Advocate, Clerk Grade 6/7 – Civil

• Ongoing – Full Time – 35 hours per week
• Clerk Grade 6/7 (between $100,010 – $109,194 plus super and annual leave loading)
• Mental Health Advocacy Service team
• Location – Central Sydney Office (Haymarket), flexible work location negotiable

About us

Legal Aid NSW helps people with their legal problems. We can help people with most areas criminal law, family law and every day civil law legal issues. We give legal advice, help at court and do family dispute resolution. We can do this over the telephone or at one of our 28 offices.

About the role

The Mental Health Advocacy Service (MHAS) is based at Legal Aid’s head office, Haymarket, Sydney. The MHAS provides legal advice, assistance and representation to people subject to proceedings conducted before the Mental Health Review Tribunal, Guardianship Division of NCAT, Magistrates conducting proceedings under the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Act and the Supreme Court.

The role involves:

• providing high quality advocacy and case support services within a legal environment, including information gathering, systemic advocacy and case co-ordination services for clients of the MHAS
• acting on referrals from lawyers and working alongside lawyers in achieving a common goal that accords with client instructions, applicable laws and regulations
• working within the confines of available services and supports
• locating and ensuring services, supports and accommodation are available to legally aided clients of the MHAS thus allowing lawyers to pursue applications for leave and release from places of detention and ensuring the least restrictive form of care is available.

About you

You:

• hold suitable qualifications and experience in disability advocacy, especially where associated with mental illness and/or intellectual disability. This could include social work, welfare or other qualifications and experience in advocating for people in a health care settings, places of detention, including correctional centres as well as the community.
• are self-motivated and comfortable working independently in a legal setting that necessarily involves working in collaboration with lawyers in accordance with client instructions
• have excellent knowledge of disability services and supports
• have excellent negotiation skills that allow you to bring people and organisations together to achieve goals that accord with client instructions
• have experience in health care and/or justice settings in advocating for, and overcoming barriers to, access to services and other rights.
• have experience working with the NDIS and NDIS service providers and other funding streams such as NSW Health and My Aged Care.
• We may use this recruitment to create a talent pool for similar ongoing or temporary vacancies we have over the next 18 months.

WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN LEGAL AID NSW! 

We are committed to diversity and inclusion

We are committed to creating a culturally safe and genuinely inclusive organisation and workplace for everyone who works and interacts with us. We strive to be a place where people from diverse backgrounds want to work, where voices and cultures are valued and where people feel valued, welcomed, respected and heard.

We want a workforce that reflects our clients, so we can deliver a service that meets the needs of the community. We welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds — including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disability, the LGBTQI+ community, culturally diverse people and other diverse communities.

We acknowledge, support and accommodate the diverse access needs of people with visible and invisible disabilities. If you need an 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] using the subject line: Advocate, Clerk Grade 6/7 – Civil enquiry via EthicalJobs.

Other benefits of working with us

• You will have access to training, development and mentoring opportunities.
• We are an accredited Flex Ready certified employer and are recognised as leaders in the area of flexible work. Most of our staff work flexibly — for example, from home some of the time or in a way that helps them balance family and work life.

The essential requirements for this role

You must:

• be willing to do a Criminal Record Check and Working with Children Check
• hold Australian or NZ citizenship, Australian Permanent Residency (for ongoing vacancies) or a valid visa to work in Australia (for temporary vacancies) 

How to apply

You MUST submit your application online via the “Apply Now” button. If you submit your application late or by email it will NOT be accepted.

Your application must include:

• your resume (no more than 5 pages)
• cover letter (no more than 2 pages). In your cover letter, please outline your motivation for applying for this position and how your skills and experience are relevant to the role.

Make sure your application is complete and you have answered all questions before you submit it.

Do you need help to apply?

It’s important to properly prepare before you apply for a role. Here is some other information to help you: 

• If you have questions about the role, you can contact the Hiring Manager – Todd Davis on (02) 8746 2623 or email: [email protected]. 
• If you are an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and are thinking about applying, you can contact the Aboriginal Services Branch via [email protected] to arrange a confidential conversation about any questions you may have.
• The Role Description sets out the responsibilities of the role.
• The focus capabilities and key accountabilities in the role description indicate what is expected at that level. Being familiar with these will help you understand what the panel will be looking for in the successful candidate. 
• Applying for a Role
• Working at Legal Aid NSW