Legal graduates are recruited directly to Defence through the Australian Government Graduate Program – Legal stream.
Defence offerings
Legal graduates at Defence support a mix of practising and non-practising (legal policy) roles across a vary array of areas, such as administrative, international, commercial, governance, and operational law. Defence offers exposure to legal issues central to national security and capability.
National security legal environment
Graduates participating in Defence Legal pathway have the opportunity to work on issues relating to international engagement, operations, governance, and capability.
Blend of legal and policy work
Graduates benefit from working opportunities across both practising legal roles and legal policy positions.
Rotations across diverse legal areas
Legal graduates gain exposure to over twenty different areas of law, such as administrative law, commercial law, operational law, international law and legal policy.
Mentoring from experienced Defence lawyers
Graduates receive structured learning and on-the-job support from, and work alongside senior legal practitioners and advisers across Defence.
Opportunities
While working in a supportive pathway to grow their career, graduates will:
- gain experience across a unique and diverse range of legal work, from complex litigation and legislative reform to engaging with international counterparts to develop treaties and support strategic military operations
- receive mentorship from experienced legal professionals
- get opportunities to innovate and contribute to delivery of high-quality legal services.
Defence offers graduates broad exposure across legal functions, including:
- legal practice
- legal policy (non-practicing)
- intelligence legal (non-practicing).
Through their work, graduates may contribute to:
- conducting legal research for administrative or international law matters
- supporting legal input for capability acquisition or procurement
- assisting with legislative or policy development
- preparing briefs or summaries for senior legal practitioners
- supporting governance and compliance activities
- assisting operational law specialists with research and analysis
- supporting intelligence legal frameworks, oversight and compliance in a national security environment
- reviewing contracts or agreements with supervision.
For information on recruitment and application processes, please visit the Australian Government Graduate Program – Legal stream webpage.