More than an internship
Paid, multi-year internships and a national community that stays with you
Your career starts before you graduate.
An internship gives you experience. CareerTrackers helps you turn that experience into a career. Build your confidence in the workplace and develop the graduate skills employers are looking for.
So what is it, exactly?
A paid internship in the industry you’re studying for, with the same employer, in every university break until you graduate.
Open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students studying full time in any year of study. No fee, no ATAR cut-off.
The opportunity to secure two paid internships in every year of your degree.
Each placement runs during a university holiday break, a short one mid-year and a longer one over summer, so the program fits around your study. Placements are multi-year by design: we aim to return you to the same employer each time. You get to know the team, the work and graduate with valuable industry experience.
Semester 1February – June
Winter internshipJune – JulyUp to 5 weeks
Semester 2July – November
Summer internshipNovember – FebruaryUp to 12 weeks
Winter internship
Up to five weeksJune – July
The shorter of the two, over the mid-year break. Kick-off workshops run the week before you start, and there’s a Program Day in your city partway through.
Which weeks you do depends on when your own university’s break falls. Your advisor works that out with you.
Summer internship
Up to twelve weeksNovember – February
The long one, across the end-of-year break. Kick-off workshops run the week before you start, and there’s a Program Day in December.
A holiday shutdown runs from just before Christmas to the start of January, so the twelve weeks don’t run straight through.
Dates shift a little each year. This year’s key dates
You’ll be ahead before you finish.
CareerTrackers puts you inside your industry while your degree is still running. Real work, on a real team, with a manager who reviews you at the end of every placement.
By the time graduate applications open, you have that competitive edge to point at and people who can vouch for you by name.
Interns who say they have the skills, knowledge and experience to put them ahead of other students applying for graduate positions
- Before
- 21%
- After
- 95%
CareerTrackers Leadership Development Institute survey, 2026, measured before and after the program.
Earn a real wage while you study.
Most students fund a degree with work that has nothing to do with their degree. Every CareerTrackers placement pays a real wage, from the employer hosting you, in the industry you’re studying for.
What about scholarships?
CareerTrackers interns can apply for Indigenous Cadetship Support (ICS), an Australian Government scholarship paid on top of what you earn on placement. Places are limited each semester, and your advisor can help with the application.
About the ICS ScholarshipWhat about ABSTUDY?
Paid placements count as income, and Centrelink’s Income Bank suits how this program runs: the fortnights you don’t work bank credits that soak up a break-time wage. Ring the Centrelink Indigenous Call Centre on 1800 136 380 before you accept.
Which industry could your degree take you into?
Paid placements matched to what you're studying. Pick your field and see who you could intern with.
Engineering internships
An engineering internship puts you on a project team: design work, site visits, testing and the reports that come out of them.
With CareerTrackers, that's civil, mechanical, electrical and software placements on major road, rail, energy and defence projects.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Civil engineering
- Mechanical engineering
- Electrical engineering
- Software engineering
- Chemical engineering
- AECOM
- GHD
- Arup
- Jacobs
- KBR
- Mott MacDonald
- NDY
- RPS
- Worley
- Thiess
- CPB Contractors
- Laing O'Rourke
- Lendlease
- Ventia
- Sydney Water
- Horizon Power
- Aurizon
- Transdev
- Guidera O'Connor
Technology internships
A technology internship sits you in a delivery team, working on systems that are already live and used by real customers.
CareerTrackers places students into software, data, cyber and cloud teams inside banks, telcos and defence technology.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Software development
- Data science
- Cyber security
- Cloud and infrastructure
- IT support
- Canva
- Telstra
- Commonwealth Bank
- NAB
- Westpac
- Macquarie Group
- BAE Systems
- Thales
- Cochlear
- Art Processors
- Medibank
- Suncorp
Finance internships
A finance internship puts you next to the people moving money: analysis, modelling and the decisions built on top of them.
