When 2026 clerkship offers come out, state by state
Offer dates and acceptance deadlines for the 2026 Australian clerkship cycle in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA, SA and the ACT, taken from each law society's own published timetable.
By Archie Dimer
Offers for the 2026 seasonal and vacation clerkship cycle are released on a fixed day in each jurisdiction, and every state runs its own timetable. South Australia goes first and Victoria goes last, roughly six weeks apart. If you applied in more than one state, that gap is the whole problem: you can be holding an offer in one jurisdiction with a deadline that falls before another state has released anything at all.
Here are the dates, as each law society publishes them.
The 2026 offer dates
| State | Offers from | Accept by |
|---|---|---|
| South Australia | Monday 31 August 2026from 9am local time | Wednesday 2 September 2026by 10am local time |
| New South Wales | Wednesday 9 September 2026from 9am local time | Thursday 10 September 2026by 1pm local time |
| Australian Capital Territory | Wednesday 9 September 2026from 9am local time | Thursday 10 September 2026by 1pm local time |
| Western Australia | Friday 11 September 2026from 9am local time | Friday 11 September 2026by 1pm local time |
| Queensland | Wednesday 7 October 2026from 9am local time | Thursday 8 October 2026by 1pm local time |
| Victoria | Thursday 15 October 2026from 10am local time | Not published |
Times are local to each state, which matters more than it sounds. Perth runs two hours behind Sydney and Adelaide sits half an hour off both, so a 9am release is not a single national moment.
The acceptance window is short
In New South Wales, the ACT and Queensland you have until 1pm the following day. South Australia gives you until 10am two days later. Western Australia gives you four hours: offers open at 9am and acceptances are due at 1pm the same day.
Victoria is the exception. The Law Institute of Victoria publishes an offer date but no uniform acceptance deadline, so the window is set by each firm in its own offer letter. Read it on the day rather than assuming you have until tomorrow.
If you applied interstate
Work out now which of your offer dates lands first, and what you would do if a firm you ranked second called before a firm you ranked first had released anything. South Australian offers are settled before New South Wales has opened, and both are done before Victoria starts. Nobody will sequence this for you, and the acceptance windows are too short to think it through on the day.
The clerkships database lists every date for all six jurisdictions, and you can set an email reminder for the ones that apply to you.
If no offer comes
Most people who apply do not get a clerkship. That is a statement about how many places exist, not about the applicants, and it is the ordinary outcome rather than the unusual one. Graduate programs, open market roles and practical legal training all stay open to you, and firms recruit outside the formal scheme all year. A post on what actually happens next is coming.
Where these dates come from
Each date is taken from the law society or student body that runs the scheme in that jurisdiction:
- South Australia: official SA clerkship timetable
- New South Wales: official NSW clerkship timetable
- Australian Capital Territory: official ACT clerkship timetable
- Western Australia: official WA clerkship timetable
- Queensland: official QLD clerkship timetable
- Victoria: official VIC clerkship timetable
Dates move occasionally. If you find one that no longer matches the source, tell us and it gets corrected at the source, which updates this page along with the rest of the site.