Interns Australia: 2015 annual survey

 90 per cent of interns work for free or below the minimum wage, according to this report Summary In 2015, Interns Australia conducted a survey of 503 respondents on their experiences with internships. The online survey was conducted over a period of two months between August and October 2015. Participation was open to all those interested, whether they had undertaken an internship or not. This was designed to gauge the attitudes of both those who had experience as interns and those who had no experience as an intern but may nonetheless have a view on issues related to internships. Of the respondents, 90.61 per cent of had completed at least one internship. 53.47 per cent had completed two or more intern ships. 28.98 per cent of these respondents had completed three or more. Due to a paucity of long-term historical data and information on internships in Australia, it is difficult to accurately gauge the growth in the extent of unpaid (or paid) internships. While this absence of longitudinal data renders an exploration of unpaid internships over a substantial period of time difficult, the lack of information may imply that   unpaid internships were previously not prevalent enough to compel such research. In contrast to the Australian experience, internships in the United States have been more thoroughly documented. In that region, they are overwhelmingly unpaid, and since the 1930s have metamorphosed from a medical training arrangement to a key feature of the employment landscape across almost all industries. As a result, internships are now a virtual prerequisite for employment in professional labour markets. &nbsp