Whistleblower Freya Newman, who exposed the scholarship given to Tony Abbott’s youngest daughter, has been awarded a paid internship with the political party that championed her cause.

Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon has chosen employ the university student for three months after coming to Ms Newman’s aid during her criminal trial.

The Senator was vocal in her support for Ms Newman last year, proposing a law change to better protect whistleblowers in the private sector.

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In a statement, Senator Rhiannon’s office made it clear that the internship was awarded on merit.

Senator Lee Rhiannon will pay Ms Newman to work in her office for three months. Photo: AAP

Ms Newman was selected after two rounds of interviews from a pool of more than 160 applicants, the statement said.

“Freya was an outstanding applicant and we are very much looking forward to having her on board,” Senator Rhiannon said.

Information leaked by Ms Newman revealed that Frances Abbott was awarded a scholarship worth more than $60,000 to study almost for free at the Whitehouse Institute of Design without any public application process.

The only previous recipient of the scholarship before Ms Abbott was a family relation of the private college’s founder.

Ms Newman was charged and pleaded guilty to illegally accessing this information while working as a library assistant at the Institute. She escaped a criminal conviction.

The university student is a vocal critic on her Twitter account of the Abbott government’s agenda, where she also supports left-wing and feminist causes.

Ms Newman will start the two-day-a-week position in April at Senator Rhiannon’s Sydney office.