Adrian (Pictured left performing in theatre) Position title: Legal Graduate Hometown: Canberra Current Location: National System Legislative Team - Canberra Educational Qualifications: Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws (Honours) Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (ANU) Download and listen to Adrian’s audio recording. (MP3 1.6MB)

“..even in a junior position I was entrusted with work that challenged me.”

I decided to work at DEEWR because of the massive support they offer graduates. For legal grads, in particular, we are sponsored to do our legal workshop, and put into the government lawyer broadband stream straight after the grad year.

I’ve enjoyed my first year at DEEWR because from day one, even in a junior position, I was entrusted with work that challenged me, and contributed to national initiatives in a clear way. I can also see opportunities for long term growth and career progression.

As a junior lawyer in the department, a usual day could involve writing pieces of advice for internal departmental clients, checking various types of agreements, or preparing legislative instruments.

Work is given to you from the different areas of your branch, resulting in a wide variety of work across several teams. You can develop specialisations in certain areas but having a wide variety of work prepares you for the reality of a mobile public service.

The best initiative I have been involved in has been checking the functionality of funding agreements for funding to early childcare centres. This was important as the funding benefited families across the nation by ensuring that they had effective access to childcare.