Prison Clinic is a course where you will engage with the criminal justice system in technicolour, and discover tangible realities of the law. In this course, the law is no longer just books and paper, but bricks and mortar - and, most importantly, people. This course is challenging in both form and substance: your learning activities will be different to anything you've done at law school so far, and you will be engaging with layered, complex, and meaningful content.
In the first half of semester, you will visit numerous criminal justice institutions and carceral settings in Canberra, including the Alexander Machonochie Centre and the ACT Watch House. You will have the chance to speak to people with lived experience of incarceration, tour the ACT Supreme Court and view legal proceedings in action. Across different workshops, you will be able to engage personally with judicial officers, barristers, court sheriffs, police and correctional officers, Prisoners Aid staff - and to ask them your own questions. You can have the chance to submit an article to About Time, the national prison paper founded by a graduate of this Clinic, and to assist in putting together furniture packs for detainees who are rejoining the community with housing assistance.
Underlying these coalface activities, we will engage with philosophy and theory on criminal justice, punishment, state accountability and correctional management. We will critically examine the real-world impact of how prison/ers, criminality and punishment are represented in media, films, fictional literature, and more. You'll design a digital learning resource about a relevant area of law, for detainees and their families, or policy makers and the community, using teaching and learning theory. You will also plan and execute a research project of your choosing (both in form and substance) addressing a problem or an injustice relating to the prison setting.
Students must apply to undertake this course. Please go to Law Professional Experience for application information.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Synthesise and apply legal knowledge and insight into diverse perspectives to empower detainees and promote social justice,
- Reflect on their learning experiences to develop their professional and ethical capabilities,
- In delivering legal education to detainees, synthesise and communicate a coherent body of legal knowledge,
- Critique the legal system to propose and justify practical solutions to issues of entrenched injustice, power and disadvantage,
- Plan and execute a research project addressing a problem relating to the prison setting.
Work Integrated Learning
Placements
Clinical courses allow students to engage with real clients, real problems and real deadlines in a real-world environment. Placements are undertaken at Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC), offering students a unique opportunity to work with detainees in a prison setting. Students in the Prison Legal Literacy Clinic will attend the AMC to deliver six legal literacy sessions for a cohort of detainees chosen by AMC management. These sessions provide legal information only, rather than legal advice and cover topics that may include criminal law, evidence, sentencing, appeals, parole, administrative law, human rights law and tort law. The emphasis is on students working as a team to develop informative, engaging and interactive sessions.
Other Information
Enrolment is limited with selection based on a competitive process. Application information can be located on the ANU College of Law Website.
Indicative Assessment
- The proposed means of assessment for this course will provide students with at least two pieces of assessment, including one piece during the semester. More information about the means of assessment, including the relationship between the assessment and the learning outcomes of the course, will be available in the Class Summary and on the course WATTLE page. (100) [LO 1]
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Workload
- Classes offered in non-standard sessions will be taught on an intensive base with compulsory contact hours (approximately 26 hours of face to face teaching). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion of this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours.
- Classes offered during semester periods are expected to have three contact hours per week.
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Inherent Requirements
To complete this course, students must have the ability to:
- Obtain and maintain a Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) check and clearance to enter the Alexander Maconochie Centre, including completing security awareness training and maintaining Work Health and Safety (WHS) compliance.
- Uphold confidentiality, privacy, and ethical obligations when engaging with detainees and correctional staff.
- Communicate effectively in spoken and written English to deliver legal literacy sessions in a prison setting.
- Demonstrate professionalism when working with detainees, including managing emotionally or socially challenging situations.
Requisite and Incompatibility
You will need to contact the ANU Law School to request a permission code to enrol in this course.
Prescribed Texts
Students must rely on the approved Class Summary which will be posted to the Programs and Courses site approximately two weeks prior to the commencement of the course. Alternatively, this information will be published in the Program course list when known.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 34
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $5880 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $7800 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3833 | 23 Feb 2026 | 02 Mar 2026 | 31 Mar 2026 | 29 May 2026 | In Person | View |
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8819 | 27 Jul 2026 | 03 Aug 2026 | 31 Aug 2026 | 30 Oct 2026 | In Person | View |