Not all lawyers work in glass skyscrapers. Not all lawyers work in the old court buildings next door to those glass skyscrapers. Not all lawyers work in the urban jungles of a capital city. Where there are people in Australia, the law needs to be practiced and a lot of law is practiced outside capital cities.

As law schools, courts, government departments and firms are concentrated in capital cities, law students by and large are not even aware of the diverse, stimulating and fascinating opportunities available for law students, graduates and lawyers outside of Australia’s capital cities.

Practicing in a rural, regional or remote area will give you the diversity of experience and level of responsibility that recent law graduates in government departments, big firms and even urban community legal centres can only dream of. If you want to put your whole law degree to good use - from criminal law to torts to property to administrative law to equity - practicing in a small regional firm or community legal centre will give you just that.

In 2009, the Law Council of Australia conducted a survey of the legal profession outside of Australian capital cities and found a serious crisis in access to justice looming in those areas as lawyers looked to retire or move out of those areas in the next five years. If this problem is to be fixed, lawyers at both the graduate and mid-career level need to move to rural, regional and remote areas.

Practicing in the country or along the coast has many attractions for law students and recent graduates - quality training and job opportunities, a diversity matters never to be seen in the city, the adventure of exploring a new place, extensive pro bono opportunities and the opportunity to travel after law school and while still relatively unattached. Further, if you want to make partner before you turn 30 (for those without the desire and ability to work 25 hours a day, 8 days a week) then you have a better chance in the heritage listed office of a regional firm than the top levels of a glass skyscraper in one of the big national firms.

ALSA has compiled a list of opportunities for students and graduates in rural, regional and remote areas. It should be noted, however, that this list covers only some of the structured opportunities presently on offer, rather than being an exhaustive list of what pathways to practice in these areas. If you are interested in working in these areas, contact the organisations and firms that are located in your location of choice to find out what opportunities they have on offer. Rural, regional and remote organisations often don’t have the resources to advertise opportunities like their city counterparts, but a little bit of legwork could uncover some golden opportunities.

Please notify the ALSA Vice-President (Education) of any additional opportunities not listed here by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . ALSA will list structured internship/clerkship and graduate employment opportunities, and contact details of rural, regional and remote firms interested in offering work to law students upon request.

Opportunities Specifically for Law Students

The Brolga Project matches university students with businesses in rural, regional and remote areas. The Project is not law specific but does offer opportunities for law students http://www.brolgaproject.com.au/

The Aurora Project offers legal internships to law students who have completed their study of property law on native title matters. Some costs may be covered if the student is placed away from their home city, the internships are otherwise unpaid. Some universities offer funding to permit students to undertake such internships and others permit students to undertake Aurora internships for credit. http://www.auroraproject.com.au/legalinternships.htm

Opportunities Specifically for Graduates

ANU Legal Workshop is piloting a program that places students undertaking their practical legal training (PLT) in rural, regional and remote areas and offers them some funding in order to facilitate this. http://law.anu.edu.au/LegalWorkshop/RRRCLC.aspx It is also raising awareness of RRR practice among graduates http://law.anu.edu.au/LegalWorkshop/LPE_RRR.aspx

Law Graduates for Community Legal Centres in Rural Australia’s website is an excellent resource on PLT placements in rural community legal centres in general, and includes some specific information about the ANU Legal Workshop Pilot Program http://www.lawgraduatesrrrclc.com.au/index.html

Legal Aid in Western Australia offers a four-year program including one year of graduate training and a three year training program based in country community legal centres http://www.legalaid.wa.gov.au/LAServices/aspx/default.aspx?Page=Employment%5CCountryLawyers.xml#clgp

Jobs available in community legal centres, including those in rural, regional and remote areas nationally are listed on the following website http://www.clc.net.au/JobAds/ .

Check the Law Institute of Victoria’s website for rural, regional and remote jobs http://www.careers.liv.asn.au/content.asp?contentid=51 and take a look at their regional firm registry if contacting firms yourself http://www.careers.liv.asn.au/directory.asp?formid=1

NSW Law Society lists vacancies in rural, regional and remote areas on their website http://www.lawsociety.com.au/ForSolictors/professionalsupport/manageyourpractice/regionalvacancies/index.htm

Rural, regional and remote jobs in the Northern Territory may be posted on the NT Law Society website http://lawsocietynt.asn.au/legal-careers/positions-vacant or the NT Government website http://lawsocietynt.asn.au/legal-careers/positions-vacant.

Rural, regional and remote jobs in Queensland may be posted on the Queensland Legal Aid Regional Solicitor Program http://www.legalaid.qld.gov.au/careers/Regional-Solicitor-Program/Pages/About-the-Regional-Solicitor-Program.aspx or positions vacant page http://www.legalaid.qld.gov.au/careers/Pages/Positions-vacant.aspx or the Queensland Legal Staff website http://www.legalstaff.com.au/.

Rural, regional and remote jobs in Tasmania may be posted on the Tasmanian Law Society website http://www.taslawsociety.asn.au/web/en/lawsociety/about/employment.html.

Want an insider’s view of what it’s like practicing in a regional firm?

You CAN be a partner before you’re 30.Click here to find out how. http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/blogs/profiles/archive/2010/02/02/brendan-moylan-taking-it-to-the-country.aspx

Even if you have ‘never been West of anywhere’ then you can fit in perfectly in a regional town, interstate. http://brolgaproject.com.au/index.php?pr=PR_100329_Tia

Find out why country lawyers are a ‘resilient bunch’. http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/blogs/slide_show/archive/2010/04/06/merits-of-a-country-practice.aspx

More information on the access to justice issues faced by rural, regional and remote Australia

Law Council of Australia's Fact Sheet http://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=6C3F983D-1E4F-17FA-D20B-485C08FE6FE6&siteName=lca

Law Council of Australia's Report on Rural, Regional and Remote Lawyers http://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=58075666-1E4F-17FA-D22C-92C2CC13DA7C&siteName=lca