Graduate programs

Explore graduate programs, practical legal training placements and court associateships.

Graduate recruitment guide

A graduate program is your first year or two as a lawyer, with rotations, supervision and usually your practical legal training paid for. Firms are only one part of it. Governments, regulators, legal aid, prosecutors and courts all take graduates, often on very different timetables.

Dates shown are for programs starting in 2027 unless marked. Last checked 29 October 2026. Confirm on the employer's page before you apply.

The guide describes its labelled recruitment round. Use each program’s application dates and separately recorded commencement information for its current cycle.

Five ways in

From a clerkship. Most large firms fill their graduate intake from their own clerks. Some take a few more through an open round.
Through a firm's open graduate round. Mid-size and regional firms often recruit graduates directly, many in a state's graduate window.
Through a government program. The Commonwealth and most states run graduate programs with a legal stream or a legal office of their own. Many close in autumn, a year before you start.
Through legal aid, prosecution and community services. Legal aid commissions and the Aboriginal legal services run their own programs, several with regional placements.
As a judge's associate. A year or two working for a judge, recruited chamber by chamber, sometimes two or three years ahead.

Many programs pay for or build in your practical legal training. Check whether you must already be enrolled, as in Tasmania, where the government program takes only Legal Practice Course students.

When graduate rounds run

The state law society schemes cover firm graduate rounds as well as clerkships. Timing differs more than for clerkships. NSW recruits graduates more than a year ahead, Victoria and Queensland in August and September, and WA makes its offers in July.

When graduate rounds run
Where	Firm graduate round	Public sector timing
WA	Law Society of WA dates. Graduate offers 17 July 2026, held open 9am to 1pm.	State Solicitor's Office applications April to May. Legal Aid WA closed in May and June 2026.
NSW	Law Society program. For 2028 starts: applications 22 February to 4 April 2027, offers 2 June 2027 (decide by 1pm next day).	Crown Solicitor's Office applications open in May 2027. NSW Government Graduate Program starts each February.
VIC	LIV guidelines. Priority offers to own clerks 4 August 2026. Open market applications 7 to 23 August, offers 30 September 2026.	VGSO follows the LIV dates. Victoria Legal Aid's New Lawyers Program closed 11 October 2026.
QLD	QLS guidelines. Offers to own clerks and staff 4 August 2026. Open market applications 10 to 21 August, offers 24 September 2026. Programs start February 2027.	Department of Justice applications open in August.
SA	No scheme. Firms set their own dates.	Crown Solicitor's Office fills roles from a 12-month graduate pool.
ACT	No scheme.	ACT Public Service program closed 12 July 2026.
TAS	No scheme. Firms recruit as roles arise.	Department of Justice Legal Graduate Program closes 8 November 2026.
NT	No scheme.	SFNT program starts each January and is advertised once a year.
Commonwealth	Not applicable	Most programs close in March to May, about ten months before a February start. ASIC's closed 16 August 2026.

Commonwealth programs

The Commonwealth recruits early. For a February 2027 start, most programs closed between March and May 2026. If you finish your degree next year, the window to watch opens around March 2027.

Australian Government Graduate Program, Legal Stream. A central round run through APS Jobs, with a merit pool that agencies hire from. The Attorney-General's Department takes its legal graduates through it. AGD's program runs 11 months with three rotations in Canberra and builds in practical legal training. You need to be an Australian citizen.

Australian Government Solicitor. The Commonwealth's own legal practice, part of AGD, recruits separately. Its program has four rotations of about 12 weeks across its practice groups, an outpost in a Commonwealth agency and pro bono work. Applications generally run March to April. Graduates need a Negative Vetting 2 security clearance.

Regulators with a law stream. ASIC runs a law stream in its graduate program (closed 16 August 2026) and a Legal stream in its internship program, based in Sydney or Melbourne (the 2026 round ran 6 to 20 October). The ATO has a taxation and law stream (closed 9 April 2026). The ACCC recruits lawyers through its general stream (closed 17 May 2026).

Earlier pathways. AGD also runs Jump Start and hosts interns through the Australian Disability Network's Stepping Into program.

National firms with one national program. Barry Nilsson, Clayton Utz and Mills Oakley run national graduate programs and place graduates by office.

Browse government bodies on the Atlas

State by state

New South Wales

Government The Crown Solicitor's Office runs a two-year graduate development program for newly admitted lawyers. The NSW Government Graduate Program has a Legal stream: 18 months, three placements and the Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice built in. The Department of Communities and Justice runs the Maliyan Program for Aboriginal graduate solicitors.

