The student was completing a masters degree in architecture when he was paid $12 per hour for six months of full-time work.

His duties included architectural drawing, consulting with clients and and conducting site visits.

The Fair Work Ombudsman found that the student, aged in his 20s, should have been paid under the Architects Award and was short-changed $6830.

He performed work that was not a part of his university studies, entitling him to a minimum wage of $16.37 per hour, rising to $21.19 an hour after his graduation.

The company also failed to pay the student his correct leave entitlements or to issue him with any pay slips.

The company back-paid the employee after the Fair Work Ombudsman's intervention. It also agreed to donate $500 to Interns Australia.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said employers need to be aware that they are at risk of breaching workplace laws if they use unpaid work schemes as a source of free or cheap labor.

"When a worker moves beyond merely learning and observing and starts assisting with business outputs and productivity, workplace laws dictate that the worker must be paid minimum employee entitlements," Ms James said.

"We don't want to stifle genuine learning opportunities that help young people get a foot in the door, but we also don't want to see young people being treated unfairly through unpaid work schemes.

"We want to educate employers and workers about what genuine learning opportunities look like."

The Fair Work Ombudsman released a report on unpaid work in 2013, which found growing numbers of Australian employers are using unpaid work schemes as an alternative to hiring paid staff.