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Internships


Apply for an internship with AIIA NSW

Applications for our Semester 1 2024 (Feb – June) internship program have closed.

 

Internships at AIIA NSW are offered to university students who have an interest in international affairs, and who are looking to further develop their skills for future professional involvement in international policy. AIIA NSW internships are highly competitive and previous interns have found employment in Australian Public Service graduate roles, think tanks, not-for-profit organisations, business, law and academia.

Please note that the AIIA NSW is not considering interstate applications at this time and does not sponsor relocation to Sydney. For those residing outside of NSW, you can view internship opportunities at other AIIA branches here.

AIIA NSW’s internship program offers:

  • Opportunities to attend speaker events, including private roundtable discussions with presenters before events
  • Opportunities to publish opinion pieces on the AIIA website, including in AIIA’s national online publication Australian Outlook
  • Participation in intern presentation and debate nights
  • Training in event organisation, public speaking, debating and research
  • Opportunities to network with experts and AIIA members, who have wide-ranging experience in international affairs
  • Participation in masterclasses on diplomacy, publishing and management and an annual careers event
  • Access to mentors from the public, private, academic and not-for-profit sectors

Internship duties

AIIA NSW interns must be able to commit to the full duration of the internship. For Semester 1 internships, the duration will be from February to June, and for Semester 2 internships, the duration will be from July to December.  Internship periods roughly coincide with university timetables.

Interns must be available to assist during events which are usually held on Tuesday evenings at Glover Cottages in Sydney, and may need to allocate additional time to complete research and administrative tasks. Interns are expected to:

  • Provide administrative assistance such as producing promotional information for events, assistance in setting up, managing multimedia and summarising events for the AIIA website
  • Produce a short opinion piece of 600-800 words and an option to pitch another piece to Australian Outlook, both on topics of their choice
  • Contribute to the Columns from Glover Cottages Newsletter
  • Participate in intern presentations and debates
  • Promote AIIA events in interns’ university campuses, and through other platforms including social media

Selection criteria

AIIA NSW is looking for current undergraduate students and postgraduate students who have:

  • Excellent writing, research, presentation and public speaking skills
  • Initiative and motivation
  • Teamwork and time management skills
  • Critical thinking skills
  • Awareness of, and interest in, international affairs

Knowledge and prior experience with professional audio-visual equipment, social media management, online marketing and hosting webinar events through applications such as Zoom are highly desirable.

How to apply

Applications for internships are welcomed during the following period:

  • For Semester 1 internships 2024, applications have now closed.
  • For Semester 2 internships 2024, applications will be open from 1 May to 13 June, 2024

Applications should be emailed to nswinternships@gmail.com, with the subject “AIIA NSW Internship Application – Your Name”, and must contain:

  • A brief cover letter that addresses the selection criteria
  • A CV or resume, including contact details for two referees
  • A sample of written analytical work that is no more than 3 pages in length. The sample should be on any topic of international affairs and should showcase analytical and communication skills rather than just subject-matter knowledge. For those who wish to submit a three-page extract of a larger piece, please include an introduction and conclusion. Do not submit co-authored pieces.

Please collate all documents into a single PDF attachment.

Shortlisted applicants will be asked to attend in-person or online interviews.

Enquiries

For further information, please email nswinternships@gmail.com.

 

Our current group of interns (Feb-June 2024)

from left to right:  Paris, Hattie, Adam, Jie, Isabella and Jacob

Jacob Barry is in his final semester of his International and Global Studies undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney. He has recently returned from studying abroad in Madrid, where he attended Universidad Carlos III. Jacob has previously been involved in an internship program at the Australian Consulate in Hong Kong, working in the Border Security and Public Affairs departments. He has also recently interned at Brunswick Group Consulting’s Sydney office, working with high-profile ESG and sustainability figures in the Australian advisory business. Jacob is interested in international affairs and hopes to work in the public service following his graduation.

