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 and domestic 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

WLSWA is looking for a senior lawyer who shares our passion for women’s education and empowerment within the legal system.

The Senior Lawyer will join a small team of other senior practitioners who occupy a critical position at WLSWA, undertaking complex case work and providing specialist supervision and mentoring to junior lawyers. The senior lawyers also work closely with and strongly support the Principal Legal Officer to ensure that WLSWA services meet the needs of women seeking legal assistance and that WLSWA complies with all legal practice frameworks and statutory requirements. Senior lawyers may represent WSLWA in relevant forums and networks, and provide community legal education and conference presentations also as required.

About the successful 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 and have a supportive, positive approach to staff under their supervision. 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.

Based in the Perth office, lawyers may be required to undertake some travel around WA.

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

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

A position description is attached.