic involve?
Students will be assisting olicitors in advising clients in making complaints against the police, as well as conducting work on research, policy and community legal education. The program aims to strengthen students’ practical skills in research, writing, advocacy, problem-solving, teamwork and independent judgment through client work, advocacy and law reform projects and a weekly two hour seminar.Please see the handbook for term offerings


Important Clinical Placement information 

 

All clinical placements are unpaid. 

 

Applications are ONLY accepted during the application periods.

A great deal of time and resources are expended to organise these clinical placements. The Faculty and KLC rely on you to fulfil and honour your commitment. Please consider this before applying.  Offers sent to successful applicants must be accepted immediately or your place may be offered to another student. 
 

The key application dates are available on the Law & Justice In Action page


 

How to apply for a Clinic

Please read the information on theapplication process 

Read all course information and requirements in the handbook and course outlines before applying. 

Application outcomes

Please be advised that we receive the outcome to all clinic applications from round 1 and 2 at the same time. All students who have applied will be advised of the outcome after round 2 has been assessed. Please do not fill in a second application for the same clinic.

If you are successful in your application, you will be notified via email. Upon your acceptance of the clinic you will be manually enrolled in the course by Teaching Support staff. 

 

Please be advised that great deal of time and resources is expended by the University and the organisation to organise placements. For this reason, you cannot drop the course without the permission of the Course Convenor. Please keep this in mind before applying for the course.

 
 

Further Enquiries