Castan Centre for Human Rights Law
Field of Law
Stage of Career
Secondary; Undergraduates; Practicing Lawyers
Contact Details
Address: C/- Monash University, Law Faculty, 15 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton VIC 3800
Phone: 03 9905 3327
Visit the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law website
Contact person: Janice Hugo
Email: castan.centre@monash.edu
Description of Organisation
The Castan Centre is a non-profit, non-partisan centre, focusing on the study of human rights law globally, regionally and in Australia
Number of legal positions within organisation: 2
Does your organisation have a human rights officer?
As a human rights organisation, our program staff are required to have significant expertise in human rights.
Information for university students/graduates
How many law graduates do you employ outside your graduate program, and what sort of roles do they fill?
Our Director, Policy Manager and Research Policy Assistant are all law graduates. Our Director is also a Professor of the Law Faculty. The Policy Manager researches different areas of human rights law and assists the Centre with policy submissions at the national and international levels. The Research Policy Assistant researches, writes and edits for the Centre's projects, submissions and publications.
What sort of volunteer/internship opportunities are available?
- Global Internships for Monash University Law students.
- In-house internships mainly available for Monash University Law students (external university law students can apply for internships on an ad hoc basis)
- The newest addition to the Castan Centre's student programs is the Castan Centre Human Rights Clinic, which was launched in 2020. The Clinic is different from the Castan Centre’s in-house internship. The Clinic engages students in practical human rights work. For example, students may work with external clients (such as domestic or international human rights organisations) on one or more policy or advocacy projects that have real-life impact. Alternatively, students may be involved with drafting submissions to parliamentary inquiries or preparing shadow reports to UN treaty bodies.
Do you have a minimum Grade Point Average standard for an applicant's academic record?
When selecting interns, we have a minimum WAM of 60. When selecting employees, there is no cut off. Rather a broad range of factors - especially knowledge of and interest in human rights - is taken into account.
If there are any fails on a candidate's academic record how will they affect the recruitment process?
Applicants may be required to explain fails, but we look more at the total academic record and especially marks in human rights related subjects. We would expect a candidate's human rights marks to be as good or - preferably - better than their average.
Contact person for volunteers: Marius Smith
Information for practicing lawyers
What are you looking for in a permanent employee?
- Specific knowledge or training in human rights law and international Law;
- Excellent legal research and writing skills; and
- Admission to practice as a lawyer, with some pre-admission relevant work experience.
- Good non-law skills, such as project management, supervising volunteers and knowledge of (and passion for) social media.
What prior work is viewed favourably?
Work with community legal centres and other NGOs, experience as a practicing lawyer, experience in a non-law role (management, marketing, social media)
On average, how many positions become available per year?
1
How many applications do you receive for these?
50
Where do you advertise your positions?
Email to members, Twitter and Facebook. If you want to be sure of finding out about work opportunities, head to the website and join the mailing list (it's free).
Do you use a recruitment agency?
No
Advice for applicants
When applying for a position with us, you need to show that you're passionate about human rights law and it's impossible to be passionate about human rights law if you don't have a good knowledge of it. Be sure to demonstrate your knowledge in your application and interview.