Senior Lawyer – Migration

• Be a part of a feminist community organisation supporting Victorian women.
• A fantastic opportunity to build the role and make it your own!
• Full time or part time (min 4 days) – Ongoing
• Your expertise will directly contribute to building a more gender-equitable society.
• Located in Melbourne’s legal precinct, with public transport on your doorstep.
• Hybrid working model (part in office/working from home), promoting a true work/life balance.
• A welcoming, passionate, and supportive work culture.
• Competitive remuneration, bonus leave days, flexible work arrangements, salary packaging!

About Women’s Legal Service Victoria

Women’s Legal Service Victoria (Women’s Legal) works with women experiencing family violence to find safety and get legal advice. Our legal team, social workers and financial counsellors work with thousands of women each year to ensure that they have what they need to make decisions for themselves and their family. The service we provide is trauma-informed and covers family law, family violence, victims of crime, migration and child protection.

We provide practical legal advice to workers supporting victim-survivors of family violence and train thousands of lawyers and community workers each year to recognise family violence and legal issues that comes with it. Our experience guides our policy and advocacy work to improve the law for women and their children.

Everyone who works with us directly contributes to building a more gender-equitable society.

Your new role

The Senior Lawyer, Migration will provide high quality legal advice and assistance to women on temporary visas who are experiencing family violence. The Senior Lawyer will conduct complex migration matters for women experiencing family violence and disadvantage.

• Maintain a high and complex caseload of migration and family violence matters. You may also maintain by a caseload spanning other areas of law such as family law, family violence, child protection, crime and/or victims of crime assistance;
• Provide high level legal advice and representation through service delivery programs, including duty lawyer services and our health justice partnership at Monash Health;
• Build and develop the capacity of Women’s Legal to work with and assist women on temporary visas with concurrent family law or child protection law needs;
• Mentor and support other lawyers to develop their legal and practice management skills;
• Occasionally support and/or mentor lawyers from other Community Legal Centre’s.

This is a full time or part time (minimum 4 days) position.

What you’ll need to succeed

To succeed in this role, you should have advanced skills to manage a complex caseload. Your ability to provide high level legal advice and representation while being able to approach your work through a trauma informed lens. You must hold an unrestricted practicing certificate and have at least 4 years post admission experience.

• Experience with working with women experiencing family violence;
• Experience in advocacy with the Department of Home Affairs and at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; and
• Experience in litigation and court advocacy in the Federal Court, Family Court/Federal Circuit Court, Magistrates Court and/or Children’s Court desirable.

What you’ll get in return

In return for your dedication, we offer competitive remuneration, bonus leave days, flexible work arrangements, salary packaging, and a vibrant, supportive work culture.

The detail:

• Up to 8 bonus leave days outside of annual leave (yes, outside of annual leave!) to support a well-rested end of year break
• Above-award remuneration
• A strong commitment to your professional development, personal development, and wellbeing
• A very flexible working environment that supports work-life balance
• A hybrid working model that supports both in-office and work-from-home arrangements
• Salary packaging (which can add up to $15,900 in tax-free pay every year)
• Fresh fruit available in the office
• Access to our Employee Assistance Program

Our culture

We’re continually building on our culture of inclusivity, collaboration and safety so our teams and individuals thrive. Our values are more than words – they’re actions we take together.

Together, we are:

Authentic: We are reliable, trustworthy and transparent about how we work. We reflect on our work and take responsibility for our actions.

Collaborative: We are stronger when we work together. By sharing power and privilege with diverse voices, we achieve better outcomes. We respond to requests for help with generosity.

Courageous: We are brave, resilient and face challenges with integrity. We unapologetically advocate for our goals and back one another to take considered risks to increase our impact.

Inclusive: We believe respect, equality and opportunity must be afforded equitably and to everyone. We understand this will require critical reflection on where power lies and how it functions, and active effort to disrupt it.

Purposeful: Our services respond to the community, laws and people we work with. We value curiosity and relish opportunities to improve our work.

To Apply

Submit a resume and covering letter, via the Apply Now link, to tell us how you are the right candidate for this role and address how you personally align to Women’s Legal values that are listed above.

Any other enquiries can be emailed to Ruth McKendrick, HR Officer at [email protected], using the subject line: Senior Lawyer – Migration enquiry via EthicalJobs.

We will begin shortlisting immediately, so please apply as soon as possible.

Gender Specific Role

We are a women-only team and have an exception under the Equal Opportunity Act to employ only women.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We value the unique backgrounds, experiences and contributions that each person brings to our organisation and encourage and celebrate diversity. First Nations people, those identifying as LGBTQIA+, people of all ages, with disabilities and culturally diverse people are encouraged to apply. We take our values seriously and work hard to create an environment where you feel welcomed. Women’s Legal reflects diversity of experience, identity, perspective, and background to create a healthy & inclusive working culture.