Solicitor IV – Family Law – Multiple temporary positions and Talent Pool

August 5, 2022
$126120 - $128547 / year
Urgent
Application deadline closed.

Job Description

Solicitor IV – Family Law – Multiple temporary positions and Talent Pool
Are you looking for innovative, interesting work in a multi-disciplinary team? Are you committed to helping the most vulnerable members of our communities? Are flexible work arrangements and training, development, and mentoring opportunities important to you?

We are looking for lawyers to join our three specialist family law services. We have offices in different locations and provide face-to-face and ‘virtual’ services to people across NSW.

We are recruiting for various Grade IV roles.

Our Family Law Service for Aboriginal Communities (FamAC) provides outreach, casework, community legal education and duty services at court to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The team also:

supports and trains our other family law and care and protection lawyers who work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families
advocates on systemic issues that affect those families

Our Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) is a specialist team of lawyers, specialist domestic violence case workers, mental health workers and financial counsellors who work together to help clients who have experienced domestic and family violence with their legal and other needs.

We use a trauma-informed approach to provide advice and assistance, duty services at court, some complex casework and community legal education.

Our Early Intervention Unit (EIU) helps our high priority clients, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally and linguistically diverse people, sort out their family law and care and protection legal issues.

We provide duty services at all NSW registries of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. We also give advice and assistance at over 30 outreach locations each month and provide community legal education across the state.

 

About us

We are the largest legal aid agency in Australia. We have an office in Central Sydney and 28 offices in metropolitan and regional centres in NSW — including 2 ‘satellite’ offices at Walgett and Bourke. We also have several specialist services and advice clinics.

If you work with us, you’ll work with people with disabilities, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, women and children, Indigenous people and people with mental illness who may need help to enforce and defend their rights.

 

About the role

You will:

  • provide legal advice, assistance, and some casework — including in more complex matters
  • attend outreach and duty services at court
  • manage relationships with our important stakeholders
  • senior solicitors will supervise and support junior legal staff in their work

 

About you

You’re a lawyer with experience in family law, an ability respond to the needs of victims of domestic and family violence and commitment to delivering excellent service for clients.

You enjoy working in a multi-disciplinary team with social workers and financial counsellors.

You can maintain a busy practice while also supervising and supporting other solicitors.

You’ll also have experience managing stakeholder relationships and an enthusiasm for mentoring and developing others.

 

Essential requirements

You must:

  • be admitted, or eligible for admission, as a legal practitioner in NSW
  • be able to provide a valid Practising Certificate when you start
  • be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before you start
  • hold Australian or NZ citizenship, Australian Permanent Residency (essential for ongoing vacancies) or a valid working visa (for temporary vacancies)
  • have a driver’s licence
  • ability to travel to regional and remote areas
  • be willing to have a Criminal Record Check or Working with Children Check (or both) done

The Family Law Division have a number of roles where it is a statutory obligation for staff to hold a valid Working with Children Check. If you are successfully placed on the Talent Pool, please note you will be required to provide your Working with Children Check details prior to commencement in any role requiring the check.

 

How to apply

  1. You MUST submit your application online through www.iworkfor.nsw.gov.au to be considered. Late applications will not be accepted.
  2. You should read the role descriptions and consider the focus capabilities and key accountabilities when you prepare your resume and cover letter:
    1. Role Description – Solicitor Grade IV – Family Law Service for Aboriginal Communities
    2. Role Description – Solicitor Grade IV – Domestic Violence Unit
    3. Role Description – Solicitor Grade IV – Early Intervention Unit
  3. Please attach:
    1. your current resume (no more than 5 pages)
    2. a cover letter (no more than 2 pages). In your cover letter please respond to these questions:
      1. Please describe the experience you have as a supervising lawyer.
      2. These roles require extensive stakeholder engagement. Please outline your experience in engaging with significant stakeholders within a work environment.

 

Aboriginal people are encouraged to apply

Whilst this job advertisement is open to all applicants, Aboriginal people are encouraged to apply.

The pre-screening questions ask if you identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. Aboriginality is defined by descent through parentage, identification as being Aboriginal and being accepted in the community as such.

If you are an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person and are thinking about applying, you can contact our Aboriginal Services Branch at [email protected] to arrange a confidential conversation about any questions you may have.

 

We are committed to diversity and inclusion

We want people with diverse backgrounds to apply — including people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the LGBTQI+ community, culturally diverse people, and other diverse communities.

We are committed to providing culturally safe workplaces, practices and services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities. We strive to be an organisation where Aboriginal people want to work, where we value Aboriginal voices and culture.

We acknowledge, support, and accommodate the diverse access needs of people with visible and invisible disabilities.

If you need a reasonable adjustment to participate in the recruitment process, or you’d like information about what we can do to help you, please contact our team at [email protected].

 

Other information

We’ll use a few different assessment techniques in the recruitment process to help us assess your capability and suitability for the role.

We may conduct interviews and assessments by video, telephone, Microsoft Teams meetings or other methods.

We’ll use this recruitment to fill any current vacancies we have, and also to create a Talent pool we can draw from to fill any similar temporary or ongoing vacancies that may arise over the next 18 months.

Here is some other information to help you prepare your application:

  • Applying for a Role
  • Working at Legal Aid NSW
  • Temporary vacancies up to 2025 at 35hpw
  • Various Grade IV roles in the Sydney Metro area (including Central Sydney, Parramatta, Burwood and Liverpool) as well as regional/remote NSW (including but not limited to Newcastle, Dubbo, Lismore and Wagga Wagga).
  • Contact person for enquiries:
  • Salary Range: $126,120 – $128,547 plus superannuation and leave loading
  • Jobs Board Ref No. 000091Y0
  • Closing Date: Sunday 21 August 2022 [11:59pm]