PACE and Exchange

PACE Highlights

Professional and Community Engagement (“PACE”) is an innovative, multi award-winning program that provides students with industry relevant practical experience as part of your law degree. Macquarie University is the only university in Australia that gives this opportunity to all undergraduate students. At Macquarie you have the opportunity to complete PACE domestically or overseas as we have over 3000 partner institutions.

PACE units involve both theory and practice. These units generally occur in the later years of your studies because it is important to gain theoretical knowledge before applying it in real world contexts. This timing is also important as it gives you the chance to enhance employability and active citizenship skills in preparation for graduation.

There are a number of PACE units you can undertake. More information can be found here.

Read below a few student experiences while undertaking their law PACE units.

 

Melissa, Pacos Trust, Malaysia

In July 2018 I completed an internship with PACOS Trust in Borneo, Malaysia. This community-based organisation is dedicated to supporting indigenous communities in Borneo. During the placement we wrote a report on how the Indigenous people of the region of Tongod litigated their native title claim, in order to provide guidance to other Indigenous communities wishing to assert their land rights. I learnt so much about native title rights and Malaysian law, as well as Indigenous Malaysian culture. The experience was amazing in every way as we completed a week-long homestay in the community we were studying and could interview Indigenous elders who were plaintiffs in the case. The homestay was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience - we were welcomed into their families and way of life, and they really appreciated the work we were doing for them. We formed lasting friendships, not only with the other Macquarie University students but also with our supervisors at PACOS Trust and the families we lived with.

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During the four-week placement, we worked Monday to Friday and had the weekends to travel by ourselves. Our supervisors also took us on many cultural excursions throughout the placement, including our homestay. The assessments for the unit were completed in semester two, after we returned from our placement, and were very manageable requiring us to reflect and present our findings from our research. I would thoroughly recommend this placement to anyone interested in social justice or simply getting out of their comfort zone.  

 

Marica, Western Sydney Community Legal Centre

In January 2020, I participated in a summer paralegal placement at Western Sydney Community Legal Centre (WSCLC). The organisation offers a range of free legal services to residents of Western Sydney including legal information, referrals, advice and representation. WSCLC advises clients on civil law, criminal law (minor crimes), family law, traffic law and care & protection law.   I was really excited to get involved with WSCLC as its key mission is to provide legal assistance to members of the community with the greatest legal need.

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My work at WSCLC involved general paralegal duties such as client intake and referrals. The intake work I completed has been invaluable to furthering my legal professional skills as it allowed me to utilise my theoretical legal knowledge and apply this practically when deducing the prospective client’s legal issue. As a summer paralegal at WSCLC, I was also able to shadow solicitors in the firm and draft legal documents for them. Overall, this PACE program at WSCLC was amazing as I got to experience firsthand the inner workings of a community legal centre. I would absolutely recommend this experience to anyone who is interested in social justice and advocacy.

Exchange Highlights

Macquarie University offers both short-term and full-semester exchanges, so you can enrich your university experience by allowing you to travel the world. Macquarie enables students to go on exchange to over 200 partner universities, where you can then receive credit for these experiences towards your degree. 

There are many benefits of participating in an exchange program, such as:

  • Increase the value of your degree by adding an alternative perspective

  • help you become more confident and independent

  • enhance your career prospects – employers will look favourably on your overseas experience

  • immerse you in other cultures, and let you reflect on how you live in the world

  • build an international network as well as help you make new friends and travel

More information on the specific Macquarie University Exchange programs can be found here.

Read below student experiences of being on exchange.


Luke, Hong Kong 2019

I spent the first semester of 2019 on exchange in Hong Kong, the Asian business. I wanted to broaden my worldview and add value to my law degree. As corny as it sounds, the experience taught me more about myself and the world than I had anticipated.

