Organisation Description

WestSide Community Lawyers is a not-for-profit legal centre providing legal advice and representation to vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the community.

We are committed to providing a highly professional legal service for people who might otherwise be denied access to justice, which we believe is a basic human right.

We have a practice in Port Adelaide, servicing Adelaide’s Western suburbs, as well as a practice in Port Pirie servicing the Mid-North & Outback regions.

We are funded by both the Federal Government of Australia and the Government of South Australia, which enables us to provide our service free of charge.

We belong to a network of independent Community Legal Centres across Australia and are fully accredited with our national peak body, Community Legal Centres Australia.

WestSide is also proud to be a Gold Alliance Member of the Law Society of South Australia, in recognition that as an organisation we promote and adhere to strict professional and ethical requirements.

We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island candidates.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Required Skills

The successful candidate will hold or be eligible to immediately obtain an unrestricted practicing certificate in South Australia.

You will be a good all-rounder with experience providing high quality advice and representation in the area of Civil Law or Criminal Law. Additional experience in Family Law would be an advantage, but is not essential.

You will be able to work autonomously and cooperatively in a team environment with moderate supervision. You will have strong analytical and written communication skills to provide a high level of legal assistance, be highly organised and self-motivated with a demonstrated ability to appear as an advocate in court.

You will also have a current clean driving licence as you will be required to travel to various regional courts and outreach locations.

Required Competencies

The successful candidate will be passionate about helping vulnerable members of the community achieve access to justice.

You will have a demonstrated ability to communicate both orally and in writing, with excellent customer services skills and ability to communicate sensitively with a diverse range of people.

An ability to adapt and positively contribute to improvement in an environment of continuous change is also important.

Key Objectives

• Providing legal advice to members of the community.
• Providing legal representation to eligible clients.
• The attainment of our KPI targets as determined by our funders in relation to legal advice and representations.
• Networking with local community organisations to raise awareness of our services, encourage mutual referrals and provide community legal education.

Reporting lines and training

Reporting directly to the Managing Lawyer.

Training on our specific requirements will be provided as required. We also encourage and provide financial assistance with Continuing Professional Education.

Salary

We offer an attractive salary, in accordance with experience, plus superannuation (currently 11%).

In addition you will benefit from our generous salary sacrifice scheme which will provide a significant boost to your take-home pay.

Benefits

You will be based at our Port Pirie office, which is situated on the upper reaches of the Spencer Gulf in the Southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia. A beautiful and idyllic location.

You will be part of a warm and friendly team culture where everyone is highly motivated and passionate about the important work we do.

Flexible working - we highly value a work-life balance for all employees. There will be some opportunity to work from home. You will have use of a car.

You will have the opportunity to participate in regular social events with other members of our SA peak body Community Legal Centres SA.