Internships and Placements

Internships, placements, traineeships and attachments offer AFTRS students and graduates invaluable on-the-job experience, insights, connections and opportunities for career progression in the screen, radio, content and broadcast industries.

AFTRS encourages and facilitates both paid and unpaid opportunities across professional internships, work placements, traineeships and attachments associated with a range of industry organisations, broadcasters and production companies. The internships and placements may be competitive, sourced by the student or a staff member.

If you would like to offer internships, placements, or ongoing work to AFTRS students or recent graduates, please email internships@aftrs.edu.au.

If you have short-term, paid work opportunities you can join the AFTRS Noticeboard on Facebook.

AFTRS complies with the Fair Work Act 2009 and is consistent with the Fair Work Ombudsman Fact Sheets and other information. View the AFTRS Student Placement and Internships policy here.

Opportunities tend to fall into four categories:

1) Paid Internship and Traineeship Programs (lawful paid work)

An example is our Graduate Program, where industry organisations offer 12-week paid internships to final-year Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production students, commencing once their studies are complete. The program is competitive, and AFTRS facilitates the application and shortlisting process. Our industry partners in 2020 included Endemol Shine Australia, Fremantle Media, ABC, SBS and Sky News.

2) Unpaid Internship Programs (lawful unpaid work)

This is where a company has a structured program in place for unpaid interns who are currently studying or have recently completed studies and students can be covered by AFTRS insurance. We do not facilitate these opportunities if they appear to have minimal educational benefits or are positions that could be taken by a paid employee.

3) Professional and Work Placements

These are generally unpaid placements undertaken as a requirement of an AFTRS course. Currently, our Master of Arts Screen students are required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of professional placement as part of their degree. Our Graduate Diploma in Radio and Podcasting students are required to complete a one-week work placement as part of their degree. Students on professional and work placements will be covered by AFTRS insurance and placement paperwork that must be completed prior to the placement commencing.

4) Competitions, Paid Jobs and Other Opportunities

AFTRS will occasionally partner with industry organisations to run competitions for our students or graduates to further their industry experience and exposure.

In the case of paid work for longer, ongoing roles we can share the opportunity with relevant students. However, we are not able to act in an agency/intermediary role. For temporary work opportunities, it is best to use the AFTRS Noticeboard on Facebook. We welcome you to make contact with the Industry team at internships@aftrs.edu.au to start a conversation.