Work experience at the ACT Courts and Tribunal
If you’re interested in pursuing a career in the legal profession, or in any other role associated with the justice system, our work experience program is an opportunity to get an inside view of the legal system and the people who work behind the scenes to keep it running smoothly.
The ACT Courts and Tribunal offer a limited number of work experience placements twice a year at the end of term 2 and term 4. Work experience placements are unpaid and run for five consecutive business days. During a work experience placement, students will rotate through different areas of the ACT Courts and Tribunal, under the guidance of a staff member.
A work experience placement at the ACT Courts and Tribunal would be useful for any student considering studying law or related fields at university. Students will gain a practical understanding of the different work areas of the ACTCT, and how a legal matter proceeds through the tribunal and courts. Students may work with our staff to prepare matters for hearing or case management and will have the opportunity to sit in on publicly accessible court or tribunal hearings.
Due to the sensitive nature of the work we do, work experience at the ACT Courts and Tribunal is restricted to Year 11 and 12 students and there is no exceptions to this requirement. We will do our best to limit students’ exposure to sensitive information and will liaise with students and schools to identify particular areas that may cause distress to individual students.
We are proud to support workplace diversity and inclusion and welcome work experience applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disability, and people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
The date for 2026 work experience placements are as follows:
- Monday, 29 June – Friday, 3 July 2026
- Monday, 30 November – Friday, 4 December 2026
Public school students
Placements for public school students are arranged in consultation with the ACT Education Directorate. Public school students interested in a work experience placement at the ACT Courts and Tribunal should contact their careers advisor or work experience coordinator.
Private school students
Private school students can submit an expression of interest using this form. The form will accept responses from 1 April 2026 to 15 May 2026 and 1 September 2026 to 9 October 2026, ahead of the two cohorts. Once responses are received, the People and Governance team will shortlist and select the student to be placed. People and Governance will notify the student and liaise with school representative to ensure appropriate insurances are in place. All paperwork must be submitted prior to the student commencing their placement, if paperwork is not submitted by then, the student will not be able to participate.
If the information above doesn’t answer queries you may have, please feel free to send an email to StudentWorkExperience@courts.act.gov.au and a member of the team will endeavour to respond to you within 4 working days.