Through CareerTrackers, that means banking, markets, property and credit placements with Australia's biggest financial names.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Investment banking
- Markets and trading
- Property finance
- Credit ratings
- Corporate finance
- Commonwealth Bank
- NAB
- Westpac
- Macquarie Group
- AustralianSuper
- Aware Super
- IFM Investors
- QBE
- Suncorp
- TAL
- Adamantem Capital
- Moody's
- GPT Group
- Stockland
- Export Finance Australia
- Medibank
Accounting internships
An accounting internship runs you through a full reporting cycle: reconciliations, audit files and the month-end close.
With CareerTrackers, that's corporate accounting and audit placements inside some of the country's largest finance teams.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Audit and assurance
- Tax
- Corporate accounting
- Financial reporting
- KPMG
- EY
- McGrathNicol
- Commonwealth Bank
- NAB
- Westpac
- Macquarie Group
- Qantas
- Telstra
- Bupa
- Audit Office of New South Wales
- QBE
- Stockland
- Ampol
Marketing internships
A marketing internship puts you on live campaigns: audience research, content and the numbers that say whether it worked.
CareerTrackers places students into brand, digital and communications teams at the household names Australians see every day.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Digital marketing
- Brand and campaigns
- Communications
- Social media
- Market research
- Havas
- Canva
- Bupa
- Qantas
- Telstra
- Medibank
- Go-To Skincare
- Zimmermann
- Craveable Brands
- Network 10
- SBS
- Tourism Australia
- Tennis Australia
- Hardie Grant
- The Walt Disney Company
- Workwear Group
Creative internships
A creative internship puts you in a studio on live briefs: concepts, artwork and the feedback rounds that sharpen them.
Through CareerTrackers, that means in-house brand studios and design practices, on design, content and campaign work.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Graphic design
- Content production
- Campaign creative
- UX and digital design
- COX Architecture
- SJB
- Bates Smart
- Hassell
- Art Processors
- Havas
- Hardie Grant
- Zimmermann
- Go-To Skincare
- Canva
- SBS
- Network 10
- The Walt Disney Company
Law internships
A clerkship puts you inside a practice group: legal research, drafting and sitting in on the matters the team is running.
With CareerTrackers, that's summer and winter placements at national and global firms across commercial practice areas.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Summer clerkships
- Winter clerkships
- Commercial law
- In-house legal
- Ashurst
- Baker McKenzie
- Clayton Utz
- Dentons
- DLA Piper
- Gadens
- Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
- Bartier Perry
- Barry Nilsson
- Hicksons
- ASIC
- Australian Financial Complaints Authority
- NSW Ombudsman
- NSW Crown Solicitor's Office
Architecture internships
An architecture internship puts you in a studio on live projects: drawings, models and the detail behind a finished building.
CareerTrackers places students into the practices shaping Australia's buildings and public spaces.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Architecture studios
- Interior design
- Urban design
- Master planning
- COX Architecture
- SJB
- Bates Smart
- Hassell
- AECOM
- Arup
- GHD
- Jacobs
- Stockland
- GPT Group
- Lendlease
- Brisbane Airport
Science internships
A science internship puts you on real projects: sampling, testing, analysis and the reporting those findings feed into.
Through CareerTrackers, that means environmental and health science placements with teams in the lab and out in the field.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Environmental science
- Health science
- Lab research
- Field work
- WEHI
- Cochlear
- GSK
- Australian Academy of Science
- GHD
- AECOM
- EDL
- Ventia
- Sydney Water
- Coregas
- Rio Tinto
- Origin Energy
- Bupa
- Medibank
Government internships
A government internship puts you inside the policy cycle: research, briefings and the advice that goes up to a minister.
