Australian National Internships Program

Applications are open for Commonwealth Parliamentary Internships for 2026.

Open to undergraduates and postgraduates of any academic discipline - recent parliamentary interns have completed research projects on all areas of public policy: international relations, First Nations, global development, social policy, law reform, defence, economics, regional Australia, environment, energy, public health, gender equality, education, science and technology, migration, and Australian history.

Interns travel to the Commonwealth Parliament for a fortnight during parliamentary sitting weeks. You will develop a policy research project for an MP or Senator and have the opportunity to engage with a range of activities that shape national policy-making. During the remainder of the semester, the project is completed at your home university with academic support and supervision from the ANIP team.

As a Commonwealth Parliamentary Intern, students are enrolled in an applied public policy course at at the Australian National University that counts towards their degree at their home university. Candidates will need to apply within their home university for cross-institutional approval to undertake the internship as part of the Australian National Internships Program (ANIP) at the ANU.

To be eligible, students must be Australian citizens and have completed two years of undergraduate university study.

There are three ANIP course options for the parliamentary internships - comprising ten placement days (ANIP A), twenty placement days (ANIP B) and forty placement days (ANIP D). For ANIP B and ANIP D there is also the opportunity to undertake up to half of the total placement period with an electorate office based in the student's home state.

ANIP Travel Grants are available for interstate students undertaking an ANIP internship away from their normal place of residence.

To Apply

Applicants need to provide a statement of their academic results, two page cv, an academic reference and complete the application form that is available online at: https://anip.anu.edu.au/

Applications close on 30 September 2025.

Applicants will also need to apply for cross-institutional study through their home university. To be eligible for an ANIP internship you must be a currently enrolled university student, and have permission from your academic program to count the ANIP course to your degree.

Commonwealth Parliamentary internships are only open to Australian citizens, and require a police check. Commonwealth Parliamentary internships are not available to students who are working in the Australian Public Service.