Internship program turns full circle

A student in the Australian National Internships Program (ANIP) has helped advise the federal Opposition Leader on topics including family violence.

Ben said the experience complemented his studies and amplified the theoretical knowledge learned on campus.

ANIP places ANU students in internships with politicians, embassies, lobby groups, government departments and organisations across Canberra. More than 1,500 students have completed the program since it began in 1993.

Ben spent two days a week in Bill Shorten’s Parliament House office for one semester, working alongside senior policy advisor, Max Jeganathan, who completed his own ANIP internship in 2005.

Ben finished last month and Max returned to ANU to hear Ben present his research report into family violence.

Ben is studying a Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics/Juris Doctor vertical double degree and said he only learned about ANIP late last year.

“I allocated two elective spaces for ANIP, and overall, it appears to be one of the best courses that I’ve done,” he said.

“It really put what I’ve learned in the degree to real-life use and I guess you can see a future career from that experience, and that’s what’s important.

“The biggest highlight for me was during budget week, when the whole of the political process just goes crazy.

“You are fully immersed in the environment and you see how things happen. I personally contributed to several policies that were announced in Mr Shorten’s budget reply speech, which at the time, fewer than 10 people knew about.

“I also contributed to some press releases, speech writing and things like that. You will never find a trace of what you did once it’s released, but you know a part of that was your effort, a part of the internship experience made it into real life.”

There were 15 students in the program when Max did his internship. This year, there are 55.

While studying a Bachelor of Arts and Law at ANU, Max spent a semester in Wayne Swan’s office when Swan was the opposition’s treasury spokesman.

“Political judgement, political skills, they can be theorised at universities, but it wasn’t until that internship that I really started to get a feel for how professional politics is done,” Max recalled.

Max said he’ll always be grateful to the ANU and the program for the opportunities.

“People who have done the program should value it for the privilege that it is,” he said.

“People that haven’t done it, I really encourage them to think about having a crack.”