Internship agreement, Summer Engineering Internship 2026/27

Internship agreement

Twelve paid weeks at $32.50 an hour, three days a week, costing the host $9,828 including superannuation. The first clause says the intern is an employee, and the second explains the narrow cases where an unpaid arrangement would be lawful.

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Internship agreement

Summer Engineering Internship 2026/27

Between Tallowwood Engineering Pty Ltd and Amara Osei, with the University of the Southern Highlands. 30 November 2026 to 5 March 2027

Internship agreement · Tallowwood Engineering Pty Ltd · ABN 55 902 118 663Page 2 of 7
Internship agreement · Tallowwood Engineering Pty Ltd · ABN 55 902 118 663Page 3 of 7
Internship agreement · Tallowwood Engineering Pty Ltd · ABN 55 902 118 663Page 4 of 7
Internship agreement · Tallowwood Engineering Pty Ltd · ABN 55 902 118 663Page 5 of 7
Internship agreement · Tallowwood Engineering Pty Ltd · ABN 55 902 118 663Page 6 of 7
Internship agreement · Tallowwood Engineering Pty Ltd · ABN 55 902 118 663Page 7 of 7
Internship agreement
12
Paid weeks
3
Days a week
$32.50
Hourly rate
$9,828.00
Total cost

This agreement is between Tallowwood Engineering Pty Ltd, ABN 55 902 118 663, of 12 Bundanoon Road, Moss Vale NSW 2577, called the Host, and Amara Osei, student number 3308114, called the Intern. The University of the Southern Highlands is a party for the purposes of clauses 3 and 9 only.

1. This is a paid internship
1.1
The Intern is an employee
The Intern is engaged as a fixed term part time employee for the length of the program and is paid for every hour worked. Nothing in this agreement is a vocational placement, and the Host does not rely on any exemption from paying wages.
1.2
Why it is structured that way
The work in this program produces output the Host uses. Where an arrangement mainly benefits the business rather than the learner, the person doing the work is an employee and must be paid, whatever the arrangement is called.
When an unpaid internship is actually lawful
An unpaid arrangement is lawful in Australia in narrow cases. The clearest is a vocational placement, which has to be a required or approved part of an education or training course, arranged through the education provider, and unpaid under that arrangement. Outside that, a genuine unpaid observation with no productive work can be lawful, and almost everything else is employment that has to be paid. This program does not attempt to sit in either exception.
2. Dates and hours
2.1
Program dates
The program runs from Monday 30 November 2026 to Friday 5 March 2027. The office closes after Thursday 17 December 2026 and reopens on Monday 4 January 2027. The two weeks inside that closure are unpaid and are not counted, which leaves twelve paid working weeks.
2.2
Days and hours
The Intern works Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8.30am to 4.30pm with a thirty minute unpaid break, which is 7.5 hours a day and 22.5 hours a week. The pattern may be changed for a particular week by agreement in writing, including by email.
2.3
Public holidays and university commitments
A public holiday that falls on a working day is paid at ordinary time and is not worked. Examinations, supplementary assessment and graduation are taken as unpaid time and do not affect the completion of the program.
3. Pay
Line
Amount
Hourly rate
$32.50
Hours a week, 3 days at 7.5 hours
22.5
Gross a week
$731.25
Twelve paid weeks
$8,775.00
Superannuation at 12%
$1,053.00
Total cost to the Host
$9,828.00
3.1
How it is paid
Pay is fortnightly in arrears into a nominated account, less tax required to be withheld. A payslip is issued within one working day of each payment. Superannuation is paid on top of the gross figure, not deducted from it.
3.2
Leave
Paid annual leave and paid personal leave accrue on a pro rata basis for the length of the engagement and any untaken annual leave is paid out at the end. Given the length of the program, the practical effect is a small final payment rather than time off during it.
3.3
Expenses
Travel to a client site is paid at 88 cents a kilometre, or at cost on public transport. Travel between home and the office is not reimbursed.
4. The learning plan
Weeks
Focus
Output
Assessed by
1 and 2
Induction, safety, drafting standards, site visit
Signed induction record
Supervisor
3 to 5
Structural detailing on the Moss Vale depot job
Six detail sheets to office standard
Supervisor and drafting lead
6 to 8
Load take off and member sizing under supervision
A checked calculation package
Design engineer
9 and 10
Site inspection support and defect recording
Two inspection reports
Site engineer
11 and 12
Final project and presentation to the office
A twenty minute presentation and a written summary
Supervisor and principal
4.1
Supervision
The Intern reports to Dilan Ferreira, senior design engineer, who is on site on every day the Intern works. A thirty minute one to one is held every Thursday afternoon, and a written progress note goes to the university at week six and week twelve.
4.2
Nothing is signed off by the Intern
The Intern does not certify, sign or issue any engineering document. Every piece of work is checked and signed by a registered engineer before it leaves the office, which is a condition of the professional indemnity cover and is not negotiable.
5. Work health and safety
5.1
Induction and site access
The Intern completes the office induction in week one and holds a current general construction induction card before attending any site. The Host provides a hard hat, high visibility vest, glasses and boots, and the Intern keeps them for the length of the program.
5.2
The right to stop
The Intern may refuse to do anything they believe is unsafe or beyond their training, and no consequence follows from doing so. This is stated in writing because an intern is the person least likely to say it out loud.
6. Confidentiality and intellectual property
6.1
Confidential information
Drawings, calculations, client names, fee proposals and site conditions are confidential. They are not posted, shared, or used in university coursework without written permission, and that obligation continues after the program ends.
6.2
Portfolio use
The Intern may include work in a portfolio where the Host has approved the items in writing and client identifying detail has been removed. A request is answered within ten business days.
6.3
Ownership
Work produced during the program belongs to the Host, and where relevant to its client under the head consultancy agreement.
7. Ending the program early
7.1
Notice
Either party may end the program on one week written notice. The Host may end it without notice for serious misconduct or a serious safety breach.
7.2
No offer of ongoing work
This program is not an offer of graduate employment and creates no expectation of one. Where a graduate role is open at the end of the program, the Intern is welcome to apply and is considered on the same basis as any other applicant.
7.3
Reference
On completion the Host provides a written reference describing the work done, the skills demonstrated and the hours completed, whether or not a role is offered.
8. Insurance
Workers compensation
The Intern is covered by the Host policy as an employee, on site and in the office.
Public liability
Twenty million dollars, held by the Host, covering the Intern while performing the program.
Professional indemnity
Held by the Host. The Intern is not an insured professional and does not certify work, which is why clause 4.2 exists.
Personal effects
Not covered. A laptop, phone or bicycle brought to the office or to site is the responsibility of the Intern.
9. Before day one
What
Who does it
By when
This agreement signed and returned
Intern
Friday 27 November 2026
Tax file number declaration and superannuation choice
Intern
Before the first pay run
General construction induction card sighted
Intern
Before the first site visit
Emergency contact and any medical condition recorded
Intern
Day one
Laptop, email account and drafting licence issued
Host
Day one
Hard hat, vest, glasses and boots issued
Host
Day one
Learning plan confirmed with the supervisor
Host
End of week one

