A chance to experience working in a Community Law Centre, and directly contribute to our work providing free legal services to the community.
Applications for our 2026–27 Summer Internships are now open!
A summer internship with Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley is an opportunity to experience working in a Community Law Centre while contributing directly to our mahi providing free legal services and legal information to our communities.
To complete your application, please:
- Fill out the application form here: https://forms.gle/as798AJSLsLtbiKG6
- Write a brief piece about one of Community Law’s values and how you would achieve it in practice, and send it with your CV to v.c@wclc.org.nz with “Summer Internship Application” in the subject line.
Our values are:
Manaakitanga: Respect, support and care. Clients, workers and volunteers feel respected and looked after.
Rangatiratanga: Independence, self-determination, and ownership. Staff, volunteers, and clients are empowered with the skills to meet their needs.
Kotahitanga: Unity, solidarity, and collective action. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is upheld and diverse voices in our organisation are heard.
Applications are due by Friday 18 September 2026. Late applications will not be processed.
Internships available
Refugee and Immigration Legal Advice Service (RILAS) Intern – Pōneke/Te Awa Kairangi
The RILAS team provides both ongoing and one-off immigration advice to a wide range of people. As a RILAS Intern, you will assist with our ongoing caseload, particularly applications from former refugees seeking to bring their whānau to New Zealand, as well as helping during our twice-weekly Immigration Legal Advice Sessions.
The work is varied and may include filing and administration, legal research, working on visa applications, liaising with clients and, with appropriate training and support, interviewing clients and assisting with immigration advice. We aim to provide a safe and supportive environment where interns can gain meaningful, hands-on legal experience.
Rights Education Project (REP) Intern – Pōneke/Te Awa Kairangi
Community Law’s Rights Education Project helps young people understand their legal rights. The REP Intern will primarily help review and update our online REP modules to reflect changes in the law, as well as refreshing physical REP resources and activities across our Pōneke and Te Awa Kairangi offices.
The role will involve legal research, updating resources using Adobe InDesign and, where opportunities arise, attending schools alongside REP volunteers and staff to help deliver legal education sessions. Experience with InDesign would be useful, but a willingness to learn is also welcome. This is a great opportunity for someone interested in legal education and making legal information accessible to young people.
Housing Intern – Pōneke/Te Awa Kairangi
The Tenancy Intern will support Community Law’s tenancy related legal work and free legal advice sessions. The role may include assisting staff and volunteer lawyers during client interviews, undertaking legal research, drafting legal documents and correspondence, and supporting client and community engagement.
This role would suit someone interested in tenancy and housing law who wants practical experience working with clients and seeing how legal advice and advocacy can help people experiencing housing issues.
Prison Legal Services Intern – Te Awa Kairangi
This internship is an ideal opportunity for a law student interested in criminal law and the legal issues affecting people in prison. The intern will be based in our Te Awa Kairangi office and will work alongside our Prison Legal Services lawyer.
The role will include attending visits to people in Rimutaka Prison as a kaiāwhina, legal research in areas including the Corrections Act 2004, Parole Act 2002, Bail Act 2000 and Criminal Procedure Act 2011, drafting emails and letters, booking telephone and in-person prison appointments, and preparing plain-language legal information for people in prison, such as information about the Victim Notification Register or preparing for parole. There will also be some general administration. Because prison visits form part of the role, the successful applicant will need to meet prison access requirements, including having a clean criminal record.
Operations Intern – Pōneke/Te Awa Kairangi
The Operations Intern will support the day-to-day running of our office and gain experience with the systems that help Community Law deliver its services. The role will include administration and filing, uploading and maintaining client files, using Community Law’s systems and technology, reviewing and updating our non-legal referral information, and learning reception and client communication tasks. There may also be opportunities to assist during legal advice sessions, community events and legal education activities.
This role would suit someone who is organised, confident using technology, able to learn new systems quickly and interested in understanding how a Community Law Centre operates behind the scenes.
Legal Information Intern – Pōneke/Te Awa Kairangi
This intern will work on legal information resources designed to help members of the public understand their rights and the law. The role will involve legal research, reviewing and developing legal information, and turning complex legal concepts into clear, accessible plain-English resources. We are looking for someone with strong legal research and writing skills who can work carefully and independently. This is a great opportunity for someone interested in legal publishing, access to justice and communicating the law in a way that is useful to the wider community.
Applicants for this role may also be asked to complete a short writing exercise as part of the selection process.
Key information about internships
- Internships are unpaid. We have limited budgets as a charity unfortunately.
- Internships are part-time. You can arrange your hours and days in the office around other commitments you havelike work, study, orupcoming holidays.
- Internships begin on Tuesday 17th November 2026 with a mihi whakatau and induction from 10-1pm. Our offices will close for a couple weeks during the christmas holiday period. We will confirm these spciecic dates closer to the time
- Internships will run until mid-late February (or earlier if needed). You’ll arrange your end date with your supervisor.
- Preference will be given to Māori and Pasifika applicants, and current or former Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley volunteers.
- Your internship will be based at either our Pōneke (Wellington) or Te Awa Kairangi (Lower Hutt) office.
If you have any questions, please email us at v.c@wclc.org.nz