Legal aid, prosecution and community Legal Aid NSW runs a Crime Regional Graduate Program. The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) recruits graduate solicitors on a rolling basis for its Western NSW criminal practice.

Clerkships in New South Wales

Victoria

Government The Victorian Government Solicitor's Office runs a 12-month program across four legal branches, with training through Leo Cussen. The central Victorian Government Graduate Program has no legal stream.

Legal aid, prosecution and community Victoria Legal Aid runs the New Lawyers Program for admitted lawyers and a First Nations Graduate Law Program.

Clerkships in Victoria

Queensland

Government The Department of Justice runs a two-year Law and Justice Graduate Program, open to law, justice and criminology graduates.

Legal aid, prosecution and community Legal Aid Queensland runs a Graduate Lawyer Program.

Clerkships in Queensland

Western Australia

Government The State Solicitor's Office runs a 12-month rotational program and pays for practical legal training. Its 2027 graduates are on two-year contracts.

Legal aid, prosecution and community Legal Aid WA runs a Law Graduate Program and a Regional Law Graduate Program.

Clerkships in Western Australia

South Australia

Government The Crown Solicitor's Office fills graduate solicitor roles from an employment pool that stays valid for 12 months.

Legal aid, prosecution and community The Legal Services Commission runs a practical legal training program.

Clerkships in South Australia

Australian Capital Territory

Government The ACT Public Service Graduate Program has a Legal career path for non-practising roles. The ACT Government Solicitor hosts practical legal training placements. Canberra is also home to most Commonwealth programs (above).

Legal aid, prosecution and community The ACT Cross-Sector Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Law Graduate Program, run by Legal Aid ACT, has not opened a round since 2024.

Clerkships in Australian Capital Territory

Tasmania

Government The Department of Justice runs a Legal Graduate Program of about two years. Graduates work part time while completing the Tasmanian Legal Practice Course, then full time. Applications for 2027 close 8 November 2026.

Clerkships in Tasmania

Northern Territory

Government The Solicitor for the Northern Territory runs a 12-month program from January, with rotations that can include the DPP and Parliamentary Counsel. Two places are reserved for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduates.

Legal aid, prosecution and community NAAJA invites expressions of interest from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law graduates and supervises some GDLP placements.

Clerkships in Northern Territory

Associateships

An associate works beside one judge for a year or two. Most courts have no central round. Each judge's chambers recruits, sometimes years ahead, so watch the court's own page.

High Court of Australia: Each Justice recruits separately, often two to three years ahead. Justice Gleeson took applications from 1 to 31 October 2026 for 2028.
Federal Court of Australia: Judges recruit their own associates as positions arise.
Federal Circuit and Family Court: Associate roles in both divisions, plus associates to registrars and legal case managers.
Supreme Court of NSW: Judges choose associates and tipstaves directly. Apply early in the year before the appointment. Researchers are hired each year.
Supreme Court of Victoria: Roles are advertised one by one on the Victorian Government jobs board.
Supreme and District Courts of Queensland: An annual round. The 2027 round ran 8 December 2025 to 30 January 2026. The 2028 window is not yet published.
Supreme Court of WA: An annual round closing in April for January starts, plus individual chambers ads.
Supreme Court of SA: Rolling. Apply to each Justice's chambers. Associates can complete the GDLP while employed.
Supreme Court of Tasmania: Roles are advertised on the Tasmanian Government jobs site as they arise.
Supreme Court of the NT: Positions are offered at the start of each year. Apply to each judge's executive assistant.
ACT Supreme Court: A rolling associate register, current for a year, plus chambers ads.

Browse courts on the Atlas

FAQ

Do I need a clerkship to get a graduate role?

No. It is the main route into the largest firms. Government, regulators, legal aid, courts and most mid-size firms recruit graduates directly.

When should I start looking?

In the year before you finish. Commonwealth programs close in autumn, NSW firms recruit in February to April, and most other states run August to October.

Will the program pay for my practical legal training?

Many do, and some build it into the program. Check each listing. In Tasmania you must already be enrolled in the Legal Practice Course to apply to the government program.

I am not a citizen. Can I apply?

Commonwealth programs require Australian citizenship. Most state programs and firms ask for work rights for the length of the program. Check each listing.