Isabella Crowe is an Honours year student at UNSW, completing a Bachelor of International Studies with minors in International Relations, Development and French. She is currently working on her Honours thesis and is interested in researching memory politics and policy in Australia, specifically related to colonial history. She recently returned from a exchange year studying International Relations in French at Sciences Po Aix-en-Provence and is interested in Franco-Australian relations, languages, diplomacy and Australia’s place in the world. As a volunteer, she has been involved with ENGin and the Refugee Action Campaign.

Paris Fleury is in her final semester at the University of Sydney, where she is studying for a Bachelor of Arts (Politics and International Relations, French). While undertaking her degree, Paris spent a semester abroad at the prestigious Sciences Po University, where she received a High Distinction certificate for her work. She is also a member of the Peace and Security Team for the United Nations Association of Australia NSW Division. In this role, she serves as the youth representative for the Peace and Security Agenda. Her research interests include gender equality and feminist foreign policy, global sustainable development, and the future of hegemonic succession.

Jie Rui Lin is a third-year Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Advanced Studies student majoring in Business Analytics and International Relations at the University of Sydney. He is the Chief of Partnerships at Educating the Future, a youth-led not-for-profit committed to improving the quality of pre-school education in impoverished communities of Timor-Leste. Some of Jie Rui’s notable contributions to Educating the Future include arranging discussions with His Excellency President José Ramos-Horta and successfully leading two editions of the Timor-Leste Australia Youth Dialogue. Jie Rui will undertake a semester exchange to Waseda University later in 2024.

Adam Scislowski is a fifth-year undergraduate studying International Studies and Media at the University of New South Wales. Furthermore, he has recently completed a year abroad at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA, achieving a 4.0 GPA. He performed the role of Philosoph at Polybian, a political debating club at the University of Pennsylvania and volunteered extensively around Europe throughout 2023. His main areas of interest include Sino-US rivalry, the role of Australia in the Indo-Pacific and the emerging role of AI in International Relations. He has written 2 published papers on the role of AI in international security.

Harriet (Hattie) Shand is in her third year at the University of New South Wales, where she is studying a Bachelor of Law and Arts (Asian Studies, Politics and International Relations). Hattie’s focus is the Asia-Pacific, particularly in regards to advocating for increased Asian cultural and political literacy amongst Western nations. Hattie’s academic work on the feminisation and romanticisation of the Pacific seeks to highlight the cultural weaponization of the Pacific by key international actors. In 2021 Hattie founded and organised the Inaugural Public Education Forum, with guest speaker the Hon. Michael Kirby, and has experience advocating for education equity in both local and federal politics. Hattie currently works as a legal assistant at a law firm in Sydney.

 

Intern Coordinators and Councillors for 2024:

Isabel Freudenstein is a former intern and studying a Juris Doctor at the University of Sydney. Before this, Isabel graduated from the University of Sydney with a firstclass honours in International Relations and a Bachelor of Arts/Advanced Studies in Politics and International Relations. Her thesis examined the changing nature of humanitarian intervention in a multipolar international system. Isabel writes for the university newspaper, Honi Soit, and formerly worked with REA Group in their communications and sustainability team. Her main areas of interest include norms of international behaviour, international organisations, gender and migration.

Ralph Housego holds a Bachelor of Arts/Advanced Studies in Politics and International Relations from the University of Sydney. He currently works in public policy consulting, working with state and federal government clients on a diverse range of public policy issues. He previously worked in research and analyst positions in government relations, as well as for an international business forum. Ralph is a former intern of the institute and has served on the council since 2023.

Alice Nason is a Research Associate with the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre. Formerly, Alice was an AIIA NSW intern, a Research Fellow at the Washington DC-based Global Business Policy Council and a Business Analyst Intern at the international consulting firm Kearney.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Advanced Studies in Politics, International Relations and American Studies with First Class honours from the University of Sydney. Alice completed an academic exchange at the University of California, Berkeley.  Her research pertains to the US-Australia bilateral relationship and in US foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific.