The Hong Kong Refugee Law Clinic is offered to law students at University of New South Wales in partnership with the Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre (HKRAC). HKRAC provides general advice and legal aid to asylum-seekers and refugees in Hong Kong. The Clinic provides law students the opportunity to learn both the theory and practice of domestic and international refugee law under the direct supervision of HKRAC’s Head of Clinical Programs. Students are given substantial responsibility in the provision of legal advice and representation to HKRAC’s asylum seeker clients applying for refugee status before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Students are also each allocated a substantive refugee law research question which they work on throughout the programme.

The Clinic course takes place in Hong Kong throughout University of New South Wales’ summer period. Prior to travelling to Hong Kong students receive content-specific and skills training such as interviewing and working with survivors of torture and trauma, which is supplemented by additional training on site. The course runs for approximately 6 weeks, and students are expected to work at the Clinic during business hours Monday to Friday each week. Students receive 12 units of credits for the course.