Hi, I’m Anna and I’m a 2021 graduate of NIAA. I chose to apply for the NIAA graduate program in my final year of my Juris Doctor (postgraduate law) degree. I’d previously completed a Bachelor of Arts where my two majors were Political Science and International Relations, and Law and Society, and was at the time working in the WA Criminal Courts assisting a Judge. I was originally drawn to Law because I wanted to make a change and advocate for people, however, I found myself frustrated by the limited opportunities there are in practice to do that in the day-to-day work of a lawyer or associate. This led me to think about a career in policy and the APS.
In the courts, I also saw the disproportionate impact our Justice system has on First Nations people and communities, and I’ve found that at the NIAA I can work on driving beneficial and tangible policy outcomes for Indigenous Australians in the justice system. In my current team, we work on everything from addressing Indigenous Deaths in Custody, to monitoring different jurisdictions’ approaches to the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility and Closing the Gap. I really feel that after seeing the symptoms of the way our justice system functions, I am finally working on policy that addresses the root causes of these issues.
My background in criminology, politics and law really combine to enable me to provide a range of different perspectives on the work my team does. As a result, I feel that my contributions are really valued and become part of the important work of the Agency.
My favourite thing about the graduate program is how many opportunities you have to get out of your comfort zone and experience new things; my first rotation was in the Land and Public Law Team, where I was able to use my law degree in a really different way compared to how I use it now. I’m also about to head off to Regional WA for three months for a Regional Rotation, where I can provide on-the-ground support for regional and remote First Nations communities.
Through many learning and development opportunities (both those open to grads and to the whole Agency) I have been able to build my knowledge on things including Deficit Discourse, the history of Indigenous policy in Australia, policy-writing and economics. By trying a little bit of everything, you get a chance to work out what you’re good at, what you’d like to develop and what you want from your career – a lot of my friends in other graduate programs don’t always get the same chances to experiment and learn.
One of my top tips for applicants is to take the application process one step at a time and to really focus on learning more about NIAA and the work we do before you get through to the assessment and interview stages. From there, just trust in the knowledge that you have and really focus on engaging with the people in your interviews – this makes the whole process a lot less daunting! Also, I can attest to the fact that most of the people interviewing you are lovely and really want to see you do well.
It’s also worth remembering that there is no one ‘perfect’ applicant – in my graduate cohort we come from a range of academic disciplines and work experience backgrounds – from art galleries and TV stations, to laboratories and everything in-between. What unites us is our passion for what we do and for learning more about the Indigenous Affairs space.
Good luck!