about us

Inner Melbourne Community Legal (IMCL) is a not-for-profit community organisation that provides free legal assistance to disadvantaged people in the City of Melbourne area. Our mission is to promote social justice and the health and wellbeing of the community through advocacy, education and casework.

We focus our resources towards helping the most disadvantaged members of the community including individuals experiencing homelessness, mental illness, disability, substance dependency and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Following an amalgamation of IMCL and Flemington Kensington Community Legal Centre in 2022, IMCL now operates across two offices in North Melbourne and Kensington, and delivers multiple integrated outreach services in partnership with other community organisations in the local area. Signature programs include our Health Justice Partnerships with major metropolitan hospitals, Housing Justice Program with homelessness agencies, the School Lawyer Program and the Police Accountability Project (PAP), which assists people experiencing police harm and advocates for systemic reform.

the role

The Communications Lead will support the execution of IMCL’s strategy by developing and implementing aligned communications activities aimed at building awareness of our work, strengthening our law reform and policy influence and supporting fundraising efforts. The role will focus on content production and digital and physical marketing including the Annual Report, and support media engagement and campaigning. The role will be responsible for developing and maintaining IMCL websites including the IMCL and Police Accountability Project websites, and implementing the communications plan in close consultation with the Director of Policy and Advocacy. The Communications Officer will provide expert communications advice to IMCL’s leadership team and work collaboratively across all programs, projects and teams to effectively undertake activities.

This position is offered on a 12 months fixed term at 0.6 FTE, with the potential for increase in FTE and/or extension.  

Position key responsibilities

1. With the Director of Policy and Advocacy, implement and manage the 2024-2027 IMCL communications strategy.
2. Together with the leadership team, liaise with media for strategic communication opportunities aligned with our engagement and advocacy priorities (reactive and proactive), including preparing media released and briefs, pitching stories, and responding to enquiries
3. Develop and maintain the websites and social media channels of the organisation and its programs. Manage the platforms, including managing technical upgrades, contracting technical support, monitoring activity and producing up-to-date high-quality website articles and social media posts aligned with the objectives of the communications strategy
4. Develop, execute and analyse digital and physical marketing campaigns aimed at engaging target stakeholder audiences, including production of physically collateral such as postcards and posters, writing and distributing the annual report, Mailchimp newsletters and emails, managing Google Ad grants and paid social media content and preparing digital analytics reports to identify trends and optimise strategies
5. Manage client storytelling activities, including interviews, compelling writing and distributing content for a range of purposes, including law reform submissions, reports and web articles
6. Produce digital visual assets to enhance clear and accessible written content using tools such as Canva (e.g. illustrations, infographics, diagrams, videos)
7. Contribute to the research, planning and execution of advocacy campaigns in collaboration with the leadership team and subject matter experts

This job description outlines the current duties and responsibilities of the position. These will be reviewed on a regular basis with the position holder and are subject to change according to the needs and priorities of IMCL.

Selection Criteria Mandatory qualifications

1. Tertiary qualification in communications, media, journalism, public relations or similar, and/or significant equivalent professional work experience in these fields

Essential knowledge and skills

1. Demonstrated skills in developing and implementing high-level communications strategies and operational plans
2. Expertise in creating high-quality and compelling copy for a range of contexts and audiences, including experience in narrative storytelling
3. Experience in website design, mailing systems, social media platforms, design suites, analytics and content management

Essential attributes

1. A creative and agile mindset, with an openness to pivoting as required to meet identified priorities
2. A proactive and collaborative approach to working
3. A commitment to IMCL’s vision, strategy and values, with an understanding of the community and/or community legal sector, including justice issues affecting marginalised and socially excluded communities
4. Highly organised with an ability to set and manage competing priorities, meet deadlines, work with minimal supervision and seek support when required, while maintaining excellent attention to detail

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email at [email protected] or phone 03 9328 1885 using the subject line: Communications Lead enquiry via Ethical Jobs.

A position description is attached.