None of this takes long, and all of it takes longer on the first morning than it does the week before. The Host sends a reminder ten days out with the forms attached.

10. Signatures

The Intern confirms they have read this agreement and understand that they are an employee for its duration. The university coordinator signs to confirm the program meets the requirements of the course.

Signed for Tallowwood Engineering Pty Ltd
Name
:
Position
:
Date
:
Signed by the Intern
Name
:
Date
:
Signed by the University coordinator
Name
:
Position
:
Date
:

Section by section

What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.

Cover
The program, the host, the intern and the university, with the date range.
Headline figures
Paid weeks, days a week, hourly rate and the total cost including superannuation.
1. This is a paid internship
The intern is an employee, why the work is paid, and the statement that no exemption is relied on.
When an unpaid internship is lawful
The vocational placement test and the genuine observation case, with a note that neither applies here.
2. Dates and hours
Program start and end, the office shutdown that is unpaid and not counted, the working pattern and public holidays.
3. Pay
A six row table from the hourly rate to total cost, then clauses on payment, leave accrual and travel expenses.
4. The learning plan
Five blocks of weeks with the focus, the output produced and who assesses it, plus supervision arrangements.
Nothing is signed off by the intern
The clause that keeps every document behind a registered engineer, and the insurance reason for it.
5. Work health and safety
The induction and site card requirement, the equipment provided, and an explicit right to refuse unsafe work.
6. Confidentiality and intellectual property
What is confidential, how portfolio use is approved, and who owns the work produced.
7. Ending the program early
Notice on either side, the clear statement that no ongoing role is implied, and the reference given regardless.
8. Insurance
Workers compensation, public liability, professional indemnity and the personal effects exclusion.
9. Before day one
Seven items with who does each and by when, split between the intern and the host.
10. Signatures
Three blocks: the host, the intern and the university coordinator, each signing for a different thing.

What makes this document work

The pay table is the whole argument

Rate, hours, weekly gross, twelve weeks, superannuation, total cost. Six rows that reconcile, and a host organisation that can approve the program from that table alone rather than from a paragraph about intent.

It explains the unpaid exception without using it

A callout sets out what a vocational placement is and why almost everything else is employment, then says this program does not attempt either exception. That is more useful to a reader than a template that quietly assumes unpaid is fine.

The learning plan has outputs and assessors

Five blocks of weeks, each with what gets produced and who signs it off. Together with the clause saying the intern certifies nothing, it makes the difference between a structured program and twelve weeks of free drafting.

Questions people ask

Do interns have to be paid in Australia?

Usually yes. Where the arrangement mainly benefits the business rather than the learner, the person is an employee and must be paid. The narrow exceptions are a vocational placement arranged through an education provider, and genuine unpaid observation with no productive work.

What is a vocational placement?

Work that is a required or approved part of an education or training course, arranged through the education provider, and unpaid under that arrangement. This program is not structured that way, which is why it is paid and the intern is an employee for its duration.

Does an intern accrue leave?

A paid intern engaged as a part time fixed term employee accrues annual and personal leave pro rata. Over twelve weeks the practical effect is a small payout at the end rather than time taken during, which is what this agreement says.

Should a university be a party to the agreement?

It is worth having the coordinator sign, even when the program is not a placement. Here the university signs for the clauses about the learning plan and the progress reports at week six and week twelve, which is what the course needs as evidence.

Why does the agreement say nothing is signed off by the intern?

Because an intern should not carry professional responsibility. This document gives that its own short section, beside the learning plan. It protects the intern, and it protects the firm, since work that leaves the office under a supervising engineer name is the only work the firm can stand behind.

What goes in the before day one section?

The things that have to exist before the intern arrives. This agreement lists them as a numbered clause, covering the site induction, the equipment and the supervisor introduction. Interns are short term, so anything not arranged in advance tends to eat the first of only twelve weeks.

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Sources

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