Justice Fellowships
An opportunity to examine the big questions shaping justice reform.
The Justice Fellowship program provides experienced practitioners and sector professionals with the time, structure and platform to explore pressing access to justice issues in depth. Through the Justice Fellowship, each Fellow undertakes a substantial project that generates insights, ideas, and an output capable of influencing policy, reform, sector practice, or public discussion.
Awarded Justice Fellows receive a $10,000 grant and ongoing guidance from the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW to develop a meaningful output aligned with the goals of justice reform.
Justice Fellowship 2026 applications closed 10am, 1 May 2026. Thank you to all who applied. Applicants will be notified by 30 June 2026.
About the Justice Fellowship program
Justice Fellowships are designed for professionals working across justice, legal, community, advocacy, and policy-adjacent sectors in NSW. The program enables Fellows to contribute to systemic understanding, strengthen sector knowledge, and support reform across the justice system.
Each Fellowship is achievable alongside professional commitments, requiring a minimum of 10 working days to explore and produce an output that can influence policy, reform, sector practice, or public discussion.
This year we are encouraging a diverse range of outputs to be proposed, in a format that best supports sector understanding and uptake of each Fellow’s findings.
Finding your ‘big question’
Applicants should identify a question that examines a current legal or access to justice issue.
They might consider:
- What is the state of available evidence and where are the knowledge gaps?
- What is the impact of the issue on communities?
- What are the options for law reform, procedural reform, or innovative approaches in this area?
Fellowships may also be used to focus on a narrow component of a larger intended justice project where it helps seed or scope the project, so long as it also presents learnings of benefit to others. To view existing Fellowship outputs, browse our Justice Ideas collection. For further examples of justice topics, scroll down to our Justice Fellowship FAQs
What the Foundation offers
- A $10,000 pre-tax grant to support your work – whether that means protected time, dependent care, travel, research materials, or whatever you need to do your best thinking
- Dedicated guidance from Foundation staff to help you shape outputs that are ambitious, well-evidenced, and achievable
- Publication in the Justice Ideas series, putting your work in front of the people and institutions who shape justice policy
- An opportunity to present at the Justice Ideas Forum, connecting you with peers, practitioners, and decision-makers across the sector
- Lifelong membership of the Justice Fellows alumni network, recognising your contribution to sector knowledge and connecting you to a growing community of justice thinkers and changemakers.
What Justice Fellows do
Justice Fellows investigate a clearly defined justice issue with relevance to NSW communities and the justice system, and produce a substantial output that informs policy, strengthens sector knowledge, or contributes to public discussion. The program is structured to be achievable alongside professional commitments while delivering high-quality contributions to justice reform and sector knowledge.
Fellows are expected to:
- Present key findings in person at the Justice Ideas Forum held in July, reaching policymakers, practitioners, and sector leaders
- Commit 10–30 working days over the Fellowship period, which may include reading, interviewing, surveying, analysing, and developing their work
- Produce an output equivalent to 10,000–30,000 words in a format that effectively conveys and supports the purpose of their work e.g. written, audio-visual, creative, educational, or other
- Publish their output in the Justice Ideas series (alternative publication formats will be negotiated with the Foundation for non-written works)
Key dates
Applications for the Justice Fellowship program 2026 open in March 2026.
- Applications open: 12 March 2026
- Closing date: 10am, 1 May 2026
- Applicants notified: 30 June 2026
Any questions should be sent to [email protected] with ‘Justice Fellowship Enquiry’ in the title of the email.
Eligibility
Justice Fellowships are open to people working in government, private, and non-government organisations in NSW.
Applicants may come from legal, community, advocacy, social justice, research, or policy-adjacent organisations.
Please note, this year we are not accepting applications from academics who would be undertaking the Fellowship as part of their paid employment at a university, nor current PhD candidates.
Applicants must demonstrate experience, insight, and potential to advance access to justice, and influence sector practice.
Justice Fellowship FAQs
Who can apply for a Justice Fellowship?
The Justice Fellowship program is open to experienced professionals working across justice, legal, community, advocacy, and research sectors in NSW. Applicants must not be undertaking the Fellowship as part of paid university employment or be current PhD candidates.
How much funding is available?
Each Justice Fellowship provides a $10,000 pre-tax grant to support development of the Fellow’s output.
What can I put the $10,000 grant towards?
The grant is flexible by design. For example, Fellows can use it to cover leave from their current role, care of dependents, travel, research materials, software or other resources that support their project.
What type of output is required?
Justice Fellows produce a substantial output equivalent to approximately 10,000-30,000 words, in written, audio-visual, creative, educational, or other suitable formats, published through the Justice Ideas series.Other publication formats are to be negotiated with the Foundation for non-written works.
What are some examples of topics?
To guide your proposal, applicants might consider justice issues such as:
- Access to justice for specific communities, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disability, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, LGBTQIA+ communities, young people, veterans, small business owners, middle-income earners, renters, or older people
- Mediation and conciliation models and practice
- Artificial intelligence and digital innovation in the justice sector
- Legal and justice sector workforce development, including professional development, staff wellbeing, and retention
- Practice approaches, such as trauma-informed, strengths-based, preventative, interdisciplinary or person-centred models
- Service data collection and management to strengthen decision-making and outcomes
The above examples are only illustrative. Fellows are encouraged to propose issues with practical relevance and achievable scope while producing work that contributes meaningful insights for the sector.
How much time is required?
Justice Fellows commit 10-30 working days over the Fellowship period. The Fellowship is structured to be achievable alongside professional commitments.
Are projects requiring ethics approval eligible?
No. Proposals likely to require Human Research Ethics Committee approval will not be considered.
When do applications close?
Applications for Justice Fellowships 2026 close at 10am on 1 May 2026.
By what date must the work be completed?
Work needs to be completed by June 2027. Depending on the type of output Justice Fellows produce, it may need to be submitted by late May in order for us to finalise the design (e.g. our Communications Manager designs the final versions of all reports). At the Justice Ideas Forum in July 2027, Justice Fellows will need to present their work. However, Justice Fellows are not expected to be working on the project for a full year. In most cases Fellows set out a timeframe where they work on the project over a few months within the year.