With CareerTrackers, that's placements across state and federal agencies, from treasury and regulation to courts and parliament.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Policy and research
- Public administration
- Regulation and compliance
- Economics
- Courts and legal
- ASIC
- Australian Financial Complaints Authority
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
- Export Finance Australia
- Audit Office of New South Wales
- Parliament of New South Wales
- NSW Ombudsman
- NSW Treasury
- NSW Department of Education
- NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure
- NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
- Premier's Department NSW
- NSW Crown Solicitor's Office
- NSW Ageing and Disability Commission
- Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
- Department of Health (Victoria)
- Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (Victoria)
- Nous Group
- DT Global
Health and community internships
A health or community internship puts you alongside frontline teams: service delivery, program support and the data behind it.
CareerTrackers places students into hospitals, insurers, research institutes and the not-for-profits supporting communities.
Paid placements · Multi-year · 12-week summer and 4-week winter rotations
Placement areas
- Allied health
- Public health
- Medical research
- Social work
- Community services
- St John of God Health Care
- Bupa
- Medibank
- Cochlear
- WEHI
- GSK
- UnitingCare
- Southern Cross Care
- Life Without Barriers
- Lutheran Care
- Goodstart Early Learning
- ReachOut
- The Salvation Army
- Oxfam Australia
- Social Ventures Australia
- Bridge Housing
- Community Housing Industry Association NSW
Companies in the CareerTrackers partner network
Start your journey
Studying something else? CareerTrackers places students across a wide range of degrees. Register your interest and we’ll match you to your industry.
You won’t be doing it on your own.
A dedicated advisor who knows your name, your degree and what you’re aiming at. A national conference every year alongside hundreds of other First Nations students. An alumni community that keeps going long after you graduate.
Interns reporting a greater sense of connection to culture and community
- Before
- 48%
- After
- 80%
Hear it from them.
Isaac Gebadi
Bachelor of Biotechnology at the University of Queensland, graduated 2025. Isaac describes his degree as constant growth, and is straight about the resilience it took through hard coursework and personal setbacks.
Jade George
Bachelor of Business at the University of Newcastle, graduated 2018. Jade took an unconventional path through education, and talks about the rooms, experiences and executive mentors she couldn’t have reached on her own.
This runs at universities right across the country.
Metro campuses and regional ones, big universities and small. The program works the same way wherever you are, and it slots into your own university’s summer and winter breaks.
- La Trobe University
- The University of Queensland
- RMIT University
- Swinburne University of Technology
- Queensland University of Technology
- Monash University
- University of Canberra
- Curtin University
- Murdoch University
- UNSW Sydney
- University of Newcastle
- Deakin University
- Adelaide University
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Western Sydney University
- Charles Darwin University
- University of Technology Sydney
- The University of Sydney
- Macquarie University
- University of Southern Queensland
- Griffith University
- Flinders University
- The University of Melbourne
Could CareerTrackers be part of your journey?
CareerTrackers is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students who want to build experience, confidence and a strong professional network while completing their degree.
You identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
You’re at university, studying at least three subjects a semester and making steady progress toward finishing.
Then you’re eligible to register.
No ATAR cut-off, no fee and no shortlist to make first. We support students across every year of study and a wide range of degrees.
Questions we get asked
The things students ask us most.
Yes. Every CareerTrackers internship is paid by the employer.
The program is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who are enrolled at an Australian university and making progress towards completing their degree. Opportunity availability can depend on study area, location and employer demand.
Internships take place during the summer university break, commonly over winter and can include part-time during semester. Timing and duration vary by employer, role and university calendar.
Ideally, yes. Depending on availability, internships are multi-year by design. This allows you to build real depth in one workplace and graduate with several years of industry experience behind you.
That said, this is the time to determine if your area of study is right for you. Students have often transitioned into new degrees or completed internships with different employment partners throughout their study.
No. The program is free for students, and every internship is paid.
You will have a CareerTrackers advisor, preparation before interviews, professional and leadership development, support during your placement and access to a national First Nations community.
Register online. Our team will confirm eligibility, learn about your goals and help you prepare. When a suitable opportunity is available, we will discuss the role and recruitment process with you.
Register