About Women's Legal Service WA

Women’s Legal Service WA is an accredited and specialist gender-specific community legal centre, providing trauma-informed services to women around Western Australia who are financially disadvantaged, prioritising assisting women who have or are experiencing family violence.

In addition to poverty and family violence, WLSWA clients live with multiple vulnerabilities and complex unmet social and legal needs that creates additional barriers to accessing justice.

WLSWA practice areas include family law, child protection and care matters, family, domestic and sexual violence and criminal injuries compensation. The specialised legal services provided by WLSWA ensure that clients access a single legal service, that is responsive to their different legal needs. Assistance is tailored to ensure continuity in support and mitigate re-traumatising clients with a high complexity of legal and social issues.

WLSWA aims to empower WA women to make informed legal choices and participate fully in legal processes that greatly impact on their lives and the lives of their children.

WLSWA also promotes and advocates for women’s human rights to be upheld and fosters legal and social change through a range of strategic activities, including community legal education and policy reform.

WLSWA provides socio-legal assistance to women in collaboration with our sector partners.

About the role

Based in Women’s Health and Family Services Northbridge office, this position will enable women to access specialist women’s legal services in a specialist women’s health centre, to deliver a continuum of coordinated gender-specific, trauma informed and culturally secure services that respond to their needs in the context of their whole lives. The lawyer will provide information, advice, referral, advocacy, community legal education and court representation to women in case management collaboration with the WHFS team. This innovative strategy is part of a pilot project that will be measured to assess improvements in outcomes for women.

Women’s Health and Family Services is an independent for purpose organisation providing integrated physical, mental health and social support programs and support services to WA women and their families. WLSWA and WHFS share a deep understanding of the social determinants of health and are committed to work together to redress gendered inequalities and promote social and legal change for women.

The lawyer will also join WLSWA in the Perth office and deliver legal assistance from here on occasion. This position is funded to 30 June, 2025, with likely extension.

About the candidate

The successful applicant will have considerable legal experience across family and domestic violence and protection and care in particular, as well as other areas of practice relevant to women’s human rights.

The appointed applicant will be highly professional, combining legal experience with demonstrated empathy and understanding. They will value effective teamwork. They will be able to work under pressure, multi task and be flexible in approaches. 

Above all they will be passionate about advancing the interests of women, reducing gender inequality, and empowering women through the provision of excellent services to know and understand their legal rights.

Taking initiative, problem solving and a ‘can do, will do’ attitude will ensure the position holder is empowered to work autonomously.

Conditions

In addition to the opportunity to join a great team, WLSWA offers flexible working arrangements, employee assistance program, targeted professional development, opportunity to salary sacrifice, and additional paid leave between Christmas and new year.

Whilst this position is full-time, there is also provision to configure part-time arrangements between successful applicants too.

We strongly encourage applications from people from diverse backgrounds including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, culturally and / or linguistically diverse backgrounds.

For a confidential discussion about the position, please contact PLO Stephanie Monck at [email protected] using the subject line: Lawyer enquiry via EthicalJobs, or 0439 313 028.