Study wise, my favourite aspect of exchange was learning Public International Law from a Finnish Harvard Law graduate. The insights and mentorship enriched the learning experience and further inspired me to take up career ambitions in this field. But believe it or not, I did not spend the entirety of my semester with my head in the books! I managed to travel every few weeks to maximise my international experience. This included trips to Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Taiwan, PRC, the Philippines and the DPRK. The exchange program allowed me to travel whilst being supported financially by Macquarie and the government AND have it count as credit to my degree. A win-win for any student.

Another personal highlight was playing social football. I found myself looking across the field and in awe of the diverse countries being represented and coming together to play the beautiful game. The best part is that the friendships I forged from these experiences will stay with me forever. You would be silly to not consider exchange if you want to get the most out of your university experience!

 

Daniel, Denmark 2019

In 2019, I embarked on my semester abroad at the Copenhagen Business School ('CBS') in Copenhagen, Denmark. CBS had an international focus, which meant that the courses had a cross-cultural emphasis, and ranged from your typical commercial subjects to more niche ones like International Business Law and Negotiations. Classes were run very similarly to Macquarie University and typically comprised of a two-hour lecture and a one-hour tutorial. However, one of the most unique aspects of CBS was that attendance was optional and there were only 100% finals.

Studying in Denmark was the best decision that I have made in my university career so far. Being able thrust myself into a foreign environment and experience a completely new culture and language was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life. From the sustainable and convenient cycling system to the Distortion Street Festival, there was always something new and exciting to experience. The most memorable parts of my Danish exchange were the friendships I made with people from all around the globe, venturing across Europe in my spare time with aforementioned friends, and the overall feeling of freedom due to having minimal commitments and obligations, (other than class of course!).

My exchange can be summarised into three lessons that I learnt:

  1. Dive into new experiences head first;

  2. Don’t leave your 100% assessments to the last minute (no matter how tempting!); and

  3. Always buy two pastries – you’ll regret getting just one. 

 

Kaitlin, Michigan 2019

In July 2019 I undertook as short-term exchange at Michigan State University (MSU) in the United States where I completed a course in International Litigation and Arbitration. This is an awesome exchange for those interested in developing practical skills as legal counsel or in the role of a third-party neutral. The course was run over three weeks with classes held on Monday to Thursday mornings. Assessments consisted of an in-class quiz, group project and final assessment in the form of a mediation followed by arbitration. Whilst ran as an intensive, the unit workload was easily manageable. 

The course provided an excellent balance between study and travel. The staff from MSU’s American Semester Program were amazing and ran several activities including afternoon games, cooking classes, excursions to sporting events and weekend trips to Mackinac Island and Chicago. Overall the program provides a bit of insight into college life with a great opportunity to learn from some of America’s best professors. This is an awesome experience for anyone wanting to travel, reduce their study load in semester and get a taste of the US education style.

 

Cynthia, Germany 2019

In July of this year I participated in the Munich University Summer Training Course in European and German law. The course was taught by the Faculty of Law at the Ludwig-Maximilians- Universität in Munich and was a 4 week long program. Included in the course were various excursions such as excursions to the Federal Constitutional Court and the German equivalent of the High Court. The course encompassed 9 units: Contract law, Property Law, Tort Law, Corporations Law, Intellectual Property Law, Constitutional Law, EU Law, Competition Law and Tax Law. We were taught by fantastic experts in the field who were judges, legal practitioners and academics. Whilst the program was academically rigorous, it was certainly a lot of fun and there was still a lot of time for us to do heaps of sight-seeing and explore the city on our own. 

My favourite course was Intellectual Property Law because I found it super fun and engaging and it focussed on a lot of interesting current issues. My favourite excursion was definitely visiting Neuschwanstein Castle where we did a beautiful walk up to the castle and got to explore the inside as well. It was fantastic that the tour bus was all organised for us and tickets to go and see inside the castle were also organised which are usually hard to purchase and become fully booked months in advance. A great aspect of the program was that we got to meet lots of students who were not only law students, but students of other disciplines. All of the excursions were organised with other exchange students so this was a great way to meet people.