Readership – Sixth Floor

Readership at 6

Reading at Sixth Floor Selborne Wentworth Chambers provides an invaluable opportunity to work with and learn from some of Australia’s leading barristers.

The Sixth Floor provides a unique and supportive environment for readers and junior barristers and promotes a collegiate spirit amongst its members.

The Sixth Floor offers 2-4 readership positions each year, spread across the May and September Bar Practice Course intakes.

Readers are assigned individual rooms in the Floor’s Lockhart Chambers annex and are not required to pay rent or floor fees during their reading year, only incidental disbursements.

Readers are each expected to have a member of the Sixth Floor as one of their tutors. The Floor’s Readership Committee can assist future readers with identifying a tutor whose skills and expertise will be a good fit having regard to the reader’s background and aspirations at the bar.

The Application Process

Sixth Floor readers are selected for their outstanding potential as future leaders of the Bar. In considering applications to read on the Sixth Floor, our Readership Committee looks for a combination of outstanding academic results, relevant professional experience and community service, and an aptitude for oral and written advocacy.

Applications are typically received around 18 months in advance, for acceptance as a reader in the May or September intakes in the following year(s). Offers are typically made shortly after interviews are conducted.

Applications for a reader position in the May
and September 2026 intakes should be submitted by 5pm on Monday 2 December 2024, with interviews of shortlisted candidates
expected to take place in early December. Applications may be considered
at other times and submissions before this date are encouraged.

Applications should be addressed to the Clerk at lstewart@sixthfloor.com.au and include, as a single PDF:

a covering letter setting out a description of applicable experience;

a CV and full academic transcript;

names and contact details of referees; and

details of any Sixth Floor members the applicant has worked or studied with.

Applications will be treated confidentially.

After the Readership Year

Readers who have successfully completed their reading year are typically invited to join the Sixth Floor as licensees, with most remaining licensees in the Lockhart annex for several years while they establish their practices at the bar.

Each year two Selborne Wentworth members relocate to the Lockhart annex, allowing two licensees the opportunity to move onto main floor for a year. This annual rotation system has been in place since the Sixth Floor’s annex was established in 2006, to facilitate connections between junior and senior floor members and to provide an opportunity for for licensees to spend an extended period on the main floor.

Floor members, licensees and readers participate in the Floor’s CPD program and enjoy social events, such as floor lunches and dinners or drinks to mark special occasions such as senior counsel and judicial appointments. Access to an extensive legal library is also provided and the Floor’s generous parental leave policy may be accessed by all members.

Want to get in touch? Contact our clerk here