What is an internship in Australia, and how do you get one?

What an internship is, the Fair Work rules on unpaid internships, placements and trials, when applications open, how the application process runs and what to do in the months after a rejection.

Published

An internship is structured work experience during your degree that gives you practical experience in the field you are studying. The University of Sydney's careers centre describes them as paid roles, related to your degree, for students in their second last year. An unpaid internship is lawful in Australia only when it is an approved placement your course requires, or when there is no employment relationship.

What is an internship?

The University of Sydney's careers centre calls it structured work experience that complements your studies and sets you up for the graduate workforce, and names the semester break as the time to do one. You will also see internships called vacation, vacationer or summer programs.

It lists four benefits:

  • you apply your skills and get on-the-ground experience
  • you build networks and improve your chances of a graduate offer at the end of your degree
  • you earn an income
  • some degrees, such as Engineering, require one.

Internship, vacation program, graduate program or work experience?

What is a vacation program?

A vacation program, or vacationer program, is an internship run over the university break. KPMG describes its program as a paid, full-time internship of 3 to 8 weeks over the summer break, for students in the second-last year of their degree. Deloitte's runs 4 to 8 weeks, paid, in person at its offices, for students in their penultimate year. KPMG says many of its vacationers receive an offer to join its graduate program the following year, and Deloitte calls its program a pathway into its graduate program.

What is a graduate program?

A graduate program is a paid job you apply for in your final year or soon after you graduate. KPMG's graduate roles are ongoing and permanent, and start in February or March of the year after the offer. For government, see our guide to public service graduate programs.

What is work experience, and is it paid?

The Fair Work Ombudsman treats work experience and internships together, as working for a business to gain experience in a job or industry, and the same pay rules apply (below). Its example of a high school student doing salon work after school twice a week for 3 months, with cleaning, restocking and serving customers, says she should be paid.

Are unpaid internships legal in Australia?

Sometimes. The Fair Work Ombudsman says there are no specific rules about work experience or internships under the Fair Work Act. What matters is whether you are an employee. If there is an employment relationship, you must be paid at least the minimum wage and get the other minimum entitlements.

An unpaid internship can be lawful in two ways. The first is a vocational placement, which is allowed to be unpaid when:

  • it is a requirement of your education or training course
  • it is an approved placement, for example through a university, TAFE or school
  • there is no entitlement for you to be paid.

The second is an arrangement with no employment relationship. For that, the Fair Work Ombudsman says there must be no expectation of productive work, the main benefit must go to you, and it must clearly give you meaningful learning, training or skills development.

Signs that point to an employee include doing work normally done by paid staff, the business getting more out of the arrangement than you do, and being given set tasks, deadlines and normal business hours. The Fair Work Ombudsman's own example is a full-time, 3 month unpaid internship for recent graduates with general admin, event planning and proofreading. It says those interns would likely be employees who must be paid. Calling a job an unpaid internship does not change that.

What about unpaid work trials?

A short trial to show your skills can be unpaid. The Fair Work Ombudsman says it must be necessary to see your skills, cover only skills that relate to the job, last only as long as needed (usually from an hour up to a shift) and be directly supervised the whole time. Anything beyond that must be paid at the minimum rate. If you think you were an employee and weren't paid, you can contact the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.

When is an unpaid internship not worth it?

Beyond the signs above, the Fair Work Ombudsman's own examples show two set-ups where a student working unpaid is likely an employee who should be paid:

  • staying on unpaid over the semester break after your course placement ends, to finish a project
  • unpaid work experience doing work the firm charges its clients for, even with a promise of a job when you graduate.

Fair Work says that when the role is mostly observing and any work is minor and part of learning, an employment relationship is less likely.

When do internship applications open?

The University of Sydney says internship and vacation positions are generally advertised early to mid-year. Three employers' own careers pages, read on 8 October 2026, fit that pattern:

  • Deloitte opens applications twice a year, in February or March and again in July for any roles left, and its programs start in November or January depending on the business area.
  • KPMG's program starts in November or December of the year you apply, with a limited winter program. Its 2026/27 round had closed, with no 2027/28 dates yet.
  • EY reviews applications on a rolling basis, and roles may close once filled.

For graduate programs, the University of Sydney says recruitment starts in March each year for jobs starting the following year, and UTS Careers says some organisations recruit as early as January for the next year's intake.

To find them, the University of Sydney suggests its own jobs board and careers fairs, the careers pages of the employers you want, and approaching employers directly to ask about vacation work. Check your own university's equivalents.

How do you apply for an internship?

UTS Careers sets out the usual graduate recruitment steps: an online application with a resume and a cover letter if asked, psychometric tests, a video or phone interview, an assessment centre, then an offer. The BSoc and Capital W pieces name the same hurdles for vacationer programs, from online assessments to behavioural interviews.

What should you do if you miss out?

Work out where the process stopped. The resume, the online tests, the interview, or applying too late each need a different fix, and the stage you reached tells you which.

  • If your resume was thin, get experience. A part-time job at a brand you respect, a leadership role in a uni society or a volunteer project where you own a real outcome all give you something concrete to talk about.
  • If behavioural interviews tripped you up, start collecting stories now and practise them out loud until they sound natural and structured.
  • If you never got past the application, ask someone who has sat on the hiring side to review your resume honestly.
  • If you got feedback, use it. If you didn't, ask for it.

As the Capital W piece put it, the students who land offers are the ones who can point to something they built, led or stuck with long enough to learn from. When you are ready, see what graduates earn in our Graduate Salary Survey.

What did TAC readers tell us?

We asked our community whether the tight job market for graduates comes down to how employers screen applications. Many replies came from recruiters and hiring managers.

Recruiter for grad and intern roles - Particularly in fields where a specific degree/s is required, majority of applicants have the same qualifications. Therefore we're often looking for traits outside of the degree, extra curriculars, work experience, volunteer roles, etc. This comes from the teams as well who'll request particular traits beyond the degree

Many graduate and postgraduate applicants are simply outstanding, with polished CVs, internships, volunteering and extracurriculars. Competition is incredibly strong... A great CV, good communication, flexibility around role scope and salary, and the ability to deliver outcomes all matter.

Dozens of applications came in with days of the role being posted, but the majority were low effort. In many cases, even where capability and experience aligned, there was either no cover letter or no attempt to tailor the experience to the job description... Out of those that did meaningfully tailor their application (and not just by AI), there were some standout candidates!

Probably don't need a postgraduate degree. Actual experience tends to be more valued.

Common questions about internships

Do interns get paid in Australia?

An intern who is an employee must be paid at least the minimum wage. KPMG and Deloitte both describe their vacation programs as paid, and the University of Sydney describes internships as paid roles.

What is the difference between an internship and a placement?

A placement is part of your course. The Fair Work Ombudsman's example is an accounting student whose 3 month placement at a firm counts as credit towards his degree, so he does not need to be paid. An internship outside your course is judged on whether you are an employee.

Sources

First ran in the BSoc Bulletin

First ran in the Capital W Bulletin

Spotted an error? Correct something.

More for students and grads